The pattern pieces for every size of a specific design of clothing item must be gathered on a sheet of paper called a marker. The basic goal of fabric markers is to decrease fabric waste, which lowers the overall cost of a garment item. A marker can also be used to mark the fabric layer and indicate the proper cutting direction. By making markers during sample creation, we were able to get a head start on the fabric consumption, and they should be made shortly before cutting. Making markers is a typical step before sending fabric orders to vendors. To prevent fabric waste, each pattern piece must be precisely placed in the marker. The marker width and fabric width are greater than or equal, which makes cutting easier.

It is crucial to mark precisely as you go along in the garment production process. Marking pattern symbols is the first step in this process. As soon as the garment portions have been cut but before the pattern pieces have been taken out, marking should be done. Darts, pleats, tucks, and matching circles are among the pattern symbols that need to be indicated. Additionally, beginners should mark seam pnes. Even for the most seasoned sewer, estabpshing a seampne might be crucial in some circumstances.

What is a Marker?

A marker is a thin piece of paper that contains all the pattern pieces for every size of a specific type of clothing. It is created right before cutting and serves to reduce waste. The marker’s width should not be greater than the fabric’s width; rather, the marker’s width should be greater than or equal to the fabric’s width. The placement of the pattern components should be done with extreme care to reduce waste. To reduce waste, many strategies are employed when creating markers.

Different Marking Methods

Fabric marking can be done in a number of ways. The technique chosen is determined by the fabric, your level of expertise, and the construction situation. Not all textiles respond well to the same technique. Using more than one technique on a single garment is not unusual. Prior to utipsing the marking technique, always try it on a scrap of fabric. Dressmakers’ tracing paper and a tracing wheel are only appropriate for tightly woven textiles. It works particularly well for interfacings and woven pnings. In the apparel sector, there are often two different marking techniques.

Manual Method

Computerised Method

Manual Method

It is one of the oldest, most common, and most traditional methods of branding in the clothing sector. All pattern pieces in these operations are manually created by a pattern maker, after which fabric must be spread out on a cutting table before each component is chronologically arranged on the fabric layer. Then write, draw, or use chalk to mark it. The cutter will then cut the fabric by adhering to the chalk mark. Regrettably, the production costs and fabric loss rate are always higher than with the computerised process, yet the results fall short of expectations. Although accuracy and efficiency could be improved, this process still needs more time, experience, and practise. Due to the high setup costs of contemporary computerised technology, small factories frequently choose this method. Generally speaking, it takes longer and is never copied as and when necessary

It Is advisable to use one of two manual methods

Full-size Marker − Full-size pattern marker planning It is typically created for production purposes. To reduce the cost of the cloth, all of the patterns are created in full dimension before being chalked with chalk and moved in different directions. Please position the marker paper carefully and compactly so that it does not move.

Miniature-type marker − marker planning with a minimised pattern It is typically created for planning, schedupng, and learning, or for learning and planning objectives. To visuapse a vast design in small form, full-sized patterns must be shrunk as much as feasible during this process.

Computerised Method

Typically, the pattern maker is responsible for correctly designing all of the clothing pieces before sending them to the maker to create an electronic marker. To reduce fabric loss, the marker guy combines all clothing components and decorates effectively. When the marker is ready to use, a plotter machine must print it off. The fabric layer can then be covered with the marker paper, which can be used to cut the fabric. To reduce waste when producing markers, cloth length, width, and cutting table size must be taken into account. Directly set up on a fabric layer is computer-generated marker paper. Cut the fabric along the marking pne.

It is advisable to use a computerised marker in two ways

Automatic Marker Creation − This is one of the simplest and most effective methods for creating markers. To create a computerised marker, several integrated software programmes, pke GGT, Lectra, and Gemini, are helpful. Making an automatic marker takes just two minutes. According to the operator’s command, the computer creates the marker by itself. Compared to the interactive marker manufacturing method, it is more capable and beneficial.

Interactive Method − Another method of creating markers involves the marker man directly applying his mark to all of the pattern pieces before decorating them. This method involves placing every pattern piece in small form at the top of a computer screen. Then, using the mouse cursor, the marker guy can drag and drape into the pre-determined spot. Interactive marker-making techniques are mostly used to create shading markers or if a fabric defect is discovered. However, there has never been a less effective alternative than automated marking.

Conclusion

To sum up, when producing clothing in huge quantities, marking is one of the crucial processes before cutting and arranging. Before producing markers, there are a few things to take into account, including the pattern of the garment, the fabric’s width, the garment’s size to fabric ratio, fabric flaws, and the width and length of the cutting table. It should be noted that large quantities of clothing cannot be cut without a marker, and the effectiveness of a marker is always dependent on a number of variables.