Patternmaking glossary

Glossary of the most-used patternmaking terms: ease, notches, rise, marker and more. Learn the vocabulary of industrial garment production.

• Ease: The difference between the pattern measurement and the actual body measurement, added on purpose so the garment does not cling to the body.
• Notches: Small marks or cuts on the edge of a pattern that indicate reference points so the pieces are joined correctly when sewing.
• Rise: A pants measurement that runs from the waist at the front, through the crotch, to the waist at the back (or, depending on the context, only the front or the back part of that path).
• Grading: The process of mathematically scaling a base pattern to the other sizes in a size range, applying the increments defined in the size chart.
• Marker: The layout of all the pattern pieces of a production run on the actual width of the fabric, ready to cut several layers at once.