Now that you’ve started sewing, there are a few common sewing terms that you’re bound to run across in patterns. It’s perfectly natural to misunderstand the directions if you’re still scratching your head on some of the lingo! We’ve rounded up more than 60 words related to sewing and quilting. Feel free to bookmark or Pin this page for easy reference later on!

A

Appliqué —The act of sewing one piece of fabric onto another piece. The shape of fabric that is attached can also be called an appliqué.

B

Backstitch — Sewing backwards over the loose threads at the beginning or end of a stitch, in order to secure it.

Baste — The act of sewing long stitches to temporarily hold together two pieces of fabric. This can be done by hand or by lengthening the stitch length of your machine.

Batting — A thin or thick fiber used for the middle layer of quilts. It’s known as wadding in some countries.

Bobbin — A plastic or metalspindle that rests in the bottom of the sewing machine. Thread is wound around it and brought up to meet the top thread to form a stitch.

Bias — A diagonal 45-degree angle of the fabric which has the most stretch. You can cut along this line to make bias binding.

Binding — The folded strips of fabric that often enclose the edge of quilts, bags, or garments.

Buttonhole — A small cut in the fabric that is bound with machine stitching and sized to fit a button. A buttonhole foot is attached to the sewing machine to get the appropriate size.

C

Casing — A folded over edge of fabric used to enclose a drawstring, such as in sweatpants or a drawstring bag.

Clip — To use small scissors to cut into the seam allowance of a project, being careful not to cut the actual seam. Useful around curves.

Cording —  Cord is a thin, round cotton “rope” made especially for sewing. It comes in a variety of thicknesses. Cording is used to create piping which is a detail in fashion or home décor. (see piping).

Cutting mat — A self-healing surface used for rotary cutting fabric. It is often marked with grid lines.

D

Dart — A wedge-shaped fold sewn into fabric to take in ease and provide shape to a garment.

Drape — The fluid way that the fabric hangs (i.e. stiff or loose) when you hold it.

E

Ease — Adding ease while sewing a clothing pattern means to adjust a garment for fit and comfort.

Edge stitch — Straight-line stitching very close to the edge of the fabric, usually a folded edge.  It is done as a reinforcing stitch as well as a decorative stitch.

Embroidery — A machine- or hand-stitched design applied to fabric with thread. Can be a monogram, a picture, or word used to decorate or personalize a project.

F

Fabric Grain — Related to the direction a fabric is woven or knit together. When looking at a piece of fabric, you can see the grain, or the lines running parallel and perpendicular to the selvedge. (See warp and weft.)

Facing — Cut of fabric used to finish the raw edge of a garment (often around a neckline or armhole).

Fat quarter — A cut of cotton fabric measuring 18” x 22” often collected by quilters. A fat eighth is 18” x 11”.

Feed dog — Feed dogs are the little metal teeth that are found inside of your sewing machine's needle plate. The purpose of the feed dogs is to grab your fabric and feed it through the sewing machine so that you can focus on all of your other sewing needs.

Finger press — To use your fingers to apply pressure and push a seam open or to one side.

Foot pedal — This pedal sits on the floor and is connected to your machine using a cord. Simply press it downwards to power a sewing machine.

G

Gather — Gathering is a sewing technique for shortening the length of a strip of fabric so that the longer piece can be attached to a shorter piece.

H

Hand — This word describes how a fabric feels when touched.

Hand wheel — The knob on the right side of a sewing machine that can be turned to adjust the needle height.

Hem — A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments.

Hook and eye closure — Small metal fasteners used to secure a garment closed (such as the one on the back of a bra).

I

Interfacing — A fiber that is sewn or heat-fused to the back side of a fabrics to add support and strength. Also called a stabilizer.

L

Lining — An extra layer of fabric that is sewn on the inside of a garment or bag to hide any seams.

M

Muslin — An inexpensive (usually undyed cotton) fabric used to create a prototype of a garment and adjust the fit before sewing the final version.

N

Nap — A directional texture that can be felt on some fabrics (like suede), requiring you to think about what direction to cut and sew all pattern pieces together.

Notions — Tools used for sewing (like a seam ripper) or accessories sewn onto projects (like thread, buttons, and zippers).

O

Overlocker — Also known as a serger, this is a special sewing machine using multiple spools of thread (3 or 4).  It trims, sews and finishes the edge of your fabric, in one step.

P

Patchwork — The result of sewing together small pieces of fabric into a larger piece of fabric. Often seen in quiltmaking.

Pattern — Instructions for how to sew a project, including shapes you can trace and cut out from paper before cutting them from fabric.

Pleat — A sharp crease created by folding fabric on top of itself, stitching it down, and pressing.

Presser foot — The part of a sewing machine that rests on top of the fabric while stitching. Machines often come with interchangeable presser feet, which each have a specific function (embroidery, sewing zippers, etc.).

Piping – Piping is a coordinating or contrasting edge along the seams of pillows and more. To make piping, you take a bias strip of fabric and fold it over cording and then simply sew the piping into your seam.

Q

Quilting —  Layering fabric, batting and fabric and stitching the layers together by hand or machine.

R

Raw edge — The cut edge of a piece of fabric before it is finished or hemmed.

Right side — The pretty side of the fabric designed to be placed on the outside of the project.

Ruching — Ruching is a French term which means "to gather, ruffle, or pleat." It is a sewing technique in which fabric or ribbon is gathered in a repeating pattern to form ruffles, scallops, or petals.

Running stitch — A hand-sewing stitch that goes in and out of the fabric to create a dashed line.

S

Seam — The stitch line where two fabric pieces are sewn together.

Seam allowance — The width between the edge of the fabric and the seam line. Usually ¼” for patchwork, 5/8” for garment sewing and ½” for home decor.

Seam ripper — A small hook-shaped tool used to remove stitches from a piece of fabric. Usually lovingly referred to as the “unstitcher.”

Selvedge — This is the edges of both sides of the fabric along the fabric length. Usually, the selvedge has printing on it to identify the brand, fabric name and colors used to print the fabric’s design. It also prevents fabric from fraying on the bolt.

Serger — Often called an overlock machine or overlocker, this is a special sewing machine using multiple spools of thread (3 or 4). It trims, sews and finishes the edge of your fabric, in one step.

Slip stitch — An invisible hand sewing stitch that is used to discretely close an opening after a project is turned.

Spool pin — Sewing machine accessory that keeps your spool of thread spool in place while sewing.

Staystitch — A stitch line done as preparation before you start constructing your garment. Its purpose is to stabilize a certain area and prevent it from stretching once you start to sew.

Straight stitch — The most basic machine stitch—a straight line.  

T

Tailor’s chalk — A piece of chalk used to tract a pattern onto fabric.

Thread cutter — A small blade used to cut thread while machine sewing. Some machines have an automatic or manual thread cutter built in.

Topstitch — A technique applied by stitching parallel to the edge of a project, to add decoration and sturdiness.

W

Walking foot — A presser foot often used in straight line quilting for the way it holds layers together. The foot evenly feeds the layers, moving them under the needle at the same pace thus preventing the layers from becoming uneven during sewing. 

Warp — The lengthwise threads in woven fabric (up and down).

Weft — The crosswise threads in woven fabric (side to side).

Wrong side — The back side of the fabric that is not meant to show in the project.

Y

Yardage — Fabric that is pulled and purchased from the bolt.You may buy it by the yard or meter, depending on your location.

Z

Zigzag stitch — A stretchy machine stitch that runs back and forth in diagonal lines. It’s useful to prevent raw edges from fraying.

Zipper foot — A sewing machine attachment with a unique design that allows you to stitch close to a zipper’s coils. 

The next time you see a sewing term that you aren’t quite sure about, be sure to refer back to this handy sewing terms glossary. Happy sewing!

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