Sewing Terms That Every Beginner Needs To Know

There are hundreds of sewing terms that can be really overwhelming if you are new to sewing. Here we cover the basic terms that you are bound to come across and need to know to navigate the world of PDF Patterns

Click On Any Of The Terms To Take You To Their Definition​
  • Woven
  • Knit
  • Notions
  • Seam Allowance
  • Right Side
  • Straight Stitch
  • Backstitch
  • Zig-Zag
  • Fold
  • Seam
  • Wrong Side
  • Notch
  • Overlock
  • Darts
  • Topstitch
  • Tension
  • Gather
  • Baste
  • Pattern
  • Clip
  • Woven
  • Woven fabric is non-stretch fabric
  • Think button down shirt
  • If the pattern involves darts it’s probably made for woven fabric
  • Knit
  • Knit fabric is stretchy fabric
  • Like t-shirt material or leggings etc
  • If its stretchy is probably knit
  • Notions
  • ‘Notions’ is a sewing term for extra things or accessories
  • Buttons, zips, elastic etc are all notions
  • Seam Allowance
  • The seam allowance is the distance from the raw edge of the fabric to the sewing line
  • Generally this will be between 1 and 1.5cm
  • Right Side
  • The Right Side of the fabric is the side you want on the outside – the pretty side
  • When sewing, you will almost always sew things with ‘right sides together’ / ‘right sides facing’. This means that the pretty sides are touching, and the ugly sides are visible
  • When you then sew this, it will open out, so the right sides are smooth and the wrong sides have the visible sewing line
  • Straight Stitch
  • The most commonly sewn stitch
  • The ‘regular’ stitch on your sewing machine
  • The stitches should be uniform, and the thread should be on one side and the bobbin on the other
  • If you can see the bobbin colour on the thread side or vice versa then you can play around with the tension on your machine
  • Backstitch / Backtack
  • When sewing seams, you always want to backstitch/ backtack at the beginner and the end of the line
  • This is your machine’s way of tying a knot, so the threads don’t come undone
  • There will be a button on your machine that makes it sew backwards and you only need to do a couple stitches back at the beginning and end
  • Zig-Zag
  • Zig-zag is the most common stitch for stretchy fabrics
  • It will stretch with the fabric whereas a straight stitch will not – a straight stitch will probably snap if you try and stretch it
  • Play around with stitch length until the zig zags look nice and even
  • Fold
  • Lots of pattern pieces will have a fold line marked
  • This means the fabric needs to be folded, with the folded edge on that line before it is cut out
  • This ensure that the two sides of the piece will by symmetrical and involves half the cutting
  • DON’T CUT ALONG A FOLD LINE
  • Seam
  • A seam is the line where two pieces of fabric a joined together
  • E.g. Down the side of a t-shirt there will be a side seam
  • E.g. at the top of the shoulder on a t-shirt there will be a shoulder seam
  • If you are told to ‘sew a seam’ it just means sewing two pieces together
  • Wrong Side
  • The opposite of Right side!
  • The side you don’t want to see at the end – the inside of the fabric
  • If your fabric looks the pretty much the same on both sides then don’t worry too much about sides
  • Notch
  • Notching means cutting small triangles in the seam allowance
  • This helps rounded edges lie flat and helps corners turn out neatly when turned the right way out
  • Make sure not to cut any sewing when making notches
  • If there is too much fabric on a curve it will be bulky, notches help with this
  • Overlocker / Serger
  • A special type of sewing machine that makes the edges of the fabric neat and is good for sewing knit fabrics as it stretches well
  • The overlocker I use and love is the Brother 1034D
  • You can, however, do a mock overlock on most modern sewing machines (this is just a stitch that looks similar to an overlock and helps stop the edges from fraying)
  • Darts
  • Darts are generally triangle or diamond shapes that are sewn to give a garment more shape
  • Some common places for darts are the bust, back and waist.
  • Darts are generally not needed on knit / stretchy fabric but will be needed on woven / non-stretchy fabric to help it curve to the body
  • If a pattern has marked darts do not cut them out! Just mark them on your fabric with chalk or pins
  • Topstitch
  • Topstitching generally means sewing so the stitching is visible
  • It often helps make something look neater or keep it in place
  • The pocket on a button-down shirt will be topstitched around the edges
  • It can be done in matching or contrasting thread
  • Using a blind hem foot helps keep your top stitching in a straight line
  • Tension
  • The tension is how much thread the machine allows through at each time
  • To create nice, even and uniform stitches you need the right tension
  • If the tension is right, then you shouldn’t be able to see the bobbin colour on one side of the fabric and equally you shouldn’t be able to see the thread colour on one side of the fabric
  • Gather
  • Gathering makes longer bits of fabric shorter by making lots of little pleats
  • To gather you can sew a basting stitch and leave long thread tails
  • Then pull on one of the tails and slide the fabric up until it is gathered to the right length
  • Baste
  • Basting just means sewing something together temporarily
  • To baste you do not need to backstitch at the beginning or end
  • Generally basting is done on a long stitch length
  • It is easy to then take out when no longer necessary
  • Pattern
  • A sewing pattern is the shape that you need to cut fabric into in order for it to make the garment you want
  • They will also generally come with instructions for the construction of the garment
  • Clip
  • Clipping just means cutting a short line into the fabric but making sure not to cut any sewing
  • Generally rounded edges are clipped so that they lie flatter
  • So if a pattern says, ‘clip curves’ it just means cut a few short lines in the seam allowance on the curve