How do people know what 2D shapes go together to make certain 3D shapes when sewing?

Question

[Edit: How do people know what 2D shapes go together to make certain 3D shapes when *making patterns.]

I know if someone wanted to sew a cube, they would cut 6 squares and sew them together. If they wanted to sew a pyramid, they would cut 1 square and 4 triangles.

But what about weird shapes like with stuffed animals? If someone had never seen a sewing pattern for a teddy bear in their entire life, how would they know what shapes to cut and sew to make the teddy bear?

(It seems simple in concept, but it’s hard to imagine how certain shapes would come together to create something like a humanoid doll.)

In: Other

Answer 1

Skill and experience, for the most part. When making clothes, there are plenty of pattern making techniques and lots of books on the subject.

Making stuffed animals is harder. The last time I did that, I built a mockup out of cardboard and masking tape and then cut that mockup apart to get a starting point for patterns. Then into CAD and then print a final pattern.