Sewing Equipment, Stitches and Seams
Sewing Equipment, Stitches and Seams
This final domain tests tool selection, machine parts, and the stitch and seam vocabulary used in construction.
Equipment
Measuring tools include tape, ruler, and hem gauge. Cutting tools include shears, pinking shears, and rotary cutter. Marking tools include tailor's chalk, tracing wheel, and carbon paper. Pressing equipment includes iron, pressing cloth, and seam roll. Machine parts include spool pin, tension disc, take-up lever, needle, presser foot, feed dog, and bobbin case. Needle size depends on fabric weight: a fine needle for voile, a heavier needle for denim.
Stitches
Temporary stitches include basting and tacking. Permanent stitches include running, backstitch, stem, chain, blanket, and hemming stitches such as slip and blind hem. Decorative stitches include satin, feather, and cross-stitch. Stitch length and tension affect pucker and seam strength.
Seams and finishes
Know the plain seam, French seam, flat-fell seam, lapped seam, and piped seam. Finishes include pinking, overcasting, zigzag, binding, and facing.
Worked example
A sheer cotton voile blouse needs a strong, clean inside finish. Choose a seam and reason. A French seam encloses the raw edges within a second row of stitching, so there are no visible frays through the sheer fabric. A plain seam would need overcasting and could still show; a flat-fell seam is too bulky for voile. The reasoning links fabric transparency and weight to seam bulk.
Traps that cost marks
Do not use pinking as the only finish on a fraying fabric. Do not confuse a facing with an interfacing. Do not adjust tension before checking threading and the bobbin. Do not call a French seam only a seam finish; it is a seam type.