The terms
- Ease
- The difference between a body measurement and the garment measurement at the same point. Positive ease is room; zero or negative ease means the fabric has to stretch to fit.
- GSM
- Grams per square metre: the mass of one square metre of fabric. It predicts weight and opacity, not drape, warmth or stretch.
- Grading
- Producing the other sizes from a base pattern by applying a rule to each point of measure, rather than scaling the whole piece.
- Point of measure
- A named place on the garment where a measurement is taken, with instructions for where the tape goes. Chest 2.5 cm below the armhole is a point of measure; chest is not.
- Overlock
- A machine that trims the edge and wraps it with thread in one pass. The standard knit seam, usually with 6 mm of allowance.
- Cover stitch
- A flat, stretchy stitch used on hems and cuffs, with two or three needles on the face and a looper underneath.
- Self-fabric
- A trim cut from the same fabric as the body, such as a self-fabric neck binding instead of a rib one.
- Sanforised
- Pre-shrunk by compressive finishing at the mill, so the garment moves less in the first wash. The mill should state the residual shrinkage.
- Seam allowance
- The fabric between the cut edge and the stitch line — what the machine consumes to make the join.
- Bar tack
- A dense group of stitches used to reinforce a stress point, such as the corners of a pouch pocket.
- Twin needle
- Two parallel rows of topstitching sewn in one pass, common on t-shirt hems and sleeve openings.
- Rib
- A knit with vertical columns of face and back loops, which gives it high stretch and strong recovery. Necks, cuffs and waistbands are rib.
- Placket
- A finished opening, usually with a facing and buttons, as on a polo or a henley.
- Tolerance
- The amount a finished measurement may differ from the spec before the piece is rejected. Usually ±1 cm on a chest, ±0.5 cm on a neck.
- Marker
- The layout of every pattern piece on the fabric width, arranged to waste as little as possible. It sets the fabric consumption per garment.
- Nest
- All graded sizes of one pattern piece drawn on top of each other, so the grade can be read at a glance.
- Notch
- A small cut on a pattern edge that tells the sewer which two points must meet. Missing notches are how a sleeve ends up rotated.
- Grain line
- The direction of the fabric a pattern piece must be aligned to. Cut off-grain and the garment twists after washing.
- Binding
- A strip of fabric folded over a raw edge to finish it, common on tank armholes and inside necklines.
- Tape
- A narrow strip sewn into a seam to stop it stretching, most often across the back neck and along the shoulders.
- Colourway
- One colour version of a style. It changes a named set of attributes and nothing else, so the pattern and the measurements stay shared.
- Trim
- Anything on the garment that is not the main fabric: buttons, labels, cords, eyelets, zips. Trims are sourced separately and often made elsewhere.
- MOQ
- Minimum order quantity: the smallest run a factory or mill will take, usually stated per colourway rather than per style.
- Lay plan
- How many plies of fabric are stacked and how the marker sits on them before cutting.
- Shrinkage
- How much the fabric loses after washing, given separately for length and width. It has to be added to the pattern, not hoped away.
- Recovery
- How completely a stretched fabric returns to its original size. A rib with poor recovery gives a neck that gapes after a month.
- Pique
- A textured double knit with a raised waffle-like surface, used for polos because it holds a collar.
- Interlock
- Two jerseys knitted into each other, giving the same face on both sides and edges that do not curl.
- French terry
- A knit with uncut loops on the back, lighter and springier than fleece at the same weight.
- Fully fashioned
- A knit garment whose panels are knitted to shape rather than cut from yardage, so there is nothing to cut away.
The four worth reading about properly
Seam allowance — because there is no single standard width and the reason why is useful. GSM — because it predicts less than people think. Grading — because the instinct to scale everything equally is wrong. And points of measure — because the difference between a body measurement and a garment measurement costs a sample.