Basting is making a temporary seam, most of the time hand-sewn with large stitches that will be easy to undo. This seam holds together pieces before the final seam is made. It is particularly useful for complex assemblies such as sleeves with give at the…

The word “bias” refers to fabric bias: 45° from the grainline. Cutting a piece of fabric this way (“bias cut”) means aligning the grainline arrow of the pattern piece to a line placed 45° from the fabric grainline. Bias cut woven pieces have more elasticity…

There are several parts to a collar: a shirt collar has two main parts, which are the collar band (the part that gives height to the collar, and that is hidden under the collar fall once worn) and the collar fall (made with the upper…

The part of pants that follows the inside leg from the center front of the waistline to the same point at the center back.

Sewing a non-elastic fabric does not allow the shape of the body to be follwed accurately. Making a dart is a way to get around this issue and to handle the body volumes. A dart is made by folding the fabric and sewing that fold…

Two meanings for the word “ease” as far as sewing is concerned: – The ease is the extra amount of fabric placed in every pattern piece in addition to the measurements of the body itself. When ease is minimal (for a close-fitting garment), it is…

A piece of fabric that reproduces the shape of the edge of a garment (armhole, neckline, lapels of a collar etc). The facing is sewn to the edge concerned, then turned to the inside of the garment. The seam is thus invisible and the final…

This dress-making tracing tool is made of various types of curves and is quite strong and flat. It is used to trace curved lines when creating or modifying a sewing pattern.

A French seam is a a finishing technique that allows a neat finish inside a garment, by hiding the seam allowance. Sew a first seam close to the edge (for example 0,5cm/0.2” from the edge), placing the two pieces wrong sides facing, then turn your…

On a collar with a lapel (such as a tailored collar), the gorge line is the seam that separates the collar itself from its lapel. This seam is a distinguishing feature of the tailored collar.