History & culture

A resist-dyeing technique in which yarns are bound and dyed in patterns before weaving, so the design emerges from the woven cloth itself; practiced across Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and Latin America.

A surge from around 2010 of small, independently run sewing pattern companies selling PDF and print patterns directly to consumers online, diversifying styles and sizing beyond major pattern companies.

American manufacturer who patented an improved sewing machine in 1851 and pioneered installment purchasing, making the Singer Manufacturing Company the dominant sewing machine brand of the 19th century.

Japanese designer known for technical innovation, notably the Pleats Please line launched in 1993, which heat-set permanent pleats into finished polyester garments rather than pleating fabric before cutting.

A mechanical loom attachment invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804 that used punched cards to control individual warp threads, enabling complex woven patterns and influencing early computing.

A brightly printed rectangular cotton cloth from East Africa, worn wrapped as clothing and often printed with a Swahili proverb along its border, used for dress, carrying children, and ceremony.

A traditional Japanese T-shaped garment constructed from straight-cut bolts of fabric sewn with minimal waste, wrapped left over right and secured with an obi sash; its basic form has changed little for centuries.

American company founded in San Francisco in the 1850s; with tailor Jacob Davis it patented riveted denim work trousers in 1873, creating what became known as blue jeans.

The most common machine stitch, formed by an upper needle thread interlocking with a lower bobbin thread inside the fabric; it appears identical on both sides and resists unraveling.

DuPont's trademark name for spandex, an elastic polyurethane fiber developed by Joseph Shivers and launched in 1958, which revolutionized fitted and stretch clothing from swimwear to leggings.

French couturier, born Germaine Krebs, known from the 1930s onward for intricately hand-pleated silk jersey gowns draped directly on the body in a technique resembling classical Greek sculpture.

French couturier active from 1912 to 1939, celebrated for pioneering the bias cut and draping fabric directly on a miniature mannequin rather than working from flat sketches.

Patterns sold by post directly to home sewers from catalogs or magazines, a distribution model that let rural and small-town customers access current fashions from the 1870s onward.

A British government campaign launched in 1943 during wartime rationing that taught households to repair, alter, and repurpose existing clothing rather than buy new garments.

The manufacture of garments in large standardized batches using factory division of labor and specialized machinery, a shift that accelerated after the sewing machine's spread in the mid-19th century.

A traditional training path in which a novice works for years under an experienced tailor, progressing from basting and pressing to pattern drafting and full garment construction.

American sewing pattern company founded in 1870, known for the long-running McCall's Needlework and Crafts magazine and for pioneering printed, rather than perforated, pattern markings in the 1920s.

An annual online sewing challenge, started in 2010, in which participants pledge to wear garments they made themselves throughout May and document the experience on social media.

A hand-stitched reverse-appliqué textile made by Guna women of Panama and Colombia, formed by layering and cutting through colored cotton fabrics to reveal patterns beneath, traditionally worn as a blouse panel.

A tailoring tradition from Naples, Italy, known for soft, lightly padded shoulders, minimal internal structure, and a relaxed, body-skimming fit suited to warm Mediterranean climates.

Christian Dior's debut collection, presented in February 1947, featuring nipped waists, padded hips, and full calf-length skirts that used yards of fabric, a dramatic break from wartime austerity.

Video-based instruction in garment construction delivered through websites and apps, expanding access to structured sewing education beyond in-person classes since platforms like Craftsy launched in the early 2010s.

A discussion website organized around threads where sewists ask questions, share projects, and troubleshoot techniques, an early form of digital sewing community predating blogs and social media.

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.

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.

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 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 patchwork and appliqué quilt made by women in Pakistan, northwest India, and Sindh from recycled cotton and silk fabric scraps, hand-stitched in geometric patterns across generations.

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.

Clothing manufactured in standard sizes for immediate purchase, as opposed to custom-made garments; it grew from 19th-century military uniform production and expanded rapidly with department stores in the 20th century.

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.

The line along a jacket lapel where the fabric naturally folds back; tailors shape it through pad stitching and pressing so the lapel rolls softly rather than lying flat.

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.

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.

An organized group sewing event, often hosted by a pattern company or blogger, in which participants make the same garment together over a set period while sharing progress online.

A personal website format, prominent from the mid-2000s, where home sewists documented projects, pattern reviews, and tutorials, fostering online communities before social media platforms became dominant.

A content creator who builds an online following by sharing sewing projects, pattern reviews, and technique tutorials, sometimes partnering with pattern and fabric companies for sponsored content.

A mechanical device that forms stitches in fabric, radically speeding up clothing production; workable models emerged in the 1830s-1850s and made both industrial and home sewing far faster than hand stitching.