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Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Draw and construct sets of precision master fabric patterns or layouts. May also mark and cut fabrics and apparel.

Related: Fashion Designers Patternmakers, Metal & Plastic Patternmakers, Wood Sewers, Hand Tailors, Dressmakers, & Custom Sewers

Industries: Manufacturing Management

Summary
Details

Trace outlines of specified patterns onto material, and cut fabric, using scissors.
Trace outlines of specified patterns onto material, and cut fabric, using scissors.
Discuss design specifications with designers, and convert their original models of garments into patterns of separate parts that can be laid out on a length of fabric.
Create a master pattern for each size within a range of garment sizes, using charts, drafting instruments, computers, or grading devices.
Position and cut out master or sample patterns, using scissors and knives, or print out copies of patterns, using computers.
Examine sketches, sample articles, and design specifications to determine quantities, shapes, and sizes of pattern parts, and to determine the amount of material or fabric required to make a product.
Test patterns by making and fitting sample garments.
Trace outlines of paper onto cardboard patterns, and cut patterns into parts to make templates.
Draw details on outlined parts to indicate where parts are to be joined, as well as the positions of pleats, pockets, buttonholes, and other features, using computers or drafting instruments.
Make adjustments to patterns after fittings.
Create a paper pattern from which to mass-produce a design concept.
Draw outlines of pattern parts by adapting or copying existing patterns, or by drafting new patterns.
Create design specifications to provide instructions on garment sewing and assembly.
Input specifications into computers to assist with pattern design and pattern cutting.
Determine the best layout of pattern pieces to minimize waste of material, and mark fabric accordingly.
Discuss design specifications with designers, and convert their original models of garments into patterns of separate parts that can be laid out on a length of fabric.
Compute dimensions of patterns according to sizes, considering stretching of material.
Mark samples and finished patterns with information, such as garment size, section, style, identification, and sewing instructions.
Trace outlines of paper onto cardboard patterns, and cut patterns into parts to make templates.
Draw outlines of pattern parts by adapting or copying existing patterns, or by drafting new patterns.

Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

50510/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

24.29/hr

Currently Employed

Yearly Projected Openings

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Adaptability/Flexibility
Integrity
Initiative
Cooperation

Domestic clothing irons
Dressmakers ruler
Full body form or mannequin
Ironing boards
Pattern cutting mats or boards
Pattern notcher
Punches or nail sets or drifts
Scissors
Seam gauge
Seam ripper
Serrated pattern tracing wheel
Sewing machines
Sewing needles
Shears
Squares
Straight pins
Tape measures
Utility knives

Computer aided design CAD software
Electronic mail software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Office suite software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers

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