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

There’s always practice :-). They’re not making the world’s first teddy bear, and I’m sure someone’s botched one before figuring out exactly how to proportion things.

Also fabric stretches and warps a bit. A pillowcase, for example, is just two rectangles sewn together, but stuff it and the flat pieces of fabric bend to make a plump, firm pillow.