Appliqué
Pieces of fabric joined to background by sewing and/or fusing to form a design.
Appliquéd fabric embellishments
Fabric embellishments are cut outs of shapes and designs, fused and layered over another layer and stitched around the edge of each piece with either a small straight stitch, a zig zag stitch, a satin stitch, or hand stitch.
Appliqué Foot
Accessory foot attachment that allows you to see clearly and follow the edge of the fabric. Also called “see through” foot or “open toe foot”
Applique Pressing Sheet
Double sided see through Teflon sheet that prevents fusible web from sticking to the iron and ironing surface.
Backing
The bottom layer of your project.
Backstitch
At the beginning and end of continuous sewing, lock your stitches by taking several stitches back and several stitches forward.
Basting
Longer stitches by machine or hand to temporarily hold fabric in place. (Set your sewing machine to #4 stitch length or about 4-6 stitches per inch.)
Batting
The soft middle layer between the top and backing.
Bodkin
A large metal or plastic needle like tool that helps in ribbon weaving.
Cropping
Highlighting the interesting part of your photo by cutting the sides and or bottom of the photo and eliminating non essential elements.
Couching
A zig zag stitch is used ot attach a string of beads or fibers for surface embellishments. You can use monofilament or decorative thread.
Directional Print
Fabric with a clear direction to the fabric print — up, down, or angular.
Documentation
Documentation
Journaling on the back side of a Soft Scrap™ that gives the name of the maker, the date and the occasion.
DPI
This stands for dots per inch and refers to the resolution of a picture that is printed with an ink jet printer. For Soft Scrap™ 300 dpi is a good final size. However, it you plan to do a lot of cropping or enlarging then start with a higher DPI and work down.
Fabric Sealant
A liquid placed on the edge of fabric that prevents raveling. It is specially useful in working with ribbons.
Fat Quarter
Fat quarters provide a great palette for mattes and accent elements. Fat quarters (approximately 18” x 22”) are available at fabric and quilting stores.
Focal Point
Element of design that the eye is first drawn to.
Fudge Factor
Allowing a little extra around the edges. You can always take away but you can’t always add to!
Fusible Web
A product used to fuse fabric together with heat. This is the scrapbooker’s adhesive.
Invisible thread
Clear or smoke monofilament nylon thread in the top upright thread spool. It is used in Soft Scrap™ to anchor elements to the layout or top.
Journaling
Any written words, titles, captions, descriptions, poems, or stories. Usually placed on the front of the layout.
Layout
A grouping of pictures, mattes, fabric embellishments ect., that make up the “page” of Soft Scrap™.
Matching thread
Adding a fabric border around a picture by placing a piece of fabric that is larger then the photo, under the photo.
Monofilament threat
See invisible thread
Press Cloth
A piece of plain fabric or muslin that is placed over an item to be pressed. This protects the item and prevents it from becoming shinny. Using a press cloth is especially important with fabric that has a high polyester content, like some bridal fabric. With out a press cloth this type of fabric can melt or scorch very easily.
Quilt or Hanging sleeve
A tube sewn at the top of a quilt that enables you to insert a rod for hanging.
Quilt or Hanging sleeve
A tube sewn at the top of a quilt that enables you to insert a rod for hanging.
Quilting
The stitches that hold all the layers together.
Raw Edge (cut edge)
These edges are anchored to the layout with a small zig zag or straight stitch
Right side
The side of the fabric that will be on the outside of the project.
Seam allowance
The distance between the edge (raw edge) and the stitching line(seam). Usually ¼” seam is used for stitching Soft Scrap™ and quilting
Scanning
Using a scanner to bring a picture or design into your computer so you can size, crop, enhance, and print.
Sampling Color
This is a technique that allows you to exactly match a color using your computer. You can sample a color from your pictures or from a piece of fabric that you’ve scanned in. This color can then be used in other areas of your Soft Scrap™.
Straight Stitch
#2 ½ stitch length or 8 to 10 stitches per inch. General stitch length setting.
Top
The top most layer of your project with photos, journaling and embellishment. This contains your layout
Whipstitch
Small hand stitches used to join two finished edges.
Wrong side
The side of the fabric that will be on the inside of the project when complete.
Zig-Zag Stitch
A back and forth stitch used around the outside of all surface elements. The zig should be on the very edge of the fabric and the zag should bite into the body of the overlay. Typically a #1 - #1 ½ stitch length and a #2 - # 2½ width.
