Garment Construction and Assembly
This domain tests the order in which a garment is built, the sub-assemblies made before main assembly, and the handling rules that keep balance, grain and shape correct.
Assembly sequence
- Sub-assembly first: collar, cuff, pocket, placket, yoke, waistband.
- Main assembly: shoulder join, collar attach, sleeve setting, side seams, hem.
- Then finishing: buttonholes, buttons, bartacks, trimming, pressing.
Construction vocabulary
- Dart, tuck, pleat, gather, ease, notch, clip, trim, turn, topstitch, understitch, stay stitch, backtack, facing, interfacing, yoke, placket, cuff, armhole.
- Ease is excess fabric worked in without folds; gather is deliberately fuller and shows soft folds.
Handling rules
- Stay stitch bias necklines and armholes about 3 mm inside the seam line so they do not stretch.
- Match every notch and balance mark before stitching; notch positions control alignment more reliably than eyeballing.
- Set sleeves by matching the single notch to the shoulder seam and the double notch to the back; distribute ease evenly and stitch with the sleeve against the feed dog so the feed assists easing.
- Check stripe and check matching at centre front, placket and pocket before stitching.
Worked example
Collar points come out uneven at the front edge. First re-check that both collar pieces were cut to the same grain and that pattern notches align; then measure both points against the spec. Reasoning: uneven points usually come from off-grain cutting or a shifted notch, not from the stitching.
Traps
- Skipping stay stitching on a bias neckline, which then grows out of shape.
- Ignoring notches and "making it fit" by eye.
- Sewing over pins, which bends or breaks needles and can needle-cut the fabric.
- Forgetting to match checks at centre front, which is a visible defect.