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A bold decorative topstitch, often in contrasting or heavy thread, worked as a running stitch by hand or machine along an edge or seam, associated with leather goods and casual tailoring.

The single sample size, usually a small one, in which a garment is first produced for photography, fit sessions, and buyer showings.

An unstitched length of fabric, typically five to nine meters, draped and wrapped around the body in various regional styles across South Asia, worn with a fitted blouse and underskirt.

A Japanese hand-stitching technique using simple running stitches in white thread on indigo cloth, originally developed to reinforce and mend workwear, now also used decoratively.

Cotton fabric woven in a satin weave, giving a smooth, lustrous face similar to satin but with cotton's matte hand and durability, used for linings and bedding.

A tightly spaced zigzag stitch dense enough to form a smooth, solid line of thread, used for applique edges, monograms, and buttonholes.

A weave with long floating warp or weft threads that pass over several opposing threads before interlacing, producing a smooth, lustrous surface prone to fraying and snagging.

A street in London's Mayfair district associated since the early 19th century with bespoke tailoring, home to long-established tailoring houses that hand-cut and construct made-to-measure suits.

The common abbreviation for 'small bust adjustment,' a pattern alteration used to reduce the amount of room built into a bodice pattern.

Standardized clothing required by an educational institution, typically produced to fixed specifications for fabric, color, and construction.

A rounded neckline cut in a wide, U-shaped curve that dips below the collarbone at the front.

A brown or yellow mark burned into fabric comes from an iron too hot for the fiber, or leaving it in one spot too long. Test heat on a scrap first and keep the iron moving.

Sewing small projects specifically designed to use up leftover fabric scraps that are too small to cut a full garment from.

Patchwork technique that pieces together leftover fabric scraps of varying size and print into a usable quilt top, a common way to use up sewing offcuts.

Surface design method that pushes pigment through a fine mesh screen with a masked design onto fabric, producing crisp, repeatable printed motifs.

A thick, spongy double-knit fabric, typically polyester and spandex bonded in a neoprene-like structure, holding its shape well for fitted garments and appliqué.

The strip of fabric lying between the stitching line and the raw cut edge, commonly five eighths of an inch or one and a half centimeters.

Ridges from seam allowances visible on the right side of lightweight fabric come from pressing directly over the seam without protection. Press over a seam roll or slip paper strips under the allowances.

A narrow woven or knitted tape stitched over a raw edge, especially a hem allowance, to prevent fraying without adding much bulk.

Any treatment applied to a raw seam allowance edge, such as overlocking, pinking, or zigzagging, to keep the fabric from fraying over time.

A short sliding ruler with a movable marker used to measure and mark consistent small distances such as hem depths and seam allowances.

The line printed or drafted on a pattern piece marking precisely where the stitching should go, set in from the cutting line by the seam allowance.

Wrinkling or gathering along a stitch line caused by tension imbalance, a dull needle, or stitches that are too small for the fabric's weight.

A small hand tool with a curved, sharp fork and a protective ball point used to cut and remove unwanted stitches.

A firmly stuffed cylindrical cushion placed under a seam to press it open from the right side without leaving a ridge imprint on the fabric.

Liquid adhesive applied to raw fabric edges or thread ends to prevent fraying and stitch unravelling, commonly used on delicate fabrics or in place of a seam finish.

A woman who sews, especially as a paid occupation, a historical term that is still used today to describe skilled hand and machine sewing work.

A lightweight cotton fabric woven with alternating slack and taut warp tension, creating a permanent puckered stripe that holds fabric away from the skin.

A seam finish in which one allowance is trimmed narrow and the wider allowance is folded over it and stitched down, enclosing both raw edges without extra binding.

A facing cut as an extension of the garment piece itself and folded back, rather than as a separate attached piece.

Sewing a project purely for oneself to wear, as opposed to sewing gifts or clothing intended for other people.

The tightly woven, self-finished edge running along both lengthwise sides of woven fabric that does not fray, often used as a grainline reference when cutting.

The tightly woven, self-finished edge that runs along both lengthwise sides of a fabric bolt and will not fray or unravel like a cut edge.

Denim woven on a narrow shuttle loom that produces a tightly finished, self-edged fabric border, prized for durability and reduced fraying.

A zip in which the two sides detach completely at the bottom, used on jackets and cardigans that open fully rather than a fixed-bottom garment closure.

Embellishment technique for attaching flat or cupped sequins to fabric by hand or machine, either singly with a backstitch or in overlapping rows for continuous shine.

A base fabric, usually mesh or knit, with sequins stitched or glued on in rows, requiring seam allowances to be cleared of sequins before stitching.

A raw-edge finish produced on an overlocker that trims and encases the seam allowance edge in interlocked thread loops in a single pass.

Loose loops hanging off a serged edge, or an edge that curls and puckers, points to the tension dials being out of balance for the thread and fabric. Adjust one dial at a time on a scrap.

Lightweight, fine-spun polyester thread wound on large cones for overlocker use, chosen for low bulk in seam finishing rather than seam strength.