Five Star Embroidery’s guide to understanding the jargon

Having worked in the clothing and textiles industry for many years we have become familiar with the terms used by our colleagues and industry peers.  We know sometimes there is jargon and terminology that can be baffling to our customers. Here’s a great list we’ve put together to help you understand the terms we might use when describing our products to you.

A-line

A style where the dress fits at the shoulder or the skirt at the waist and gradually flares out to a wider hemline, causing it to resemble the letter A.

Appliqué

To cut shapes from textile or fabrics and sew or glue them to another fabric or garment in order to decorate the base material.

Asymmetric style

A design where each side of the garment is different in structure to the other side.  In clothing this is typically seen in areas such as collars, necklines, closings or hemlines.

Batwing sleeve

This means the sleeve will fit closely at the wrist and widen to be very full under the arm.  From the back, the sleeves will resembles a cape.

Bias/Bias cut

Bias means the diagonal direction of a woven fabric. Unless woven from stretch yarns, fabrics stretch more in the bias direction than in the length or width. Using this designs can either fit the body more closely or drape into soft folds.

Bishop sleeve

A sleeve style with minimal fullness at the armhole then widens gradually to the wrist where it is gathered into a tightly fitting cuff.

Dart

A V-shaped tuck that is sewn into a garment to shape the fabric so that the garment fits the rounded parts of the body such as the bust, waistline, or hips.

Empire waist

Where the waistline of the skirt is just under the bustline, giving a particularly high-waisted style.

Pagoda/Funnel sleeve

A sleeve that is narrow at the top where it fits the upper arm closely, then gradually flares out to become wide at the bottom.

Peplum

A jacket or coat that has a ruffle or flared section that extends below the waistline.

Placket

A small slit or opening which gives the wearer more room to put the garment on.  These are usually found at the neck, the wrist, the top of a skirt, or the front of trousers.

Princess line

Usually a dress or coat that is cut in one shape from shoulder to hem, with no waistline seam.

Shift

A style of dress with simple, straight lines and does not fit close to the body.

Taped Neckline

A taped neckline is a piece of fabric covering the stitching between the garment body and the collar. It strengthens the garment and makes the garment more comfortable to wear.

Yoke

A piece of material is sewn into a garment in order to support other looser material on the item of clothing. For example in a polo shirts it is sewn around the back of the neck and shoulder.