Sewing Terms Glossary/Dictionary A Alteration: Changing the fit or length, etc. of a garment. Apparel: Refers to Clothing.

Applique: A decorative piece of fabric sewn on top of another after folding under a small bit of the fabric to create a clean edge. Armscye: Refers to the armhole. The word is derived from the term "arm's eye", as in the eye of a needle. In this case, though, the arm goes through, not the thread. Awl: A tool with pointed tip used to push out corners when fabric is turned, as when making a collar. B Backing: Generally a quilting term that defines the fabric used as the back layer of the quilt. Can also be used to describe the layer of fabric used inside a wearable art vest, etc. Backstitch: Extra stitching back and forth at the beginning and end of a machine sewn seam to anchor the seam in place; it involves a couple of extra stitches back and forth. Back-tack: A few stitches taken in reverse to secure a line of stitching. Ballpoint Needle: Used to penetrate knit fabrics without snagging or damaging the fabric. Bar Tack: A group of back and forth, closely sewn stitches that is used to tack a belt loop or similar item in place. Often used in buttonhole making. Baste: temporarily joining fabric together using large stiches that you can remove easily. Baste-marking: Marking with hand- or machine-basting. Batting: Polyester fiberfill, cotton, wool, or other material that is flattened and usually on a roll and purchased in precut lengths or by the yard. Used in quilting, or to make a quilted effect in clothing or other sewing projects. Bias: The "stretchiest" part of the fabric that runs diagonally to the straight grain. Bias Tape: a strip of fabric cut from the bias. It is usually folded on 2 edges and at times folded again for use as edging. The bias cut allows it to smoothly follow curves. Blind Hem Stitch: A sewing stitch that is not seen on the right side of the fabric, by picking up one or several threads of the fabric at a time rather

than going all the way through the fabric. Bobbin: The part of a sewing machine that holds the bottom thread.. It is usually under the area the needle penetrates and it loops with the needle thread to form a locked stitch. Bodice: The part of a pattern or garment from shoulder to waist. Brocade: A woven, patterned fabric using multi-colored threads. A raised pattern in relief against the background. May use metallic treads as part of the pattern. Used in upholstery and clothing. Normally is a heavier fabric Buckram: Strong, heavy woven fabric used for stiffening baseball cap brims and some drapery applications. Butting: Placing two edges together so they touch but do not overlap. Buttonhole: A bound slit in the fabric to allow the passage of a button for closure. C Casing: A fabric envelope for encasing elastic, a drawstring, or similar material, usually along a waistline, cuff, hem or other edge. Clean-finishing: Edge of fabric turned under once and stitched. Used on edges of facings, hems, seams, etc. Construction stitching: Stitching, such as seams and darts, that shapes and holds a garment together (as distinct from stay-stitching, finishing, etc.). Contour: Denotes have a curve, as in a contour waistband. Cording: A twisted or woven string that is used primarily in piping and to act as a drawstring in a jacket hood, waistband, or as stabilizer for frog closures. Usually covered with bias strips of fabric for decorative applications. Crocking: Color rubbing off. Cutting Line: On a pattern piece the cutting line is the outer dark line upon which you cut. D Damask: Similar to brocade but is finer, thiner. A woven, patterned fabric, using all one color - think fancy white cloth napkins. Usually silk, linen, cotton, rayon or synthetic blends. Darn: To repair a hole (as in socks) by using stitches going back and forth that fill the hole.

Dart: A V-shaped, tapered adjustment to a pattern to allow for more fullness in the bust area or less fullness in other areas (waist, back). Directional Stitching: Maintains pattern shapes by stitching in a particular direction. Drape/Drapes: Drape describes the way fabric hangs and falls from the body. Drapes are a formal window covering hung from drapery rods. E Ease: 1. Making one piece of fabric fit to another by evenly pulling in on the extra fabric without making any gathers or tucks in the larger piece of fabric. 2. The allowance added to a body measurement to make a garment wearable. Embellish: Adding special stitching, appliques, charms, or other decorations to your sewing project. Edgestitching: A row of stitching on the edge of a garment, usually 1/8 inchor less from a seam line, fold line or finished edge. Thread should match the fabric color, unless you are using a contrast color in your design. Empire Waist: Higher than normal waist seam and fits under the bust. Seam ends either under the bust or a few inches down. Entredeux: A French word meaning "between two". Often it's a piece of lightweight fabric joined to another piece of lightweight fabric with a delicate bit of lace. Another method is to join two ribbons with a piece of lace. F Fabric Diagonals: Fabric that is printed on a diagona. Many patterns are not suitable for diagonal fabrics, due to the pattern design it would be impossible to match diagonal prints or designs. Facing: Fabric sewn on the raw edge of a garment piece that is turned under and serves as a finish for the edge as well. Fashion fabric: the outer fabric in a garment. Fat Quarter: Usually a quilting term, but often used for wearable art, vests, smaller garments, a fat quarter is 1/4 yard of fabric, about 18" x 22" as opposed to a regular 1/4 yard, which is 9" x 45". Feed Dog: The "teeth" under the plate on the sewing machine that move fabric as it is sewn. Finger-pressing: Opening seam allowances with the thumbnail. Mostly used on fabrics that cannot be pressed.

Finish (an edge): Turning an edge under 1/4" and stitching; serging the edge, or any other method of finishing the edge so it doesn't ravel or cause a bulky problem. Flat Felled Seam: A very durable seam, as used on jeans. Fold Line: Many pattern pieces are placed on the fold of a piece of fabric. This is the actual fold of the fabric off the bolt or a fold of your own so that you have a pattern piece that is cut out without a center seam. Foot: The piece of the sewing machine that presses down on the fabric as it is moved by the feed dogs below. The foot can have special properties (zipper foot used for zippers or cording, for example) or may be an all purpose foot used for most machine stitching needs. French Curve: A tool used for drafting curves when altering or creating sewing patterns or designs. French Seam: A completely enclosed seam. Fusible (webbing, interfacing, etc.): Has the characteristic of being able to be ironed on, usually permanently, with or without reinforcement by stitching, due to a heat-activated glue on one side. G Gather: A way of pulling fabric together to create fullness. Give: the degree of elasticity in a fabric or a thread. Grade Seam or Grading: To trim one layer of the seam allowance shorter than the other to eliminage bulk. Grain or Grainline: The way threads make up the fabric. Gusset: A bit of fabric sewn into a seamline to provide fullness (to let a garment out) or decoration. A lot of gussets were used in the early 1950's that were diamond shaped and were used under the arm of a dress to give it more movement. H Hair Canvas: A high quality interfacing which is recommended to use for areas such as firm jacket rolled collars. Ham: Also known as a dressmaker's ham or tailor's ham. This is a tightly stuffed, "ham" shaped item that is used at the ironing board to support and provide the appropriate molding for pressing curved areas - darts, princess seams, sleeves, etc. Hand: The feel and drape of a fabric.

Hem: Fabric that it turned up on the lower edge of a garment or sleeve to provide a finished edge. Hong Kong Finish: Enclosing a seam with bias binding. Hook & Eye Closure: A type of closure that employs a small hook on one side and a loop made of fabric or metal on the other. The hook and eye is used at the upper back of many dresses and often on lingerie. I Inseam: Seam inside the leg of pants that runs from the crotch to the hem. Interfacing: Fabric used between layers of fabric to provide stabilization and form. Usually used in collars, cuffs, plackets, some waistbands and pockets, and facings. Interfacing can be fusible (using your iron to release an adhesive) or not (sewn in). Interlining: a layer of fabric added to a lining for warmth. Iron: An iron is a tool that is used to straighten or press fabric. The iron can be used with or without steam. J Jacquard: The name of the man who invented the type of loom that makes Jacquards. Brocade, damask and tapestries are all types of Jacquard fabrics. Jean Jumper: A small piece of plastic made to ease sewing seams on denim by holding the presser foot up ever so slightly. Allows the presser foot to "jump" the seam as if it was level with the rest of the denim. Works well with all thick fabrics. K Khaki: A type of light brown fabric with a green tinge, or the color of such fabric. L Lining: Used to finish the inside of a garment, to hide the seam construction, to allow for ease of putting a garment on or taking it off, and to provide decorative effect. M Machine embroidery: Decorative stitching created by using a regular sewing machine (zig zag, satin stitch, etc.) or a sewing machine specifically

designed for machine embroidery. Mend: To repair or fix a hole, tear, split or other problem with a garment. This can be done with sew-on patches, iron-on patches, stitching by machine or by hand, such as darning. Miter: Mitering a corner makes a smooth finish to a 90-degree corner, neatly squaring the corners while creating a diagonal seam from the point of the corner to the inside edge. Muslin: A generally inexpensive woven fabric used to make crafts, back quilts, or to make draft or trial garments. N Nap: The "fuzzy" part of a fabric that is usually directional in nature. Corderoy and velvet are good examples of fabric which has a nap or a pile. If smoothed with the hand in one direction, nap is typically shiny in one direction and not shiny in the other. When cutting out a pattern, care should be taken to keep fabric pieces going in the same direction nap-wise unless one is intentionally mixing naps and piles to produce a different kind of look. Narrow Hem: A narrow hem is one that is approximately 1/8" or 1/4" and is used on men's shirts, slips, lingerie, napkins, and other items. Use a special sewing foot for this or turn the hem up with your fingers. Needle: Sewing machine needles come in a variety of sizes and types ball point and sharps are the two major categories. Ball point is used for knits and regular sharp needles are used for nonstretch fabrics. There are also all purpose needles, but it is recommended that you use ball point or regular rather than all purpose. There are wing needles, wedge needles, needles of varying sizes and shapes, as well as twin needles for some fancier stitching. Non-woven Fabric: A fabric not woven or knitted from thread or yarn. Non-woven fabrics, include fake leather and suede, felt, various interfacings. Notch: A small cut into the seam allowance which will allow fabric to bend at curves and corners. Usually, the notch is shown on a pattern with a dark diamond. They are commonly cut outward and should be matched on seams when joining for sewing. Notion: A term used for any item used for sewing other than the fabric and the machine. O Overlock: An overcast stitch to prevent ravelling of fabric. There are sewing machines made to do overlock stitching.

Overcasting or Overstitching: Stitching done over a seam to prevent ravelling. This can be done by hand or machine. P Pattern Layout: Directions for the way to lay out a pattern for best use of your fabric. Pattern Weights: Used on paper patterns to secure them instead of pinning a pattern to the fabric. Pile: The nap of the fabric. Lay all pattern pieces so that the pile is going in it's natural direction. For example, the down pile would be down the leg. Pinking Shears: Shears with a V shape along the cutting edge used to cut fabric and help it remain ravel-free. Pins: Pins are used for temporary basting of fabric. They are used to hold patterns in place while cutting and to hold fabrics together while stitching (it is not recommended to machine sew over pins as they have been known to break your sewing machine needle, jam the machine, or cause other problems). Often, large safety pins are used to baste quilt layers before the final quilting. Care should be taken to use a pin that will not leave a large hole and to not leave pins in fabric too long; they could cause stains where they touch the fabric. Pintuck: Narrow sewn rows of fabric that give a decorative raised look to a garment. Some bloused are made with pin tucking on the bodice for a more tailored look. Piping: A cord covered with bias fabric, often used for decorative edging on garments or projects. This can be encased in seams for a nice effect. Pivot: To leave the needle in fabric, raise the presserfoot and turn the fabric at a 45 degree angle. Then lower the presserfoot and start sewing. Placket: A V-shaped opening at the end of a sleeve that is finished with a bias strip before the cuff is attached. Pleat: A fold in fabric that is either inverted or folded outward, is not sewn except on the top edge (as in a skirt or slacks waistband), and provides decorative or functional fullness. Preshrinking: Laundering and drying the fabric before you begin cutting or sewing. Press: Using an iron in a press/pick up/move/press/ pattern. Pressing is not moving back and forth on fabric with the iron. Presser Foot: The part of the sewing machine that holds the fabric in

place as it is being sewn and fed through by the feed dogs. Prick Stitch: Used on fabrics such as velvet where everything shows. Take a small backstitch sewn on the right side of the fabric and do the remaining backstitching on the wrong side. Princess Seams: Shaped seams that run down the front side of a dresses or shirt to fit a garment closely. Use them in place of darts. They are very elegant. Q Quilting: A method of sewing or tying two layers of cloth with a layer of insulating batting in between. A bed covering or similar large rectangular piece of quilting work is called a quilt. A quilt does not have to be rectangular, however. Many quilts hang on the wall as art quilts and are all kinds of shapes and sizes.

R Raw (edge): The edge of fabric that is not stitched or finished. Reinforce (seam): To reinforce a seam, you may need to sew next to it, almost on top of it, but not quite. You can also reinforce a seam with bit of seam or bias tape. Right Side: The right side of the fabric is the design side. There are instances of fabric with no right or wrong side visible, and the determination and appropriate markings are then made by the person doing the pattern cutting and sewing. Rolled Hem: A hem that is folded twice over, to enclose the raw edge. Also refers to a serger stitch that rolls to fabric for you. Running Stitch: A simple stitch made by running the thread over and under the fabric. This stitch is often used for basting or as the basis (marking) for another more decorative stitch. Back to Top S Satin Stitch: A zig zag stitch with a shortened stitch length to create stitches that look horizontal to each other. Seam: The result when two pieces of fabric are sewn together along a line. Seam Allowance: The width of fabric that is between the seam stitching and the cut edge.

Self-Fabric: The fabric from which the garment is made. Selvage: The edge of raw fabric which is finished and unable to fray. Separating Zipper: A zipper which completely separates, such as for a jacket or sweater. The bottom of the zipper has metal tabs for starting the pull, while a regular zipper is clamped together so it cannot separate. Serger/Overlocker: A type of sewing machine which cuts and finishes the seam allowance in one step. The stitches it makes are found in most manufactured clothing and is a great stretch stitch. Set in Sleeves: Standard sleeves seen in most garments today. The armhole is curved in so the top of the sleeve actually sits at your shoulder top. The sleeve cap (top of the sleeve pattern) curves out to smoothly fit the sleeve. The method of fitting a sleeve into a top give a better range of movement and less bunk of fabric under the arm. Shank Button: A button with space left between the button and fabric. Other buttons can be "shanked" by wrapping thread under the button to create a shank. Shrinkage: Some fabrics become tighter/smaller when washed and dried, whether by machine or by hand. Sizing: Fabric finish that provides crispness without stiffness; a light starch finish. Slit: An open part of a seam, the bottom usually, often found in skirt side or back seams. Sloper: A trial pattern, a custom-fitted muslin or gingham pattern which has been altered for the individual. Slopers can be created through trial and error, using computer programs such as CAD and pattern making software, and other methods of individual taste and style. Snips: Very small cutting tool resembling scissors used to snip threads. Usually used with hand sewing or portable projects. Spool: The holder of thread. There are wooden spools, plastic spools, cardboard tube spools, and cone spools, as well as others. Stability: The degree to which a fabric resists pulling out shape. Stash: Collection of fabric. Stay: A tape added to a garment part to keep it in shape. Staystitching: Stitching done to stabilize fabric and helps pieces fit together even after handling.

Stitch in the Ditch: A method of understitching and also as a form of simple machine quilting for craft projects. It is a method of stitching close to a seam allowance or in the seam itself in order to hold it down. Stitch Length: In general, regular sewing is about 11-12 stitches per inch, basting/gathering/bunching/sleeve easing is about 6 stitches per inch (plus or minus 1 or 2 stitches for some applications). Straight Stitch: Stitching made with single forward stitches. This is the regular stitch that most sewing machines make and may or may not require a special presser foot. Back to Top T Tack: A temporary stitch to hold pieces together, usually removed after final stitching. Tacking is also known as a term for starting off a seam with a few stitches back and forth for stabilizing. Tailor's Tack A tailor's tack is essentially two threads in a needle, drawn through fabric layer/s and then snipped, leaving tails of thread on top and on the bottom of the fabric as a marking for later use. They can be used to mark pattern pieces for darts, buttonholes, etc. Tape (measuring): Flexible, usually made of a covered cloth material, about 60" long (152 cm), and has a cover on each end. Markings are on both sides of the tape. Tension: Refers to the pressure being placed on your needle and bobbin thread by your machine. There are two types of tension on your sewing machine - the thread and bobbin tensions. It is best to read your sewing machine manual for specifics. Rarely does one need to adjust bobbin tension. Your sewing machine manual will show you the appropriate settings and offer you examples of what the threads should look like on the right and wrong sides of your stitching. Test Seam: A seam done on a scrap of the garment fabric to test the machine stitch. Thimble: A protective device for your middle finger when doing hand sewing, and is worn on the hand that is using the needle for sewing (hems, embroidery, basting, etc.). Top Stitch: A row of stitching, visible on the finished product. Can be functional or decorative. Tracing Paper: A type of paper made especially to be used with a tracing wheel. It has an ink-type substance on one side for marking fabric with the wheel. Tracing ink from the tracing paper does not always wash out and

this needs to be taken into consideration as well. Tracing Wheel: Used with tracing paper. The paper is placed upon the fabric with the "ink" side down, the pattern markings that need to be transferred placed upon the paper, and then the markings are traced with the wheel. The wheel itself looks a bit like a pizza cutter with spikes. Care needs to be taken not to press too hard and cut the pattern, tracing paper, or the fabric. Trim: Any decorative item, ribbon, lace that is put on a garment or craft item that is being sewn. Trim is also used to define the act of trimming excess seam allowances or fabric with scissors. Tuck: A method of sewing fabric together resulting in a raised seam, often seen in heirloom sewing, the bodice of a woman's blouse or a man's formal shirt. Also see pin tuck. Back to Top U Underlining: Lining used to add body to a garment. Under Stitching: Stitching done very close to the seam line. Back to Top V View: Most patterns show different variations on the pattern package. Each variation is called a "view". Style Patterns tend to call this a "model" instead. Back to Top W Walking Foot: An attachment for the sewing machine that enables smoother sewing when using several layers or fabric. It provides an extra bit of hold from the top that works with the feed dogs below the fabric, pushing the fabric during the sewing process. It "walks" the fabric. It also works well with slippery fabrics that may need control not available with the feed dogs only. Warp: Threads running the length of a woven fabric, sometimes known as the lengthwise grain. Wearable Art: Decorative, usually quilted, clothing made to be unique, beautiful, and functional. Weft: Threads running at right angles to the length of a woven fabric,

sometimes known as the cross grain. Welt: A method of covering the raw edges of a pocket or other opening, can be single or double welt. Wing Needle: A needle with wide, wing shaped, flared sides used to create holes in tightly woven fabrics, such as creating entredeux. Available as single or doubles. Wrong Side: The wrong side of the fabric is the side upon which there is no design. There are instances of fabric with no wrong side visible, and the determination and appropriate markings are then made by the person doing the pattern cutting and sewing. Back to Top X, Y, Z Zig Zag: A stitch that goes one way (zig) and then the other (zag) and provides a nice finish to a seam to prevent raveling, can be a decorative addition to any garment, and can allow for give with knits.