Busting the waist myth

Time to BUST another MYTH! People continue to ask where the waist really is, and they should — because your sewing and fit deserves facts, not folklore – and I’ll even give you a hint: it’s based on anatomy!

Myth #1: “Your waist is at your bellybutton.”

–> Nope. The bellybutton is just… a button. It’s not a skeletal landmark, and it moves around depending on posture, genetics, and body composition.

Myth #2: “Your waist is the smallest part of your torso.”

–> Also nope. That’s a visual guess, not anatomical truth. Some people don’t have a visibly “smallest part,” and some have more than one. I’ve had a professional model give a measurement that was directly under the bust and call it her “waist” because it was in fact the smallest measurement she could find!

So where IS the waist?

Your waist is the soft space between the bottom of your ribcage and the top of your hip bones. Those in medical fields will call it the iliac crest.

How to find it? Slide your hands down your ribs, then up from your hip bones. It’s the spot where they meet at the side seam is your waist. That’s it. That’s the whole secret. It’s a ring that wraps around the body, parallel to the floor, all the way around your torso.

Bodies with scoliosis, a high hip, leg‑length differences, or other asymmetries, that ring can create tilt will not sit parallel to the floor, but this is less common than you might assume. But if this IS you, you may need to make a right and a left side that matches your symmetry.

A true waistline is built on bones, so find the structure, and the fit will fall into place.