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Fashion & Textiles vocabulary · Pattern Making

Pattern

Meaning in fashion & textiles, with examples

/ˈpætn/nounCore term

In fashion & textiles, pattern means: A paper or digital template for each piece of a garment, used to cut the fabric; it also means a repeated decorative design on fabric.

In Turkish: kalıp, desen

How it is used

In production, pattern makers draft, adjust and grade patterns, often in CAD systems such as Gerber or Lectra. In design, people talk about a floral or geometric pattern. Pattern maker, pattern cutter and pattern room are common job and place names.

Example sentences

  1. The pattern needs another 1 cm at the back armhole.

  2. Can you send me the digital pattern files so our factory can make the marker?

Common collocations

  • pattern maker
  • draft a pattern
  • adjust the pattern
  • paper pattern
  • pattern pieces
  • gradingThe process of making a pattern in all the other sizes from the base size, by adding or removing set amounts at specific points.
  • blockA basic pattern without style details, made from standard measurements, which pattern makers adapt to create new designs.
  • markerA plan showing how all the pattern pieces are arranged on the fabric for cutting, designed to use as little fabric as possible.
  • toileA test version of a garment made in cheap plain fabric, usually unbleached cotton, to check the pattern and fit before cutting the real fabric.
  • printA design applied to the surface of fabric with ink or dye, such as flowers, logos or stripes, rather than woven or knitted into it.

More terms: Pattern Making

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