As a novice sewist, I find that I keep coming across words I just don’t understand. To me, bias is not liking someone because they’re a Vikings fan, and the right side is the side I prefer to get photographed on (AKA all of my sides, I’m gorgeous). I figured I can’t be the only one out there who thinks grain is what people make bread out of, so I put together a little cheat sheet of the most commonly used terms when it comes to fabric.
Selvage
The selvage is an edge produced on woven fabric during manufacture that prevents it from unraveling. This is typically along the length of the fabric, but can sometimes be along the width. This edge is usually pretty ugly, but more skilled and imaginative sewers can incorporate this into their designs.
Grain
The grain is the direction of the fabric that runs parallel to the selvage.
Bias
The bias runs diagonally to the grain of the fabric. It is the stretchiest part of the fabric.
Hand
The hand is simply the way a fabric feels in the hand; its texture, smoothness, softness, etc.
Right Side
The right side is the front, or outside, of the fabric, which is also referred to as the face. Like the side you want to be photographed on, the right side is the one that you want showing when you complete a garment.
Wrong Side
The wrong side is the back side of the fabric, or the side you want on the inside of a garment.
Warp (or Length)
The warp is the threads running along the selvage of a woven fabric, which is also referred to as the lengthwise grain.
Weft (or Width)
The weft is the threads running at a 90° to the length of a woven fabric, which is also referred to as the cross grain.
Horizontal Repeat
The horizontal repeat is the specific measurement of the pattern repeating along the weft.
Vertical Repeat
The vertical repeat is the specific measurement of the pattern repeating along the warp. At Mood, the vertical repeat of the fabric is the length of a panel.
Are there any other terms novice sewists should know? Let us know in the comments!
4 comments
I get calls from family members that are just starting to so that want to know what RST stands for. A lot of time instructions just say RST which is right sides together but they never tell you that they just use the abbreviation. So you might write a column on abbreviations. Because I’m sure there are more.
That’s a great idea! The first time I checked out a sewing pattern it was like a totally different language, so I’ll start compiling a list of abbreviations!
A pronunciation guide! So many fabrics are French in name, and I’ve learned long and hard how to say them correctly but it was embarrassing several times!
I wish that I had this like 30 something years ago when I started sewing.