Sewing or stitching or Tailoring is the fastening of cloth, leather, furs, bark, or other flexible materials, using needle and thread. Its use is nearly universal among human populations and dates back to Paleolithic times (30,000 BCE). Sewing predates the weaving of cloth.

Sewing is used primarily to produce clothing and household furnishings such as curtains, bedclothes, upholstery, and table linens. It is also used for sails, bellows, skin boats, banners, and other items shaped out of flexible materials such as canvas and leather.

Most sewing in the industrial world is done by machines. Pieces of a garment are often first tacked together. The machine has a complex set of gears and arms that pierces thread through the layers of the cloth and semi-securely interlocks the thread.

Some people sew clothes for themselves and their families. More often home sewers sew to repair clothes, such as mending a torn seam or replacing a loose button. A person who sews for a living is known as a seamstress (from seams-mistress) or seamster (from seams-master), dressmaker, tailor, garment worker, machinist, or sweatshop worker.

"Plain" sewing is done for functional reasons: making or mending clothing or household linens. "Fancy" sewing is primarily decorative, including techniques such as shirring, smocking, embroidery, or quilting.

Sewing is the foundation for many needle arts and crafts, such as applique, canvas work, and patchwork.

While sewing is sometimes seen as a semi-skill job, flat sheets of fabric with holes and slits cut into the fabric can curve and fold in complex ways that require a high level of skill and experience to manipulate into a smooth, ripple-free design. Aligning and orienting patterns printed or woven into the fabric further complicates the design process. Once a clothing designer with these skills has created the initial product, the fabric can then be cut using templates and sewn by manual laborers or machines.

Seam allowance

Seam allowance is the area between the edge of the fabric and the line of stitching. It is usually 1.5 cm away from the edge of the fabric except for the hem, where the seam allowance is usually 2.5 cm or more. This is often the case for standard home dressmaking. Industry seam allowances vary but are usually 0.6 cm.

Occupations requiring sewing

• Bookbinding\Bookbinder

• Shoemaking\Cobbler

• Corsetier

• Draper

• Dressmaker

• Glove\Glover

• Hatter

• Milliner

• Parachute rigger

• Quilting\Quilter

• Sailmaker

• Seamstress

• Tailor

• Taxidermist

• Upholsterer

Sewing tools and accessories

• stitching awl

• bobbin

• bodkin

• dress form

• dressmaker's or tailor's shears

• measuring tape

• needle

• pattern

• pattern weights

• pin

• pincushion

• rotary cutter

• scissors

• seam ripper

• sewing table

• tailor's chalk

• thimble

• thread/yarn

• tracing paper

• tracing wheel

• wax, often beeswax

• sewing box

Notions (objects sewn into garments or soft goods)

Closures

• buckle

• button (buttons can be sew-through or have shanks.)

• toggle

• chinese frog

• eye

• hook

• hook-and-loop tape (often known by brand name Velcro)

• snap

• zipper

• ties

• button

• snap fastener

Finishing and embellishment

• beaded fringe & trim

• elastic

• piping/cording/welting

• eyelet

• grommet

• heading

• interfacing

• rivet

• trims (fringe, beaded fringe, ribbons, lace, sequin tape)

List of stitches

The two main stitches that sewing machines make of which the others are derivatives are lockstitch and chain stitch.

• back tack

• backstitch - a sturdy hand stitch for seams and decoration

• basting stitch (or tacking) - for reinforcement

• blanket stitch

• blind stitch (or hem stitch) - a type of slip stitch used for inconspicuous hems

• buttonhole stitch

• chain stitch - hand or machine stitch for seams or decoration

• cross-stitch - usually used for decoration, but may also be used for seams

• darning stitch

• embroidery stitch

• hemming stitch

• lockstitch - machine stitch, also called straight stitch

• overhand stitch

• overlock

• pad stitch

• padding stitch

• running stitch - a hand stitch for seams and gathering

• sailmakers stitch

• slip stitch - a hand stitch for fastening two pieces of fabric together from the right side without the thread showing

• stretch stitch

• topstitch

• whipstitch (or oversewing or overcast stitch) - for protecting edges

• zig-zag stitch

See also

• Haberdasher

• Sewing machine