sewing Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fab ...

, to tack or baste is to sew quick, temporary stitches that will later be removed. Tacking is used for a variety of reasons, such as holding a seam in place until it is sewn properly, or transferring

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...

markings onto the garment. Tacking is typically sewn using a specialised tacking thread, which may snap easily in order for it to be easily removed from the garment when necessary.

Uses

Tacking is used in a variety of ways; one of the most common uses is to easily hold a seam or

trim Trim or TRIM may refer to: Cutting * Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them ** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process ** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees Decoration * Trim (sewing), or ...

in place until it can be permanently sewn, usually with a long

running stitch The straight or running stitch is the basic stitch in hand-sewing and embroidery, on which all other forms of sewing are based. The stitch is worked by passing the needle in and out of the fabric at a regular distance. All other stitches are ...

made by hand or machine. This is called a 'tacking stitch' or 'basting stitch'. Tacking stitches may be used when a garment is being fitted to a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

during production, as the stitches can be easily removed and replaced with pins if the seam requires alteration. X-shaped tacking stitches are also very common on the

vent Vent or vents may refer to: Science and technology Biology *Vent, the cloaca region of an animal * Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase Geology *Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated wate ...

s (slits) of the back of a man's

suit jacket A suit jacket, also called a lounge jacket, lounge coat or suit coat, is a jacket in classic menswear that is part of a suit. Single and double-breasted Most single-breasted suit jackets have two or three buttons, and one or four buttons are unu ...

, or at the bottom of

kick pleat A pleat (plait in older English) is a type of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and securing it in place. It is commonly used in clothing and upholstery to gather a wide piece of fabric to a narrower circumference. Pleats are cat ...

s on a woman's skirt. They are meant to hold the flaps in place during shipping and when on display in the store. They should be removed before being worn. Brand labels are also loosely basted on the outer edges of the sleeves of outfits as well as women's winter coats, intended to be removed after purchase. They are meant to help customers to easily identify the brands in the store without reaching into the collar.Fashion faux pas – Tags on sleeves
/ref> Tacking may be used to temporarily attach a

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

collar Collar may refer to: Human neckwear *Clerical collar (informally ''dog collar''), a distinctive collar used by the clergy of some Christian religious denominations *Collar (clothing), the part of a garment that fastens around or frames the neck ...

, ruffles, or other trims to

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

so that the attached article may be removed easily for cleaning, or to be worn with a different garment. For this purpose, tacking stitches are sewn by hand in such a way that they are almost invisible from the outside of the garment. Tacking may be used to transfer pattern markings to

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not th ...

, or to otherwise mark the point where two pieces of fabric are to be joined. A special loose loop stitch used for this purpose is called a 'tack' or 'tailor's tack'. This is often done through two opposing layers of the same fabric so that when the threads are snipped between the layers the stitches will be in exactly the same places for both layers thus saving time having to chalk and tack the other layer. A basting stitch - an overlong straight stitch with unfinished ends - is often used in

quilting Quilting is the term given to the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system. ...

embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen ...

to temporarily hold sandwiched pieces of fabric in place, with the basting stitches removed when the piece is finished.

Gallery

File:Basted fabric right side.jpg, Basting thread on the right side (outer side) of fabric. File:Basting pattern to material before cutting.jpg , Tracing paper from a pattern is basted to fabric before a piece is cut. The basting marks are outlined with

tailor's chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

. File:Tailors tacks.jpg, Tailor's tacks mark fabric to trace a pattern piece, without attaching tracing paper.

References

External links

Tacking stitch
{{sewing Sewing stitches

Uses

Gallery

See also

References

External links