Basic Sewing Terms Every Seamstress Should Know

If you have just started sewing, chances are you have encountered many different terms you may never have heard of. There are many different terms that are exclusive to this craft. When sewing it is important to understand the terminology. Familiarizing yourself with sewing terms will help make your projects flow easier and can help improve thee quality of your work.

Here are a few common sewing terms every seamstress should know:

Hem- This is the edge of sewn fabric. Most of your clothes are hemmed- this gives the fabric a “finished” look. To hem fabric- fold the raw edge of the fabric over om itself at about a half inch. Fold it again and then stitch it in place.

Pin- Pins help to hold the fabric in place as you are sewing. They can be used to hem a single piece of fabric or to join two separate pieces of fabric together. When a patter says to “pin” something it means to insert the pins into the fabric to hold it together.

Presser foot- This name may seem confusing, but this device is a small metal attachment that goes on your sewing machine. The presser foot is very important to sewing because it helps hold the fabric in place as the machine stitches your material together.

Seam allowance- seam allowance is extra space on your fabric to account for the seams you will sew. When you sew two pieced of fabric together it creates a seam. The seam holds the fabric together, but it also uses space on your material which is why most patterns will advise you to cut your pattern out with a certain measurement for seam allowance.

Basting- In this instance basting has nothing to do with cooking a turkey! Basting for sewing is when you create an easy-to-remove running stitch to hold two pieces of fabric together. Basting is also called tacking. Basting stitches help to hold fabric in place temporarily and can be beneficial for testing the fit of a project or holding slippery fabric in place.

These are just a few common sewing terms that may help the process of completing your next project!

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