Made-to-measure - garment made to a customer's individual requirements, to some extent, but not necessarily by hand.

Pattern - a template model used for cutting garments.

Rock of eye - Rule of thumb: using instinct born of experience, rather than a scientific cutting system.

Scye - the armhole: from 'arm's eye'.

Skirt - part of a jacket that hangs below the waist.

Striker - Assistant to a cutter.

Canvas - a cloth usually made from cotton, flax, hemp or jute and used for providing strength or firmness.

Coat - jacket. (Only potatoes have jackets - it used to be said).

Cutting system - method of pattern preparation using a particular process of measurement and figure evaluation. Scores have been devised since methods of working out the proportions of the figure were first explored in the late eighteenth century.

Draft - sketch or measure plan of a garment.

Gorge - where the collar is attached.

Interlining - material positioned between lining and outer fabric to provide bulk or warmth.

Balance - adjustment of back and front lengths of a jacket to harmonise with the posture of a particular figure.

Baste - garment roughly assembled for first fitting.

Basting - tacking with long stitches to hold garment parts together.

Bespoke - a suit made on or around Savile Row bespoken to the customer's specifications. A bespoke suit is cut by an individual and made by highly skilled individual craftsmen. The pattern is made specifically for the customer and the finished suit will take a minimum of 50 hours of hand work and require a series of fittings.

Bundle - components of jacket or trousers bundled together for making-up.