Most Important Terms You Should Know for Sewing

As I've said, this is a blog for people who want to learn how to sew: people who may know literally next to nothing about the act of sewing except that it exists. So here are the very essential terms (courtesy of McCall's Sewing Book) that you could at least get by with without knowing anything else:

Seam: "The line or fold formed by stitching two pieces of fabric together." --Pretty self explanatory right?


Seam Allowance: "The fabric edge that extends beyond the stitching line. The normal seam allowance in all pattern is 5/8" unless it is marked and printed otherwise on the pattern." --On most un-patterned projects, a 1/4" allowance is a pretty generic and easy measurement. Seam allowance is typically gauged when sewing on a machine by following lines that have been engraved by the sewing plate. As long as you keep the edge of the fabric you are stitching along the line you follow, you should have a straight and even seam allowance. The 1/4" is the easiest because you get this by having your sewing needle in the middle of the presser foot (see machine anatomy) and having the fabric follow one of the outer edges of the presser foot.

Yardage: "The Amount of fabric needed to make a particular garment. The back of the pattern envelope has a yardage chart. this gives the exact amount of fabric necessary for each view and size for the various widths of fabric." --While this is true, you also keep in mind that fabric is sold at either a 45" or 60" fold, depending on the bail; this means that you order the fabric by the yard, but you are in reality getting twice that. It's basically like buying a square yard. But don't use that as a measuring device. This is just a hint for real beginners who may only need a strict yard, who could instead ask for half a yard in the store. People who know how to buy fabric: disregard this.

Selvage: "The narrow woven border on the lengthwise edges of the fabric." --This is usually stuff you don't want to include on your finished garment. It's basically like the margin of your fabric. It's often used in patterns and directions to orient yourself with where things like pattern pieces and cuts should go.

Reverse-stitch:  --The way that a 'reverse-stitch' is useful is at the beginning and end of a seam to keep it from coming undone. Most modern-day machines have some form of a reverse-stitch button (see machine anatomy), so you don't typically have to do it by hand, or worry about it to much except to remember to do it. Without a backstitch, especially on garments for actual use, one fierce tug could pull out the seam little by little. This is also known as a "back tack"

Running stitch: "The simplest form of hand-stitching; small stitches that appear the same on both sides of the fabric, used for gathering." --The kind of stitch you think of when you hear 'sewing' is most likely the 'Running Stitch'. It's a very general kind of stitch, with many variations. It is essentially just a straight line of stitches in any direction.

Basting stitch: "A loose, long, temporary stitch made by hand or machine. Usually made with a contrasting colored thread." --A Basting stitch is essentially just a loose running stitch. Basting is used especially when making garments from patterns when there's much trial and error with fit, and you need a temporary seam just to try something out, or to keep flimsy fabrics from shifting and doing whatever the hell it wants. It's usually easiest to do this by hand to ensure an easy removal, but the way to do this on machine is to run a seam with a longer seam length (see machine anatomy), and forget the back tacking, then just pull the strings when you're done.

Under stitch: "A row of machine-stitching through the facing and seam allowance close to a seamline. This holds the facing to the seam allowances and prevents the facing from rolling to the outside." --If you want more explanation, I describe a little more and there's a video here. This is a pretty common thing to see in pattern directions.

Gathering: "One or two rows of stitching, either hand or machine, that are drawn up to form even fullness." --Ok, I don't think this explains it very well. Gathering can refer to using a running stitch to either give a fabric a rouched texture, or enabling you to make two uneven pieces of fabric become even. Essentially what you do is put a running stitch in the fabric you want to rouche, or the longer of the two pieces you are trying to attach, and leave one end unknotted. You then pull on the unknotted end while pulling the fabric in the opposite direction, and you should get the accordion-like effect that is 'gathering'. For attaching two uneven pieces, you would gather the longer piece until it is the same length as the shorter piece, knot the thread or pin the fabric, and then stitch together.

Dart: "A stitched fold of fabric tapering to a point at one or both ends, used to shape a garment to fit the curves of the body." --Pretty good description, though there are different types of darts. There are  straight darts, curved darts (both concave and convex), and something known as a "Fish Dart" that tapers at both ends. But we'll get into that later.

Grain: "The direction of fabric threads. The yarns running parallel to the selvages form the lengthwise grain; the yarns running form selvage to selvage form the crosswise grain." --Basically follow the natural fabric lines of your fabric to find the grain. Some patterns want you to place pattern cut-outs in a particular orientation compared with the grain.

Hem: "An edge finish formed by folding back the raw edge and stitching it by hand or machine. The depth of the hem and the method of stitching depend on the garment and type of fabric." --Every garment you own should possess some form of hem (unless you've cut them to shit). Typically a hem involves double rolling an edge so that the raw edge is tucked away and out of site, but a single roll is adequate. 

Trim: "To cut away excess fabric in the seam allowances after the seam has been stitched." --This seems obvious now, but just wait till you get to a pattern that tells you to 'trim after every seam' and you're wondering why they want you to undo everything you've just done. It's just good to know the local jargon.