| Applique | refers to small piece of decorative material that’s sewn on top of fashion fabric either by hand or machine |
| Basting | a loose temporary sewing stitch to hold layers of fabric together (5.0 stitch length) |
| Bias | any diagonal grain that intersects the croswise and lengthwise grains |
| Casing | a tube of fabric that is sewn in order to hold, or encase, elastic or a drawstring |
| Dart | a triangular shape sewn onto a flat piece of fabric, allowing the fabric to conform to the contours of a body |
| Easing | making a larger piece of fabric fit with a smaller piece so that both can be sewn in to the same seam |
| Facing | sewn to the edge of the garment and turned under to create a professional finish; most often used on necklines, sleeveless garments and waistbands |
| Gathering | gathering fabric into a smaller, predetermined area along one or more stitiching lines |
| Hem | a turned-under edge, to the inside of a sewn item, made by folding the edge of the sewn item to the inside of the item |
| Inseam | the seam on the inside of the leg of a garment |
| Interfacing | special fabric used to support, shape, and stabilize areas, edges, and details of a garment; reinforces and prevents stretching, increase the life of a garment |
| Pressing | up and down motion with the iron. used in garment construction |
| Seam Allowance | the amount of space from the sewing line of the pattern; most commercial patterns have 5/8" seam allowance |
| Seam Finish | any technique used to make a seam edge look neater and/or keep it from fraying |
| Selvage | a firmly woven strip formed along each lengthwise edge of finished fabric |
| Slip Stitch | done by hand and is relatively invisible |
| Stay Stitch | a permanent line of stitching within the seam allowance about 1/8" away from the sewing line; keeps the curve from stretching out and becoming distorted. |
| Top Stitch | machine stitches done from the right side of a garment for either a decorative effect or for functional reasons |
Fabric background by Amy Butler
Sewing machine and directions featured in this website is the "Elizabeth" by Baby Lock