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Third-party certification schemes that verify garment supply chains meet standards for fair wages, safe working conditions, and environmental practices, developed largely from the 1990s onward in response to sweatshop scandals.

A hooped or padded understructure worn beneath skirts from the 15th to early 17th centuries to create a rigid conical or wheel-shaped silhouette, first developed in Spain.

A retail business model built on rapidly translating runway and trend ideas into cheap, mass-produced clothing with quick turnaround, expanding globally from the 1990s alongside globalized garment manufacturing.

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

A pile fabric with a knitted or woven backing and a long synthetic pile that mimics animal fur, cut from the backing only to avoid shearing the pile.

A synthetic fabric, usually polyurethane-coated woven or knit backing, designed to imitate leather's look and hand at lower cost and with more stretch.

The common abbreviation for 'full bust adjustment,' a pattern alteration frequently discussed by name in sewing forums and pattern instructions.

Openwork hand embroidery stitch made of alternating angled loops branching from a central line, producing a feathery, vine-like border often used on smocked or heirloom garments.

Metal teeth beneath the needle plate that rise, move forward, and drop in a rotating motion to grip and advance fabric through the machine with each stitch.

A small, slanted hand stitch used to permanently secure a folded edge flat against another layer, such as a facing or waistband lining, common in couture finishing.

A hand-finishing technique in tailoring where a folded edge, such as a lining or facing, is secured invisibly with small slanted stitches.

The actual dimensions of a completed garment as it lies flat, distinct from the body measurements it is intended to fit, showing the ease built into the design.

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.

A person with standardized body measurements who tries on sample garments during development so a design house can check and refine the fit.

A dress fitted through the bodice and waist that flares dramatically outward at the hip, often using a circle or gored skirt.

A second person who helps assess and pin fit corrections on a garment being fitted, since many fitting problems are difficult to see or reach alone.

A structured process of trying on a toile or garment in progress, observing wrinkles and balance, and marking or pinning changes to correct the fit.

A simplified test garment, usually a bodice or trouser front and back with minimal design details, sewn specifically to evaluate and correct fit before developing a full pattern block.

A loop of thread pulled from a knit's surface, leaving a puckered dot, should never be cut. Use a small crochet hook or needle to work the slack back to the fabric's wrong side.

A soft, loosely woven fabric, traditionally wool and later cotton, brushed to raise a light nap for warmth; associated with Welsh textile production from at least the 17th century.

A pocket, often welt or patch style, covered by a shaped flap of fabric that hangs down over the opening.

A loose, straight-cut dress with a dropped waist and hemline typically at or above the knee, worn by young women of the 1920s who embraced a modern, active lifestyle.

Attaching a lining piece to a garment piece by stitching around the edges of each cut piece before assembly, treating the two layers as one from then on.

A pattern drafted using measurements, rulers, and math directly on paper, as opposed to draping fabric on a body or dress form.

A seat shape flatter than the standard pattern block assumes, commonly causing excess fabric to sag and fold vertically below the waistband at the back of trousers or a skirt.

A pattern alteration that removes excess width and length from the back of a trouser or skirt pattern below the waist to fit a seat flatter than the block assumes.

A strong, fully enclosed seam in which one seam allowance is trimmed, wrapped around the other, and topstitched flat; common on jeans and shirts.

A sewing machine with a continuous flat sewing surface and no removable arm, providing a larger work area suited to flat garment pieces and yardage.

A serger stitch sewn with loose tension so the seam pulls flat and open, leaving a ladder of thread on one side, often used decoratively on knits.

Corduroy or velvet that looks crushed after ironing comes from pressing directly on the pile with a flat iron sole. Press face-down on a towel or use a needle board so the pile can stand.

A brushed, napped knit fabric, typically polyester, engineered for warmth and softness with a plush pile on one or both sides.

Hand embroidery stitch resembling an open V anchored by a short tacking stitch, used singly or in rows to suggest foliage, texture, or decorative seam ornamentation.

A zipper closure concealed behind an extended, shaped fly facing and underlap, typical of trousers and jeans.

Thick foam interfacing fused or sewn between fabric layers to give bags and structured accessories body, shape retention, and padding.

A narrow elastic with a centre channel that folds crisply in half, used to bind and finish edges such as necklines and leg openings in one step.

A pattern alteration that reshapes the lower portion of a sleeve to accommodate a forearm that is bent, muscular, or otherwise shaped differently from the standard block.

A posture or body shape in which the shoulders sit rotated forward of the torso's natural balance line, causing the shoulder seam of a garment to pull toward the front.

A pattern alteration that rotates the shoulder seam of a bodice pattern forward to match shoulders that sit ahead of the torso's standard balance line.

A term for a basic block or sloper used as the structural starting point for developing new pattern designs through slashing, spreading, or adding style lines.

A seam sewn on a serger using two needles and two loopers, producing a seam and finished edge simultaneously with stretch recovery suited to knits.