This serie of posts is published with the courtesy of Scabal, Bespoken (Scabal’s magazine promoting a tailor-made lifestyle) and Alan Cannon Jones (Director for Menswear and Bespoke Tailoring at the London College of Fashion)

© Bespoken – Scabal

E

EASING IN

The manipulation of additional material into a seam to create fullness.

EDGE STITCHING

A decorative stitch along the edge of a garment. In tailoring, this is often a pick stitch.

ENDS

The warp yarns in a fabric.

EYE OF THE BUTTONHOLE

The rounded end of the buttonhole into which the shank or neck of the button will pull when the garment is fastened.

Cheers, HUGO

This serie of posts is published with the courtesy of Scabal, Bespoken (Scabal’s magazine promoting a tailor-made lifestyle) and Alan Cannon Jones (Director for Menswear and Bespoke Tailoring at the London College of Fashion)

© Bespoken – Scabal

D

DART

A wedge shape that’s removed from the surface area of a garment by stitching, or cutting and stitching.

DOMMETT

A variety of thin wadding

DOUBLE BREASTED

A jacket or coat with wrap-over fronts that has buttons and button-holes on each forepart.

DOUBLE FACED

A material that can be worn on either side.

DRAFT

A construction plan for a garment; body and garment measures on paper or card.

DRAPE

An adjective that describes the way cloth falls when hung. Draping quality varies with structure, composition and finish of the material.

DRAWING (in tailoring)

A stitch drawn to achieve gathering or gauging of material.

DRESS

To take out dress from men’s trousers is to cut a section from one side to make it fit in balance with the other.

Cheers, HUGO

This serie of posts is published with the courtesy of Scabal, Bespoken (Scabal’s magazine promoting a tailor-made lifestyle) and Alan Cannon Jones (Director for Menswear and Bespoke Tailoring at the London College of Fashion)

© Bespoken – Scabal

C

CANVAS

A closely woven fabric used as an interlining in jackets and coats. This can be made from cotton, flax, hemp, jute or man-made fibres.

CATCH

An underlap of material providing a backing to an opening, as in a trouser fly.

CHAIN STITCH

The stitch is formed by an interloping of threads to form a chain. Used in the leg and seat seam of trousers due to its stretch properties.

CHALK (TAILOR’S)

A piece of flat pipe clay, either square or triangular in shape, used for marking onto cloth.

CHEST PIECE

A small piece of hair canvas and felt that is sewn to the interlining in the chest area of the garment for strength and shape retention.

CLOTH

Any woven material may be described as cloth. In tailoring this is understood as the outer fabric of the garment.

COLLAR

The neck band, stand and fall, which completes the upper part of a garment around the neck.

CROSS POCKET

A pocket that is across the garment horizontally.

CROSS STITCH

A type of hand stitch when the needle passes alternately on and off the edge of the fabric in advance of the last stitch.

CRUTCH

The region between the legs at which the inside leg seams are joined. Also known as the fork.

CUFF

The lower part of the sleeve around the wrist. In tailoring this may have a vent and buttons.

CURTAINS

Lining material below the waistband on the inside of tailored trousers.

CUTTING

Cutting out the fabric either by hand shears or a machine.

Cheers, HUGO

This serie of posts is published with the courtesy of Scabal, Bespoken (Scabal’s magazine promoting a tailor-made lifestyle) and Alan Cannon Jones (Director for Menswear and Bespoke Tailoring at the London College of Fashion)

© Bespoken – Scabal

The intense satisfaction derived from the final fitting of a custom-made, made-to-measure or even bespoke  suit, is the fruit of close co-operation between the tailor and his customer. At the heart of this teamwork : dialogue.

For this reason, Bespoken (Scabal customer’s magazine) and Alan Cannon Jones offer this very useful tool : a dictionary of specialist terms that will help experienced customers as well as bespoke new-comers to better communicate their needs, wishes and dreams to their tailors.

A very nice initiative from Scabal that Parisian Gentleman is proud to publish for its thousands of new readers in UK and USA as well as for its english speaking french and worldwide readers.

Enjoy !

A

ARMHOLE

The armhole of the garment into which the sleeve is sewn. The armhole is often refered to as the « seye » by tailors. Its exact depth and shape are crucial to the fit and movement of the garment during wear.

B

BACK STITCH

A hand stitch used to join garments parts. So called because the needle, during the operation, goes back to be inserted at the end of the previous stitch.

BACK STRAP

A strap across the back of a garment, usually on a waistcoat.

BACK TACKING

The reverse sewing at the beginning and end of each seam for strengthening.

BALANCE

Garment balance is the adjustment of the relation of one section of a garment to another in harmony with the natural figuration of the customer. Usually referring to the front and back of the garment.

BALANCE MARKS

Notches, nips or threads in the garment parts which help to preserve the balance of the garment during assembly.

BAR TACK

A reinforcement by means of repeated stiching. Used at the end of buttonholes, pocket corners and belt loops.

BEARER

A section of cloth inside the trouser waistband, at the top of the fly, to take the weight of the trousers when fastened.

BASTE

The temporary stitches that keep the garment together during construction stage and also described as hand-sewn lines of white stiching. These are visible during the fitting stage; all external stitches are removed on completion of the garment.

BIAS

An oblique direction to the warp and weft of the cloth. True bias is at 45 degrees and is often used when cutting the under-collar of a jacket.

BLIND STITCH

A stitch, either by hand or machine, which does not penetrate right through the cloth.

BLOCK PATTERN

A template made in paper or card used for marking out the parts of a garment on to the fabric.

BLUFFING

The process of stitching down the front facings onto the canvas inside the front of a jacket.

BLUFF EDGES

The garment edges being finished without any outside stitching showing.

BOARD (TAILOR’S)

The place where the tailor works, usually in the form of a table, on which he may sit when hand sewing. The cutter would work at a cutting board.

BODKIN

A pointed implement for piercing holes in the cloth and removing baste stitches.

BOUND SEAM

A seam having its fabrics edges bound to prevent fraying.

BREAK

The point where the bridle ends at the centre front of a jacket, usually at the top buttonhole.

BRIDLE

A narrow strip of material, usually cotton, which is padded onto the canvas along the roll of the lapel to hold and control it.

BUGGY

A lining from the neck down across the back of an unlined jacket or coat.

BUTTON

A disc which is attached to the front of a garment as a mean of fastening or decoration.

BUTTON STAND

The distance from the finished edge of the garment to the centre of the button.

BUTTONHOLE

The hole through which a button is passed to fasten the garment.

BUTTONHOLE TWIST

The tightly twisted thread used in hand sewn buttonholes.

To be continued…

Cheers, HUGO