A is for...

Ankara: With interesting patterns, bold prints and an abundance of colours, African wax fabrics have graced a growing number of home sewists tables. This bundle of colourful goodness, also commonly known as Ankara fabric or Dutch wax, is wonderfully versatile.

B is for...

Basting: A loose temporary stitch to hold the pieces in place, which will be removed later.

Beaded Fabric: Fancy fabric with beads added as embellishments

Buttonholes: Master sewing perfect buttonholes, using a buttonhole sewing foot on your sewing machine. We show you the best hacks to make it easy to achieve a professional finish.

C is for...

Capsule Wardrobe

A capsule wardrobe is a collection of garments which have been carefully curated so that they can be mixed and matched, giving you as many outfit options as possible from as few garments as possible.

Capsule wardrobes are useful for travel but they’re great for everyday wear too. If you are trying to transition to a handmade wardrobe, creating your own capsule collection is a great way to start.

Clip and notch: Trimming away small triangles of fabric from the inside of a curve to remove bulk in the seam.

Concealed zip/zipper: See Invisible Zipper

Covered Buttons: Covered buttons add a chic finish to your garment. You'll only need a little excess fabric to make matching buttons but it can be fun to add contrast buttons in a complimentary colour.

Five FREE Vintage Sewing Patterns

F is for...

Fabric

Whether you're a beginner sewist or veteran dressmaker, it always helps to have a list of go-to fabrics for your patterns! We have a handy guide to some of the more common dressmaking fabric, along with what kind of styles they best suit and their typical fibre content.

Flat fell seams: A flat fell seam is a super strong, neat seam finish most often seen on jeans and reversible garments.

French Seams: A French Seam neatly tidies away raw edges and creates a beautiful finish to the inside of your sewing projects.

G is for...

Gathers

There are a few different techniques for sewing gathers, and some are better suited to certain fabrics or applications than others. Elisalex de Castro Peake shares how she learned to love gathering and gives her top tips and tutorials to help you along the way.

I is for...

Invisible Zippers

Invisible zips (aka concealed zippers) are a fantastic string to any dressmaker’s bow and this clever foot means inserting them couldn’t be easier. Sewing as closely as possible to the fastener is crucial in achieving success with invisible zippers, and this foot accomplishes that by slightly unrolling the zipper. Once it’s been fitted, your zip will simply look like a part of the seam.

J is for...

Jersey

Jersey is an almost ideal sewing fabric, especially for inexperienced sewists. Wide variety of uses pairs up with user-friendliness, meaning you don't have to create complicated patterns or tons of darts to create something unique and good looking.

M is for...

Marking

Whether you sew garments, quilts, accessories or home dcor, you will find that some projects require you to temporarily mark the placement of closures, darts, pockets, appliqus, stitching lines and other design elements. Sometimes a pin or a small snip in the seam allowance will do, but you often need more precise markings that won't disappear too quickly but also won't scar your fabric forever.

N is for...

Needles (machine): There are lots of different type needles for all types of fabrics, getting the right needle for the job is as important as selecting the right fabric. Check out our guide for lots of top tips!

5 Free Dramatic Dresses to Sew

P is for...

Pattern

This is the instructions and images you need to create a finished item. Sewing patterns have their own conventions, so we've created a handy guide to show you how to follow a pattern and a tutorial to show you how to print a PDF pattern.

PDF pattern: A sewing pattern presented digitally in PDF format.

Piping: Adding piping to the edge of a handmade garment can give it a wonderfully professional finish, and it's easier than it looks!

Presser foot: The sewing machine presser foot is the small attachment that usually smoothes and flattens the fabric as it is fed through the machine and stitched. There are lots of different presser feet for all kinds of sewing jobs.

R is for...

RS: Right side. This is the side of the fabric which will face outwards.

S is for...

Scuba: Scuba fabric is a type of double knit made from polyester and spandex, with a very fine gauge thread, and smooth texture.

Seam

The seam is where two pieces of fabric are joined together. Seams can be finished in many different ways, depending on the fabric and the needs of the garment, such as by overlocking, top-stitching or simply using pinking shears.

Seam Allowance: The amount of fabric around the edge of a pattern piece which will form the seam.

Snap Fasteners: Give your garment a professional finish by following our tips and tricks for installing snap fasteners.

Stitch settings: Whether your machine has a digital screen or has a manual selection dial, you will see these icons showing how the stitch looks.

Swimwear

Theres never been a better time to try sewing your own swimwear, with plenty of fabric suppliers, lots of great patterns and an abundance of online info to help you along the way. If you're looking for a sewing challenge to boost your skills this year, why not try a DIY swimsuit? Claire-Louise shares her top tips for a flawless finish when sewing your own swimming costume!

T is for...

Tailor's Tacks

A thread marking, known as a tailor's tack is still the best way to transfer the markings from the pattern pieces to the fabric. A tailors tack is simple to make and very accurate. They are used primarily to mark the dots on a pattern that represent darts and matching points.

Thread: Achieving a professional finish is not just about your sewing skills. You need to not only use the right fabric, the right needle but also the correct thread. Just like a delicious recipe, the better the ingredients, the better the taste.

U is for...

Unpicking

When you make a mistake in sewing, you will sometimes need to unpick and try again. Follow our quick and easy masterclass to pick up tips and tricks for using a seam ripper efficiently!

W is for...

Wool: Although other animals such as alpacas, goats, llamas and even bunny rabbits produce fibre which can be spun and woven or knitted into luxury fabric, its only sheep that can make wool!

WS: Wrong side. This will be the inside/hidden side of your fabric.

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