For starters, understanding these sewing terms gives you these benefits:
- Knowing your sewing terms empowers you to follow patterns and tutorials with greater ease and clarity.
- No more feeling lost or bewildered when a pattern instructs you to cut on the bias, gather fabric, or add interfacing.
- Knowing what these sewing terms mean helps you visualize the process and the expected outcome, ensuring your sewing journey is smoother and more enjoyable.
- It enhances your ability to communicate with other sewists, whether you’re seeking advice, sharing experiences, or even troubleshooting a tricky part of your project. This shared language forms the foundation of the sewing community, allowing for a richer and more collaborative experience.
- Opens the door to more advanced techniques and creative expressions.
So, let’s dive into the different sewing terms with their detailed descriptions.
Fabric Terms
Bias: The diagonal line across the fabric at a 45-degree angle to the selvage. Fabric cut on the bias is more elastic and drapes differently than when cut on the grain.
Selvage: The finished edges running along the length of the fabric. These edges do not fray and are often marked by a different weave or color.
Cross Grain: The threads in the fabric that run perpendicular to the selvage. The cross-grain has a slight stretch and is less stable than the grainline.
Grainline: The threads that run parallel to the selvage. Patterns are often aligned with the grainline for stability and proper hang.
Right Side: The front or outer side of the fabric designed to be seen in the final product.
Wrong Side: The back or inner side of the fabric which is usually not meant to be seen in the finished piece.
Fold Line: The line along which fabric is folded, often used in pattern placement for symmetry.
Nap: The direction in which the texture or pattern of a fabric appears smoothest or most aligned. It’s crucial in laying out patterns, especially in fabrics like velvet.
Hand: This refers to how the fabric feels to the touch (e.g., soft, crisp, smooth). The hand can affect how the fabric drapes and behaves when sewn.
Drape: How a fabric hangs or falls. Different fabrics have different drape qualities, affecting the final look of a garment.
Garment Construction Terms
Clip: Small cuts made in the seam allowance, often in curves or corners, to allow the fabric to lay flat when turned right side out.
Cutting Line: The outermost line on a pattern piece, indicating where to cut the fabric.
Darts: Triangular folds sewn into fabric to give shape, commonly found in the bust, waist, and hip areas.
Dots: Marks on a pattern indicating where pieces should align, gather, or where darts end.
Cut on Fold Symbols: Marks on a pattern indicating it should be placed along the fold of the fabric for symmetrical cutting.
Ease: The difference between the body and garment measurements that allows for movement and comfort.
Grade: Increasing or decreasing the sample size to have a range of sizes.
Hem: The finished edge of a garment, typically created by folding the edge of the fabric and sewing it down.
Iron: The process of pressing fabric with a heated iron to remove wrinkles or shape it.
Layout: The arrangement of pattern pieces on the fabric before cutting, considering grainlines and pattern matching.
Marking/Tracing: Transferring pattern symbols onto the fabric, often with the tailor’s chalk or a tracing wheel.
Notch: Small cuts or marks on the edge of a pattern piece to help align seams.
Pivot: Turning the fabric while the needle is down to change the sewing direction.
Pre-shrink: Washing and drying fabric before sewing to prevent shrinkage in the finished garment.
Press: Using an iron to shape or flatten seams during the sewing process.
Seam Allowance: The area between the edge of the fabric and the stitching line.
Seam: The line of stitching that joins two pieces of fabric.
Tack: Temporary, loose stitching used to hold the fabric in place before final sewing.
Trim: Cutting excess fabric from a seam allowance or edge for a cleaner finish.
Yoke: A fitted panel, often found at the shoulders or waist, to which other garment parts are attached.
Sewing Techniques Terms:
Interfacing: A material that provides additional support, structure, or stiffness to fabric, particularly in collars, cuffs, and waistbands.
Gathering: A technique used to draw fabric into pleats or folds, typically by pulling a thread to condense a larger fabric into a smaller area.
Basting: Temporary, long stitches that hold the fabric in place before final sewing, often done by hand or with a long stitch setting on a sewing machine.
Serge or Overlock: A type of stitch that encloses the edge of the fabric to prevent fraying, typically done with a serger or overlock machine.
Topstitching: A row of visible stitching on the right side of the fabric, often used for decorative purposes or to reinforce seams.
Understitching: Sewing a line of stitches close to a seam to keep the facing or lining from rolling to the outside of a garment.
Stay Stitching: A line of stitching just inside the seam line to prevent stretching or distortion, usually done on curved edges like necklines.
Ruching: A decorative gathering of fabric to create ruffles or pleats, often used in bodices and sleeves.
Zigzag Stitch: A stitch that moves in a zigzag pattern for stretch fabrics or finish raw edges.
French Seam: A seam finishing technique where the raw edges are enclosed within the seam, creating a neat and clean finish on both sides.
Shirring: Multiple rows of gathered fabric, typically achieved by sewing with elastic thread in the bobbin to create elasticity.
Blind Hem: A hemming technique where the stitches are barely visible on the right side of the fabric, often used for dress pants and skirts.
Mitered Corner: A technique to create a neat, angled corner, often on quilt borders or napkin edges.
Other Sewing Terms:
Fusible Web: An adhesive material used to bond fabrics together, activated by heat from an iron.
Appliqué: A decorative design made of pieces of fabric sewn onto a larger piece of fabric, often used in quilting and decorative garment work.
Bias Tape: A strip of fabric cut on the bias, used for binding or finishing edges.
Placket: A piece of fabric used to reinforce an opening in a garment, often found in shirt cuffs and necklines.
Buttonhole: A small cut in the fabric reinforced with stitching, designed to accommodate a button.
Lining: A layer of fabric that covers the inside of a garment to provide a clean finish and often to conceal interfacing, padding, or other structural elements.
Muslin: A plain, woven cotton fabric often used to create a test version of a garment before cutting the final fabric.
As you develop your sewing skills, you’ll find that these sewing terms are not just jargon but essential tools that guide your decisions in fabric selection, garment construction, and customization.
What’s Next?
Keep learning to be the badass sewist you can be! Check our Sewing Guides for other valuable articles.
