Terms & glossary

Reversing the machine over the first and last few stitches of a seam to lock the thread ends so the seam will not unravel.

Long, loose, temporary stitches, sewn by hand or machine, used to hold layers of fabric in place for fitting before permanent stitching.

Any diagonal direction across a woven fabric that is not parallel or perpendicular to the grain, where the fabric has more give and stretch.

A nickname for the four long-established American pattern companies: Butterick, McCall's, Simplicity, and Vogue Patterns.

The set of measurements taken directly from a person's body, such as bust, waist, and hip circumference, used to choose or draft a pattern size.

A large roll of fabric as sold in a shop, wound around a flat cardboard or plastic core and holding many yards of material.

The abbreviation marked on pattern pieces and fabric for the center back, the vertical line running down the exact middle of the back of a garment.

The abbreviation marked on pattern pieces and fabric for the center front, the vertical line running down the exact middle of the front of a garment.

Snipping short cuts into a curved seam allowance, especially an inward curve, so the seam can spread and lie flat once turned or pressed.

One of the specific color or print combinations that a single garment design is offered in across a collection.

French for 'sewing' or 'dressmaking,' used in English to describe fine, skillfully constructed garment sewing in general.

The direction fabric threads run from one selvedge to the other, perpendicular to the lengthwise grain and usually with a bit more give.

The diagram included in pattern instructions showing exactly how to arrange all the pattern pieces on folded or open fabric before cutting.

The outer line marked on a pattern piece indicating exactly where to cut the fabric, positioned beyond the seam line by the width of the seam allowance.

A printed circular marking on a pattern piece indicating a pivot point, dart tip, or matching point that gets transferred onto the cut fabric.

The way a fabric falls and moves under its own weight, ranging from stiff and structured to soft, fluid, and clingy.

A person, historically almost always a woman, who makes women's clothing to custom order or to a client's individual measurements.

A quarter-yard cut of fabric shaped as a roughly square piece rather than a long narrow strip, popular for quilting and small projects.

The actual dimensions of a completed garment, including all built-in ease, as opposed to the raw body measurements the pattern was originally drafted around.

The gradual unraveling of a cut fabric edge as individual threads work themselves loose from the weave over time or handling.

To rip out a section of stitching, or abandon a project entirely, from the rhyme 'rip it, rip it' echoing a frog's croak.

A measurement taken horizontally around the body at the fullest, most projecting point of the bust, one of the core measurements used to choose pattern size.

The lengthwise direction of woven fabric threads, running parallel to the selvedge, that pattern pieces must be aligned to so a garment hangs and fits correctly.

The double-headed arrow printed on a pattern piece that shows how the piece should be aligned with the fabric's lengthwise grain when laid out.

A shop, or its stock of goods, selling sewing notions and small supplies such as thread, needles, buttons, ribbon, and trims.

A small, independently run sewing pattern company or individual designer, as distinct from one of the major legacy pattern brands.

A sewing pattern published by a small, independently owned designer or company, rather than by one of the larger legacy pattern brands.

The measurement of a pant leg from the crotch seam down to the desired hem, taken along the inner leg seam.

The direction fabric threads run parallel to the selvedge, usually the strongest and least stretchy direction in a woven fabric.

A simple black-and-white technical sketch, shown on a pattern envelope or in the instructions, illustrating a garment's design without color or fabric texture.

Clothing that was sewn by the wearer themselves, as distinct from clothing that was bought ready-made or store-bought.

A rough, quickly sewn test version of a garment or design, made to check fit or check a construction method before committing to the final fabric.

A pattern printed with several nested cutting lines for different sizes on the same sheet, letting a sewist choose or blend sizes as needed.

A raised, directional surface texture, as on velvet or corduroy, that catches light differently depending on which way the fabric faces.

A small triangular or single mark cut or printed along a pattern piece's edge, used to line pattern pieces up correctly with each other during sewing.

Cutting small wedge-shaped notches out of a curved seam allowance, especially an outward curve, to remove excess bulk so the seam lies flat.

The small supporting supplies needed to complete a garment beyond the fabric itself, such as thread, buttons, zippers, hooks, and elastic.

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

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

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