| Armscye |
The armhole of a garment. The armhole
part of the pattern. |
| Apex |
The highest point or tip of the bust. |
| Apex of a Dart |
The point at which the dart tapers
to an end. |
| Balance |
An element of fit. Equality in amount,
weight, value, importance, or effect from side to side and from front to
back. |
| Bar Code |
The printed Universal Product Code (UPC) that
appears on products to identify their price, size, color,
and stock keeping number. The bar code may appear on the tag
or packaging of the item and is often scanned when the item
is purchased. The UPC is made up of vertical lines in a set
pattern that represents the number that is printed
underneath it. |
| Bar Tack |
A group of overlapping or very closely
touching stitches used to reinforce small areas of a garment
that might experience strain during normal wear. The tops of pockets are
often bar-tacked on each side |
| Basic Block |
Basic foundation pattern, made of tag board or
plastic, that fits the target customer. (Standard size is
usually an 8 for Misses sizes.) (See also Sloper) |
| Baste |
A temporary method of holding two or more layers of
fabric together by sewing by hand or machine with long
stitches. |
| Bias |
Any direction that is not the lengthwise or
crosswise grain of a woven fabric (see also True Bias) |
| Blend (1) |
More than one fiber type mixed together in a
fabric. |
| Blend (2) |
Smoothing lines when altering the
pattern. |
| Blind Hem |
A machine stitched hem made by folding
the hem back and using a machine (industrial) or stitch and
foot (home machine) designed for producing a hem that does
not show on the front. |
| Block |
See "Basic Block." |
| Bobbin |
A
small plastic or metal spool that holds the lower
thread. Used on the industrial lockstitch and home sewing
machines |
| Boning |
Stiff plastic or metal strips sewn to garment seams
to add shape and support. (Historically made from whale
bone.) |
Border Design
Fabric |
A fabric incorporating a woven,
printed, painted or embroidered band or pattern along one or
both selvages. The design is often placed at the hem
of the skirt and/or sleeve. |
Bound
Buttonhole |
A buttonhole that is backed with narrow strips of
fabric that meet like lips to cover the opening. Used on
some jackets and other tailored garments. |
| Bra Size |
The number equal to under-bust
measurement plus five or six inches, whichever results in an
even number. (Also
see Cup Size.) |
| Break (in pants) |
Slight indentation that occurs between
the knee and ankle when the pants are slightly longer than
the top of the shoe. |
| Bundle |
Cut pieces grouped for assembly line production
sewing. |
| Casing |
A tunnel of fabric, usually made by folding over a
cut edge or sewing an additional strip of fabric on at the
cut edge. Elastic or a drawstring may be threaded through a
casing. |
| Clip |
A small cut in the seam allowance,
almost to the stitching, used to spread or ease the outer
edges of curved seams |
| Collar stand |
The part of a two-piece collar that
stands up next to the neck |
| Computer Aided Design (CD) |
Computerized system for doing design
tasks. Uses software that may be tailored specifically to
clothing or other tasks. |
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