How to become a garment and related pattern-maker or cutter

Official title: Garment and related pattern-maker/cutter

Also called: Garment cutter, Garment cutting marker, Garment pattern-maker, Glove cutter, Tailor's cutter, Ÿ Garment pattern-maker, Ÿ Tailor’s cutter

Garment and related pattern-maker/cutter creates precision master patterns for production of garments, other textiles, and leather or fur products. He/she marks, cuts, shapes and trims textile, light leather and other materials according to blueprints or specifications in the manufacture of garments, hats and caps, gloves and miscellaneous products.

Main tasks

• Creating a master pattern for each size within a range of garment sizes, using charts, drafting instruments, computers, and/or grading devices
• Creating the blueprint or pattern pieces for a particular apparel design with the aid of a computer
• Calculating dimensions of patterns according to sizes, considering stretching of material
• Drawing details on outlined parts to indicate where the parts are to be joined, as well as the positions of pleats, pockets, buttonholes on garments, decorative stitching on shoe parts or eyelets on canvas products, using computers or drafting instruments
• Positioning templates or measuring materials to locate specified points of cuts or to obtain maximum yields and mark fabric accordingly
• Laying out master pattern on fabric and cutting sample pattern
• Testing patterns by making and fitting sample garments
• Placing patterns on top of layers of fabric and cutting fabric following patterns, using electric or manual knives, cutters or computer numerically controlled cutting devices

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Tailor/Dressmaker
• Upholsterer and related worker
• Shoemaker/Cobbler
• Leather goods maker/assembler

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Questions people ask

Will AI change the work of a garment and related pattern-maker or cutter?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026