Gusset

{{short description|Piece of fabric}}

{{About|the piece of fabric|the component of medieval armor|Gousset|the structural steel element|Gusset plate|the heraldic charge|Gusset (heraldry)}}

File:3-piantagione Taccuino Sanitatis Casanatense 4182 shirt..jpg. From a copy of the Tacuinum Sanitatis, 14th century.]]

In sewing, a gusset is a triangular or rhomboidal piece of fabric inserted into a seam to add breadth or reduce stress from tight-fitting clothing.{{cite book|editor-last=Colton|editor-first=Virginia|title=Complete Guide to Modern Sewing|date=1976|publisher=Reader's Digest|isbn=0-89577-026-1 }} Gussets were used at the shoulders, underarms, and hems of traditional shirts and chemises made of rectangular lengths of linen to shape the garments to the body.Burnham, Dorothy, Cut My Cote, Royal Ontario Museum, 1973.{{cite book|last = Sturm |first = Mary Mark|title = Guide to modern clothing|publisher = Webster Division, McGraw-Hill|year = 1973|edition= 3rd|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7q0vAAAAYAAJ|isbn = 0070622930}}

Gussets are used in manufacturing of modern tights and pantyhose to add breadth at the crotch seam. As with other synthetic underwear,{{cite patent|country=US|number=2826760|title=Combination Stockings and Panty|gdate=1958-03-18|fdate=1956-11-09|inventor=Ernest G. Rice}} these gussets are often made of moisture-wicking breathable fabrics such as cotton, to keep the genital area dry and ventilated.{{cite web|title = U.S. National Library of Medicine - Vaginal discharge|url = https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003158.htm|access-date = 2013-08-12}}[https://patents.google.com/patent/US20030196252 US 20030196252], Sara Blakely, "Two-ply body-smoothing undergarment", issued 2003-10-23Prevention Magazine Editors: The Doctors Book of Home Remedies, Thousands of Tips and Techniques Anyone Can Use to Heal Everyday Health Problems. Bantam, USA 1991, {{ISBN|0553291564}}. P. 705, P. 707

Gussets are also used when making three-piece bags, for example in a pattern{{cite book| title=I taught myself to crochet| year=1975| publisher= Boye Needle Company| location= Freeport, Illinois |version=No. 7702 | oclc=51565050}} for a bag as a long, wide piece which connects the front piece and back piece. By becoming the sides and bottom of the bag, the gusset opens the bag up beyond what simply attaching the front to the back would do. With reference to the dimension of the gusset, the measurements of a flat bottom bag may be quoted as L×W×G.[http://www.ozepac.com/catalog/OzepacCatalogue.pdf Ozepac Catalogue]{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Pillows too, are often gusseted, generally an inch or two. The side panels thicken the pillow, allowing more stuffing without bulging.

The meaning of gusset has expanded beyond fabric, broadly to denote an added patch of joining material that provides structural support. For example, metal gussets are used in bicycle frames to add strength and rigidity. Gussets may be used in retort pouches and other forms of packaging to allow the package to stand. Gusset plates, usually triangular, are often used to join metal plates and can be seen in many metal framed constructions. Expanding folders or accordion folders also employ gussets to allow for expansion when containing more than just a few sheets of paper. The gusset is also a charge in heraldry, as is the gyron (an Old French word for gusset).