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Fashion & Textiles vocabulary · Pattern Making

Ease

Meaning in fashion & textiles, with examples

/iːz/nounCommon term

In fashion & textiles, ease means: The extra room added to body measurements in a pattern so that the wearer can move, breathe and sit comfortably, or to create a looser style.

In Turkish: bolluk payı, rahatlık payı, bolluk

How it is used

Pattern makers talk about wearing ease (the minimum for comfort) and design ease (extra for the style). Stretch fabrics may need little or even negative ease. Ease is also a verb: ease the sleeve into the armhole.

Example sentences

  1. Add 2 cm of ease at the hip so the trousers don't pull when sitting.

  2. This bodysuit has negative ease because the fabric stretches.

Common collocations

  • wearing ease
  • design ease
  • add ease
  • negative ease
  • sleeve ease
  • blockA basic pattern without style details, made from standard measurements, which pattern makers adapt to create new designs.
  • fitThe way a garment sits on the body: how tight or loose it is and whether its shape and measurements suit the wearer.
  • patternA paper or digital template for each piece of a garment, used to cut the fabric; it also means a repeated decorative design on fabric.
  • oversizedDeliberately designed to be much bigger and looser than the body, as a style choice, such as an oversized blazer or T-shirt.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Pattern Making

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