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A lightweight, smooth plain-weave silk with a soft drape and slight sheen, one of the most common silk lining fabrics.

A neckline supported by a strap or band that fastens behind the neck, leaving the shoulders and upper back bare.

The way a fabric feels to the touch, described as soft, crisp, slippery, or rough, an important factor when choosing fabric for a pattern.

French for 'high sewing,' a legally protected term for custom-fitted, largely hand-finished garments produced by an officially accredited Parisian fashion house.

A knit hem that curls up on itself after stitching, refusing to lie flat, is caused by the fabric's stretch and the raw edge's tendency to roll. Stabilize with a twin needle and stay tape, or a coverstitch.

A jeans hem shortened while keeping the factory-finished edge and topstitching intact is done by folding the excess up inside the leg, then stitching just above the original hem from the right side.

A durable bast fibre from the cannabis sativa plant, similar to linen but stronger and more mildew-resistant, often blended with cotton for garment-weight fabric.

A variation of twill weave in which the diagonal rib reverses direction at regular intervals, forming a distinctive zigzag pattern used in coating and suiting.

A crossed hand stitch worked in a V pattern, used to secure hems, interfacing, or facings with a decorative, flexible line.

A measurement taken around the ribcage just above the fullest part of the bust, often used instead of full bust to choose a bodice pattern size.

Fullness at the hip located higher on the body than the standard pattern block assumes, causing tightness or drag lines a few inches below the waistline on skirts and trousers.

An educational movement, formalized in the United States from the 1900s, that taught sewing, garment construction, and household management in schools, shaping generations of home dressmakers.

A seam finish in which bias binding strips are stitched over each raw seam allowance edge and understitched, giving a couture-quality enclosed edge on unlined garments.

A flat metal hook and matching straight bar used mainly at waistbands to hold the closure edge to edge without overlap.

A skirt held out in a dome or bell shape by a framework of hoops, worn under crinolines and, in earlier colonial and 18th-century forms, related to the farthingale and pannier.

Paris fashion house founded by Charles Frederick Worth in 1858, credited with establishing the couturier as a named creative authority rather than an anonymous dressmaker, dressing European royalty and elites.