All articles

Small, diagonal hand stitches worked in rows through canvas and fabric layers to permanently mold and shape a tailored collar or lapel.

Trousers with extremely wide, flowing legs cut from the hip downward, often made from lightweight fabric to enhance movement and drape.

Side hoops or pads worn at the hips under 18th-century skirts to extend width sideways while remaining flat front and back, especially fashionable in French court dress.

A long, insulated, hooded coat, historically lined or trimmed with fur, designed for protection in cold and wet weather.

The French term for elaborate trimmings such as decorative braid, tassels, and cord, used to embellish garments as well as upholstery and home decor.

A pocket made from a separate piece of fabric stitched directly onto the outside of a garment, with its top edge left open.

Reinforcing or covering a hole with an added piece of fabric, sewn behind the damage for invisible support or over the top as a visible feature. Match the patch fabric's weight and stretch to the garment.

The technique of combining pattern pieces or size lines from two or more patterns, or two adjacent sizes, into a single custom pattern piece.

The printed packaging of a commercial sewing pattern, listing fabric requirements, finished garment measurements, suggested fabrics, and a cutting layout diagram.

The technique of scaling a garment pattern up or down across a range of sizes while preserving proportion and fit, historically done by hand and now largely computer-assisted.

A modification made to an existing commercial or indie sewing pattern to change its style, features, or fit without drafting an entirely new pattern.

The practice of modifying an existing commercial or drafted sewing pattern to create a different design, such as changing a neckline, sleeve, or silhouette, without drafting from scratch.

The technique of aligning stripes, plaids, or repeating prints across seams so that the design continues unbroken from one fabric piece to the next.

One individual printed or drafted shape from a sewing pattern, representing a single part of the finished garment to be cut from fabric.

A piece cut with its markings or nap direction inverted usually happens when the pattern was flipped without checking the layout diagram. Always follow the diagram exactly and keep directional details facing one way.

The standard information printed or written on each pattern piece, including the piece name, cut quantity, grainline, and size, needed to identify and cut it correctly.

A finished garment coming out drastically too big or small, even with correct sizing chosen, usually means a home-printed PDF pattern was printed without disabling page scaling. Always print and measure the test square first.

The system of body measurements and size labels a pattern company uses to grade its patterns, which varies between companies and does not correspond directly to ready-to-wear sizing.

The growing collection of sewing patterns, whether printed or digital, that a sewist has purchased or downloaded but not yet actually sewn up.

The process by which sewists outside a designer's own team sew a new pattern before its release, checking fit, instructions, and grading across sizes.

French designer active from the early 1900s who freed women from the corseted silhouette with looser, high-waisted dresses influenced by Orientalist style, though his own hobble skirts still restricted movement.

A sewing pattern sold as a digital file, printed at home across multiple sheets of paper or sent to a copy shop for large-format printing.

A sewing pattern distributed as a digital file, printed at home on standard paper and assembled by taping numbered pages together, or sent to a copy shop for full-size printing.

A short, double-breasted wool coat with broad lapels and large buttons, originally worn by naval sailors for warmth and durability.

A lapel style with a point that angles upward toward the shoulder above the collar seam, traditionally used on double-breasted jackets and formalwear.

A loose blouse featuring a gathered or elasticated neckline and full sleeves, drawing on traditional Eastern European folk dress construction.

A narrow, straight skirt cut close to the body from waist to hem, usually including a back vent or kick pleat to allow walking ease.

A fitted top featuring a short flared or gathered flounce attached at the waistline that extends over the hip.

A sloper drafted or fitted specifically to one individual's body measurements rather than a standard size, used to produce well-fitting patterns for that person alone.

A flat collar with rounded, close-fitting corners that lies against the garment without standing up at the neckline.

A waistband faced or entirely constructed from ribbed petersham ribbon, molded with heat and stitched to sit smoothly inside a skirt or trouser waist without a separate facing.

A set of proportional alterations, usually shortening the torso, sleeves, and rise, that adapt a standard pattern to fit a shorter-than-average body.

A joking acronym for 'project half done,' describing the pile of unfinished sewing projects that many sewists accumulate over time.

The raised loops or cut fiber ends standing up from a fabric's woven base, as seen in velvet, corduroy, and terry cloth.

Small balls of fiber forming on a knit's surface from friction during wear come from loose, weaker fibers tangling together. Use a fabric shaver or comb to remove pills, and wash inside out on gentle cycle.

Cushion or pillow form filled with foam, fibre, or feathers, made to a standard size and inserted inside a sewn cover to give it shape.

Simple rectangular fabric cover for a pillow, closed at one end and often finished with a French seam or a decorative cuff, a classic beginner project.

A small stuffed cushion, often wrist-worn or weighted, used to safely store and organize pins within easy reach while sewing.

A finish combining a line of straight stitching near the raw edge with pinking beyond it, adding fray resistance to lightly fraying fabrics.

A raw-edge finish made by trimming the seam allowance with pinking shears to create a zigzag edge that resists fraying without additional stitching.