TextileGlossary.com

Vegetable tanning refers to the use of natural tannins to create usable leather from hides. Natural tannins are present in bark, wood, leaves and fruits of chestnut, oak and hemlock trees. This process is time intensive, as it can take up to three weeks for the tannins to fully penetrate a hide. From an ecological perspective, vegetable tanning is preferable, however the leather produced is not stable in water as it shrivels and becomes brittle.

A part of the sewing machine that holds the fabric down to help it feed through the machine evenly. There are many different kinds of presser feet, each designed to make a particular sewing task...

The property of fibers that measures strength. This is determined by the force required to rupture of break the fiber. Typically, this is measure is grams per denier, or g/d. Tensile strength measres...

A manufactured fibre composed of natural or synthetic polyisoprene, or composed of one or more dienes polymerised with or without one or more vinyl monomers, and which, when stretched to three times...

Chaps (pronounced 'shaps', and short for chaparajos) are sturdy leather coverings for the legs. They hang from one's belt, but unlike trousers they are not joined at the crotch. The most sturdy kind...

(eyelet) - Formed by a contoured patch of zig-zag stitching, followed by a cut---a portion of which is circular. Eyelet buttonholes are usually used on heavy fabrics and/or with large buttons. A gimp...