Glossary
Tailor Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential tailor terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key tailor vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in tailor training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Basting
- Temporary stitching.
- Bespoke
- Custom-made clothing.
- Bustle
- Gathering a wedding dress train.
- Dart
- A fold that shapes fabric.
- Grain
- The direction of fabric threads.
- Hem
- Finishing the bottom edge of a garment.
- Inseam
- Inner leg measurement.
- Interfacing
- Material that adds structure.
- Let out
- Making a garment larger.
- Muslin
- A test garment.
- Pressing
- Ironing to set seams.
- Seam allowance
- Fabric between the seam and edge.
- Serger
- A machine that finishes edges.
- Take in
- Making a garment smaller.
- Taper
- Narrowing a garment.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Tailor practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Tailor training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.