Pattern adjustment question: large waistline

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

Hello again! Firstly, thank you so much for all the sewing information, Professor Pincushion has helped my sewing so much. This is and has been an incredibly valuable resource for me 🙂
All right, so I have kind of a rectangle shape body, my bust, waist and hips aren’t as hourglass as most commercial patterns. I was wondering for skirts and pants, is it better to find ones that match my waistline and take in the hips, or is it better to find a pattern that matches my hips and let out the waist? I’m fairly confident in adjusting these parts, but I was wondering if one is better to start with than the other?
Then for dresses, which is best to match when buying the pattern with this body shape? Bust (would let out waist a lot and hips a little), or hips (would let out waist a little and have to take in the bust)… Thank you so much for your time!

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

When we were working with McCall’s they told us that for bottoms, like skirts and pants, it’s better to choose a pattern based on the hips and then adjust the waist as necessary. If you’re doing a dress that has a separate bodice and skirt pattern pieces, then cut out the bodice size based on your bustline so that the shoulder areas fit well and adjust the waist. Then you can choose a separate size for the skirt portion, again the size is picked based on the hip measurement, and again the waist is adjusted. I hope that helps! 🙂

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