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A padded, glove-shaped pressing cushion worn on the hand, used to press curved and hard-to-reach garment areas such as shoulders and sleeve caps.

The vertical metal bar that holds the presser foot and moves up or down to raise it clear of the fabric or lower it to apply stitching pressure.

Too much foot pressure flattens pile and stretches knits; too little lets fabric wander or fail to feed. Adjust the pressure dial to suit the fabric weight, lowering it for delicate or bulky fabrics.

French for 'ready to wear,' describing standard-sized clothing manufactured for general sale rather than garments custom fitted to one person.

A method of tracing sewing patterns directly onto fabric by projecting a digital pattern file onto a cutting surface using a video projector and calibration software.

Topstitching that gathers fabric into small folds instead of lying flat comes from tension too tight, a stitch too dense, or sewing bulky layers without a walking foot. Loosen tension and use a walking foot.

A short or long sleeve gathered at the shoulder, cuff, or both, creating a rounded, voluminous shape through the upper or lower arm.

Metal or plastic hinged frame sewn or glued into fabric to form the opening of a clasp purse, giving the bag a rigid, self-closing top edge.

A close-fitting Chinese dress with a mandarin collar and side slit, evolving in Shanghai during the 1920s from the looser Manchu changpao into a modern, tailored garment.

A pre-made sandwich of face fabric, batting and backing stitched together in a pattern, used ready-made for outerwear without separate quilting.

A sewing machine, often domestic, optimized for quilting with features such as a wide throat space, extension table, and specialized quilting stitches or a walking foot.

A sewing machine needle with a tapered, sharp point designed to stitch through multiple layers of fabric and batting cleanly.

A line of stitching worked through two or more layers with padding or wadding between them, both securing the layers and creating a raised decorative pattern.

The 2013 collapse of a garment factory building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which killed over 1,100 workers and became a defining catalyst for global scrutiny of fast fashion's labor practices.

A semi-synthetic fiber made from regenerated cellulose, developed in the late 19th century and marketed from the 1920s as 'artificial silk' for its lustrous drape at lower cost than real silk.

A practice and online community centered on altering or reconstructing existing garments into new items, popularized by bloggers in the 2000s-2010s as a creative, low-waste alternative to buying new clothes.

Thinning fabric at a sweater or shirt elbow, before it becomes a hole, can be strengthened with an iron-on patch, a fabric elbow patch, or darning stitched into the weak area to extend the garment's life.

A sticky patch left on fabric or the iron plate from misapplied fusible web softens when reheated. Press through scrap paper to lift residue off fabric, and clean the iron plate with a hot-iron cleaner.

Melted candle wax or fusible web residue stuck to fabric can be lifted by placing the fabric between layers of brown paper and pressing with a warm iron, letting the paper absorb the melted wax.

A small, ragged hole in wool from moth larvae needs the surrounding area checked for further weak spots before mending with darning or a patch. Treat the whole garment for moths afterward.

A hole from wear, a snag, or a moth needs the surrounding fabric checked for further weakness before mending. Small holes can be closed with darning; larger ones need a patch behind or over the opening.

Cumulative strain on hands, wrists, neck, or shoulders from repetitive sewing motions and poor posture, managed through breaks, stretching, and ergonomic workspace adjustments.

Layered applique technique in which the top fabric is cut away to reveal fabric layers beneath, with the cut edges turned under and stitched to form the design.

A facing that buckles or shows on the outside instead of lying flat inside usually means it lacks understitching or the interfacing is too heavy. Understitch close to the seam and grade the allowances.

Lightweight synthetic fabric woven with reinforcing threads at intervals to stop tears from spreading, used for outerwear, bags, and outdoor gear.

The vertical measurement of a pair of pants from the crotch seam up to the top of the waistband, split into front rise and back rise.

The distance from the waistband to the crotch seam of a garment or body, measured front and back, determining how high or low trousers sit on the body.

A narrow, tightly wrapped edge finish produced on an overlocker by adjusting the stitch finger and tension so thread coverage rolls the raw fabric edge under.

A curled, funnel-shaped presser foot that folds a narrow raw fabric edge twice as it feeds, producing a tiny finished hem in a single pass.

A rotating mechanism beneath the needle plate that catches the upper thread's loop and carries it around the bobbin case to form a lockstitch.

A pattern alteration that adds length and width across the upper back of a bodice pattern to accommodate increased curvature of the upper spine.

A posture with increased forward curvature of the upper spine, causing the back of a garment to pull tight and ride up, with drag lines below the neckline.

Orange-brown marks from rusty pins or hardware left against damp fabric need an acidic treatment like lemon juice and salt, since detergent won't shift them. Rinse well and avoid chlorine bleach, which can set rust permanently.

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.

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.

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.

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

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