Sewing Pattern Glossary

Terms from pattern making, sewing, fabrics and file formats, explained briefly. With a focus on the digital world.

Fit How to recognise good fit, why fit is neither tightness nor size, and the three things that create it.

Pattern alteration What pattern alteration changes, and why keeping versions is easier when the pattern is a file.

Toile What a toile is for, and how corrections travel back into the pattern more cleanly when it is digital.

Draping How draping works on a dress form, and why the fabric piece can go straight into a digital file.

Pattern labelling What belongs in pattern labelling, and why text has to be carried over deliberately when digitizing.

Multi-size pattern What a multi-size pattern is, and how a sheet with nested sizes is digitized when there is no cut outline.

Size set What a size set contains, and the difference between nesting sizes and keeping them as separate files.

Grading increment What a grading increment defines, why it differs per body area, and where grading actually happens.

Bust point What the bust point is, why darts rotate around it, and how it survives into a digital pattern.

Hipline Where the hipline sits, what it is used for, and why it is the first place a narrow skirt pulls.

Waistline What the waistline marks on a pattern, and why guide lines need separate treatment when digitizing.

Neckline What the neckline is, how its shape defines a garment, and how facings are derived from it.

Armhole What the armhole is, why it consists of two curves, and how its total length is checked.

Sleeve cap What the sleeve cap is, why its length has to match the armhole, and how to compare the two.

Ease What ease adds to a pattern beyond the body measurement, and how to work out how much a pattern holds.

Facing What a facing does, where it sits, and how it is derived from an existing pattern edge.

Fold line What a fold line means on a pattern piece, and why the digital file only holds one half of it.

Grainline What the grainline states, why fabric direction changes how a garment hangs, and when cutting off grain is deliberate.

Matching point What matching points mark on a pattern, how they differ from notches, and why they must survive digitizing.

Dart manipulation How dart manipulation moves a dart without changing the fit, and why a digitized block makes it repeatable.

Hem allowance What a hem allowance is, why it is wider than a seam allowance, and what it means when photographing a pattern.

Seam line What the seam line is, how it relates to the cut edge, and why a digital file must be clear about which one it holds.

Seam What a seam is on a pattern, and why matching edge lengths is easier to check in a digital file.

Contour What the contour of a pattern piece is, and how it is stored separately from the inner lines in a digital file.

Style pattern What separates a style pattern from a block, and why it is worth keeping both as separate files.

Block What a block is, why it carries no style features, where it comes from, and how style patterns grow out of it.

Pattern piece What counts as a single pattern piece, and what information travels with it into a digital file.

Sewing pattern What a sewing pattern contains, the three ways one reaches you, and why most workrooms end up with both paper and files.

Grading What grading is, why sizes do not scale evenly, and where it sits in a digital pattern workflow.

Seam allowance What a seam allowance is, how wide it usually is, and what it means for digitizing a paper pattern.

Notch What a notch marks on a pattern piece, and how notches are handled when a paper pattern is digitized.

Dart What a dart is, how it is built, marked and sewn, and how it is recorded when you digitize a paper pattern.

Cutting layout What a cutting layout balances, and how digitized pieces let you plan fabric use before buying.

Cutting What happens during cutting, and why it matters which line the pattern contour actually is.

Ribbing What ribbing does at a cuff or neckline, and why it is cut shorter than the edge.

Bias binding Why bias binding is cut at forty five degrees, and what that lets it do around curves.

Buttonhole How buttonhole length is worked out from the button, and where its position comes from.

Zipper How a zipper closes an opening, and why its fixed length constrains the pattern.

Lining What a lining does inside a garment, and why its pattern pieces differ from the outer fabric.

Interfacing What interfacing adds to a garment, and how its pieces are derived from the outer fabric.

Pressing What pressing does to fabric, and why it happens during sewing rather than at the end.

Gathering How gathering shortens an edge into even folds, and where it is used.

Easing What easing does with a longer edge, and how to check the extra length on the pattern first.

Hem How a hem is finished, and why its width is already decided in the pattern.

Topstitching What topstitching holds in place, and why it is both functional and decorative.

Flat-felled seam How a flat-felled seam is built, and why it is the seam used on jeans.

French seam How a French seam encloses raw edges, and why it is sewn in two passes.

Overlocker What an overlocker does in one pass, and why knit fabrics are usually sewn with one.

Stitch length What stitch length describes and what value normal seams usually use.

Basting stitch What a basting stitch is for, and why it is meant to be removed again.

Zigzag stitch How a zigzag stitch works, and why it stretches where a straight stitch does not.

Straight stitch How a straight stitch is formed, and why it holds firmly but does not stretch.

Seam finishing What seam finishing does and the common ways to keep a cut edge from fraying.

Twill How twill is woven, what the diagonal line tells you, and which fabrics use it.

Viscose What viscose is made from, why it drapes well, and what it does when wet.

Silk What silk is, how it drapes, and what it reacts badly to.

Wool What wool does as a fibre, and why steam shaping matters in tailoring.

Linen What linen is made from, how it wears, and why creasing is part of its character.

Cotton What cotton does well and badly as a fibre, and why it usually shrinks first.

Pattern repeat What a pattern repeat is, and why matching it across seams costs extra fabric.

Nap What nap is, how to spot it, and why it raises fabric consumption.

Fabric weight What fabric weight in grams per square metre tells you, and why it beats the fibre name.

Fabric consumption What fabric consumption depends on, and how to work it out from digitized pattern pieces.

Fabric width What fabric width means, the common widths, and why it decides how much fabric you need.

Pre-shrinking What pre-shrinking does, and why it belongs before cutting rather than after sewing.

Shrinkage Why fabric shrinks on first washing, and why pattern accuracy alone cannot prevent it.

Stretch What stretch describes, what creates it, and why it changes fit without changing the pattern.

Bias What the bias is, why fabric drapes differently there, and what has to survive into the pattern file.

Weft Which direction the weft runs, and how it differs from the warp in give.

Warp Which direction the warp runs, and why it is the least stretchy direction of a fabric.

Jersey What jersey is, how to tell its two sides apart, and why its edges curl.

Knit fabric How knit fabric is built from loops, and why it needs less ease than a woven.

Woven fabric How woven fabric is constructed, and why it only stretches on the diagonal.

Selvage What the selvage is, why it does not fray, and how it relates to the grain of the fabric.

Cup size How cup size is worked out, and why size charts assuming one fixed cup cause fit problems.

Inseam Where the inseam is measured, and how it works together with the outer leg length.

Sleeve length How sleeve length is measured, and why the arm is bent while measuring.

Shoulder width Where shoulder width is measured from and to, and what it determines on a garment.

Back length What the back length measures, and why it decides where a garment's waist sits.

Hip measurement Where the hip measurement is taken, and the common mistake of measuring at the hip bones.

Waist measurement Where the waist measurement is taken, and why it is not the same place as a trouser waistband.

Bust Where the bust measurement is taken and how the tape should sit.

Sizing system How EU, UK, US and Asian sizing systems relate, and why conversion tables only approximate.

Made-to-measure pattern What makes a pattern made to measure, and why a one off pattern is the one most worth keeping digitally.

Standard size What a standard size actually refers to, and why the number on a pattern is not proof of its measurements.

Finished measurements What finished measurements describe, and how to read them off a digitized pattern before cutting.

Body measurements How body measurements are taken, and why they are not the same as the measurements of a pattern.

Size chart What a size chart contains, why every brand has its own, and how to pick a size when measurements land in different ones.

Digitizing tablet How a digitizing tablet works, what it is good at, and where photo based digitizing takes over.

Checkerboard reference What the checkerboard reference is for, and why it is only used once and never during digitizing itself.

DPI What DPI actually describes, and why print scaling matters more than the number when you print reference tiles.

Resolution What image resolution means, and why more pixels are not what makes a digitized pattern accurate.

Tolerance What tolerance means when digitizing patterns, and why measuring your own result is part of the workflow.

True to scale What it means for a pattern file to be true to scale, and how to check it in under a minute.

Scale What scale means for a pattern file, and why a photograph carries no scale until something of known size is in the frame.

Control point What control points are on a vector curve, and how they let you adjust a digitized contour.

Contour detection What contour detection does with a photographed pattern piece, and when you draw the outline by hand instead.

Lens distortion How lens distortion bends straight lines, why it shows up in pattern measurements, and what actually removes it.

Calibration profile What a calibration profile stores, why it is created once per device, and when a phone does not need one at all.

Tracing What tracing a pattern by hand involves, and why it carries the photo's distortion into the file.

Digitizing What digitizing a sewing pattern means, the three usual routes into a file, and what makes a digitized pattern actually usable.

Reference tile What reference tiles do, why there are four of them, how far from the piece they sit, and what the lead tile is for.

Perspective correction What perspective correction does to a photographed pattern piece, and why a photo alone is not a measurement.

Vector program What a vector program is for, which ones are free, and what belongs in pattern CAD instead.

Grafis What Grafis is used for, and which PatternScan Pro export has actually been tested with it.

CLO3D What CLO3D does with flat pattern pieces, and which formats bring a paper pattern into it.

CAD What CAD means in apparel, what happens there, and where digitizing sits in relation to it.

Plot file What a plot file contains, which formats plotters read, and why true millimetres decide the outcome.

Tiled PDF How a tiled PDF splits a pattern across printer pages, and the one setting that decides whether it fits.

PACX What a PACX file contains, and what it means for a pattern to arrive in CLO3D with editable curves.

AAMA and ASTM What the AAMA and ASTM conventions add to a DXF file, and why pattern CAD expects them.

SVG What an SVG holds, which programs open it, and when DXF or PACX is the better choice instead.

Layer What layers do in a pattern file, and which parts of a pattern belong on separate ones.

Polyline What a polyline is, how it differs from a real curve, and how many segments a DXF curve is split into.

Bezier curve What a Bezier curve is, and why keeping curves as Beziers matters when you edit a digitized pattern.

Raster graphic What a raster graphic is, and why the step from raster to vector is the heart of digitizing a pattern.

Vector graphic What a vector graphic stores instead of pixels, why patterns need it, and where vectors reach their limit.

DXF What DXF is, why pattern making uses it, and which DXF variants PatternScan Pro writes.

Tracing wheel What a tracing wheel transfers, and the two usual ways of using one.

Tape measure What a tape measure is used for, and why an old one is worth checking against a ruler.

French curve What a French curve is used for, and which digital tool takes over its job.

Rotary cutter How a rotary cutter works, and why it cuts more precisely than scissors.

Plotter What a plotter does with a pattern file, and how to use one without owning the machine.

Cutting plotter What a cutting plotter does, and why layer separation decides what actually gets cut.

Sewing machine How a sewing machine forms a stitch, and what separates domestic from industrial machines.

Projector How projecting a sewing pattern works, and why it needs a file that is true to scale.