Size Inclusive Crochet

Towards the end of 2020, I made the decision that Bella Coco Crochet was going to be a fully size-inclusive crochet blog in 2021 and onwards. It hurt my heart to see comments on social media saying that people were unable to make a crochet design because of their size. I decided that needed to end.

Being size inclusive is SO important. I want anyone who comes across to my blog to feel included because EVERYONE MATTERS.

It’s difficult to avoid the debate in the news, on social media and every single female-focused magazine. The constant stream of confidence-destroying comments. You’re too thin. You’re too fat. You’re too short. You’re too tall. It seems like we can never be exactly right. But the simple fact is, we come in many shapes and sizes and there is very, very rarely a ‘one size fits all’ situation. And every single body deserves crochet patterns that fit and it shouldn’t fall to the reader to make huge adaptations to a design just so it fits their body.

As of January 2021, Bella Coco Crochet no longer accepts clothing designs that don’t cover a size range of 0-30, or provide simple instructions to tailor the clothing to fit you perfectly.

To celebrate this change, and the beautiful variation in body shapes and sizes, March will feature a series of body positive, size inclusive posts. All past garment designers were contacted and given the opportunity to increase their size range. I’ll be re-sharing the patterns later in the month that received increased sizing as well as highlighting the incredible designers who originally supplied inclusive sizing.

When I spoke about size range on my Facebook page, there were so many positive comments and lots of useful discussion which helped me choose the 0-30 size range. However one comment in particular stuck with me. I’ve paraphrased, but essentially it said:

“People should stop moaning. Size 10-18 is an acceptable range and no-one should complain about that.“

It baffled me that anyone could think that people asking for clothing to fit them could be seen as moaning. But, it made me realise how cemented in our minds a ‘socially acceptable’ size range is. It’s time to change that, because EVERY SINGLE PERSON deserves clothing that fits, flatters and is comfortable on their body.

If this is a topic you’re passionate about, or if you’d like to learn more, I recommend starting with these wonderful people:

Janine of Knits ‘n Knots

The fabulous Janine of Knits ‘n Knots has been an advocate of size-inclusive design for a long time. I stumbled across her blog though this post, Size Inclusive Design and What it Means to Me while I was doing some research on turning Bella Coco into a fully size-inclusive space and Janine perfectly sums up my own feelings in a beautifully eloquent and uplifting blog post. Her designs are stylish, modern and designed with an eye to fit all body sizes and shapes perfectly.

Hannah of HeyJay Yarn

The wonderful Hannah of HeyJay Yarn has launched a #megababemovement to help inspire people to practice some self love and treat your body kindly – no matter what size or shape. It can be really easy to be unkind to yourself about your body. We would NEVER be this unkind to someone else. So, it’s time to turn that around and love the bodies that we’re in. Hannah’s movement is so important because it talks about the importance of reclaiming words like fat and breaking the stigma that surrounds them.

Angie of Gamer Crafting

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A post shared by Angie and Sarah Gamercrafting (@gamercrafting)

Angie of Gamer Crafting wrote a fabulous Instagram and blog post about self love and body positivity.

We’ve all been in that place. “I’ll buy this jumper that’s two sizes too small so I can slim down into it” or “I’ll crochet myself something to wear when I shift 10lb.” It’s a horribly vicious circle, where you start to believe that you don’t deserve to craft yourself something well fitting, comfortable and beautiful. So, your self-confidence takes a hit. And the belief that you “don’t deserve it” becomes even deeper engrained in your consciousness.

Angie speaks about why you deserve to make yourself knitted (but this advice definitely applies to crochet too!) garments NOW. You can read the full blog post here, Knitting as radical, body-positive, self love.

I may not be able to change the industry, but I can change Bella Coco Crochet. I hope you’ll join me in celebrating that change and also how wonderfully diverse the human body can be.

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