Your best friend in the sewing room. It is a tool with a small hook on one end that can slip under a stitch and get close enough to it to cut the stitch. I personally have learned as much about sewing [..]

Usually thought of as a small printed (often flowers) cotton or blend used for quilting or applique, garments, or home decorating. Tightly woven. Calico popularity tends to come and go, but for quilti [..]

A button with space left between the button and fabric. A shank button is one made with a shank, an extension on the back of the button through which the thread passes to sew the button onto the garme [..]

The part of the sewing machine that holds the bobbin. In some machines, it's under the needle plate. Some older machines had them next to the needle plate with a clear lid that slides in order to [..]

The fabric between the edge of the fabric and the line of stitching, about 5/8" for most patterns. (Craft patterns often allow 1/4" seam allowance.)

Fabric that has the capability to absorb moisture.

A shiny fabric that is not very strong, dries quicky and rarely shrinks. Triacetate is a newer acetate that doesn't seem to melt like acetate. Can be melted with nail polish remover. Acetate may [..]

Fabric made from petroleum products. Colorfast, washable and able to be dried in the machine, wrinkle resistant, with a wool-like texture, though does not take heat well. Don't iron this wonder f [..]

On a sewing machine, an adaptor is used to change your sewing foot easily.

Skirt term which describes a garment smaller at the waist than the hem, flaring out in the shape of an A.