Where cloth comes from, how it is built, and how a flat paper pattern becomes a garment that hangs straight. Four tabs: study cards for the words, hints for the traps, a quiz in three tiers, and a workshop where you label a layout, sort fibers, graph what a skirt costs and write one careful explanation.
Cloth is two sets of threads crossing. One set runs down the length, the other runs across. The firm band down the side was finished by the loom, not cut.
Those have names. The finished edge is the selvage. Threads running with it are the lengthwise grain; threads running across are the crosswise grain; 45 degrees to both is the bias. The arrow on a pattern piece is the grainline, and it has to run parallel to the selvage.
Four things people get wrong
⚠️People often think…
Fabric is a flat sheet, so a pattern piece can go on any way it fits.
Fabric has a direction built into it. The lengthwise threads hardly give, the crosswise threads give a little, and the diagonal gives a lot. A piece laid the wrong way is cut from a different cloth than the piece beside it.
Measure both ends of the arrow to the selvage. Same number.
⚠️People often think…
Washing the fabric first is a waste of time, because the finished garment gets washed anyway.
Cotton, rayon and wool shrink. If they shrink before you cut, the pieces stay the size you cut them. If they shrink after, the sleeves come up short and there is no cloth left to add.
Shrink the cloth while it is still a rectangle.
⚠️People often think…
Rayon is made from wood, so it is a natural fiber.
The wood pulp is broken down and re-formed with chemicals in a factory. The tree is only the raw material. The factory made the fiber, so rayon is counted as manufactured.
Ask who made the fiber, not where the material grew.
⚠️People often think…
You cut along the line, and then you sew along that same line.
There are two lines. The cutting line is the solid outer one. The seam line is the broken line inside it, on most patterns 5/8 of an inch in. Sew the outer line and the garment comes out more than an inch too wide.
Cut the outer line. Sew the inner one.
Which way does the piece go?
1Watch one
A skirt panel is going on the fabric. Which way do you lay it?
Find the selvage down the long side.
The lengthwise threads run with it.
Turn the arrow to run with those threads.
Both arrow tips measure 4 inches to the selvage. Pin.
2Do one with me
Name the three things from the picture.
The finished edge down each long side is the
The direction that stretches most is the
The arrow on a pattern piece is the
💬One sentence, then you move on
Why does the arrow on a pattern piece have to be parallel to the selvage?
3Try one
A knit stretches across its width; a woven barely does. Name the other test, done at a cut edge, that tells a woven from a knit.
I want a hint first
Cut a small scrap and put it through the wash. One kind of edge sheds loose yarns and comes back with a fringe; the other curls under.
💬Last one — then you’re done here
A skirt is sewn neatly and still turns on the body. Why can careful sewing not fix it?
Where this goes
Where this lives
Buying fabric for a first project without wasting yardage — and knowing why a cheap shirt twists at the side seam after one wash.
What this feeds
Next unit is cooking methods and heat, where the material again decides which method may be used on it.
Name one piece of clothing you own that hangs crooked, and say what you would check first.
One card at a time — tap “Show me” to check yourself, then Next. Start at Foundation; when those feel easy, climb.
Helpful Hints
🧭 The unit in one line
A fiber is spun into yarn → yarn is woven or knit into fabric → the fabric has a selvage, a grain and a bias → you wash it, fold it, lay the pattern on it with the grainline parallel to the selvage → you pin, cut, mark and sew. Every step after the first one depends on getting the grain right.
Wash. Fold. Line up the arrow. Pin. Cut. Mark.
🔑 The one idea
Fabric is not a blank sheet. It has a direction built into it. The lengthwise grain runs the same way as the selvage and hardly gives. The crosswise grain gives a little. The bias, at 45 degrees, gives a lot. The grainline arrow on a pattern piece tells you which way the garment must line up with that direction — and if you ignore it, the cloth will win.
⚠️ Traps to avoid
Do not buy a pattern by the size on your store clothes. Patterns are sized by body measurement — chest, waist, hip — and the number is often two or three sizes larger. Measure, then read the chart.
Do not cut before you wash. Cotton, rayon and wool can shrink. Wash and dry the fabric the way you will wash the finished garment, then cut.
Do not cut on the cutting line and then sew on the cutting line. The seam line sits inside it — on most patterns 5/8 of an inch in. Cut the outer line; sew the inner one.
Do not lift the fabric to cut it. Keep the bottom blade of the shears flat on the table and let the fabric lie still. Lifting shifts the layers and the two sides come out different.
Do not eyeball the grainline arrow. Measure from each end of the arrow to the selvage. The two numbers must match.
Do not put a hot iron on polyester, nylon or spandex. They melt. The dots inside the iron symbol on a care label are the heat setting: one dot low, two medium, three high.
Do not cut a “place on fold” edge. That edge is laid against the folded edge of the fabric and stays joined. Cut it and you get two halves instead of one whole piece.
📐 The fiber chart
Fiber
Where it comes from
Good at
Not good at
Iron heat
Cotton
the seed pod of a plant
soaking up water, staying cool, washing well
wrinkles; can shrink
high
Linen
the stem of the flax plant
very cool in heat; strong
wrinkles more than cotton
high
Wool
the fleece of a sheep
warmth, even when damp; springs back from wrinkles
shrinks and mats in hot water
medium, with steam
Silk
the cocoon of the silkworm
smooth, light, warm for its weight
water marks it; weaker when wet
low
Polyester
made in a factory from petroleum
holding its shape, resisting wrinkles, drying fast
does not soak up sweat; melts
low
Nylon
made in a factory from petroleum
strength; smooth, slippery surfaces
melts; holds odors
low
Rayon
wood pulp, broken down and re-formed with chemicals
soft, absorbent, hangs in soft folds
weak when wet; can shrink
medium to low
Spandex
made in a factory; always blended with something else
stretching a long way and springing back
ruined by heat and by chlorine
low, or none
🎯 How you will be asked
“Natural or manufactured?” for a list of fibers — and “where does each one come from?”
“Woven or knit?” with two tests: does it stretch across, and does the cut edge fray?
Label a folded layout: selvage, fold, raw edge, grainline, notch, cutting line, seam line.
A care label with symbols — “what is this garment telling you to do, and not to do?”
“The skirt twists on the body. The sewing is neat. What went wrong, and when?”
✅ Before the test, can you…
Name four natural fibers and four manufactured ones, and say where each comes from?
Give two tests that tell a knit from a woven?
Point to the selvage, the lengthwise grain, the crosswise grain and the bias on a piece of fabric?
Say why fabric is washed before it is cut?
Find your pattern size from a measuring tape and the envelope chart, and read the yardage for 45-inch fabric?
Name six markings on a pattern piece and say what each one is for?
📚 Go to the sources
These open another website and need the internet. Use the search box on each site with the words given — the pages move, the sites do not.
Look back at anything you missed — the hint that appeared is exactly what to reread tonight.
How sure did you feel?
Workshop
Work like a sewer: label a folded layout, sort fourteen fibers, graph what a skirt costs to make, then explain why an off-grain cut cannot be sewn straight.
Your practice never leaves this device. There is no account and no sign-in. Your work is saved in this browser only, and you can erase it whenever you want.
Your practice record — saved on this device
This is your record of the module on screen — it stays here and goes nowhere. Independent means you got it right on the first tap; supported means you got it after the explain-and-retry, or marked ‘I had it’ on a revealed answer. Both count, and neither is a grade. If your teacher asks, copy the row or show them this screen.
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The answer key is for a teacher: it prints only from here, for the unit on screen. Print the study packet prints the study pages and a blank quiz — never the answers.