DR. SHAGUFTA RIAZ
Introduction to Garment
Manufacturing
(TE- 2114)
Marker Making and Spreading

CONTENTS
 Fabric receiving and issuance to cutting department
 Process flow of cutting department
 Marker making, dimensions of a marker, marker
efficiency, marker quality, methods of marker
making
 Lay planning, types of lay plan
 Cutting

FABRIC ISSUANCE FOR CUTTING
1. Fabric receiving at store
2. Internal quality check
3. Cut order planning
4. Fabric issuance for cutting

PROCESS FLOW OF CUTTING
DEPARTMENT
Off
loading &
bundling
Cutting
Marker
Making &
Spreading
or Lay
Planning
Cut order
Planning
Fabric
Issuance

SPREADINGA AND CUTTING
5
Spreading and
cutting
Planning
Marker
Spread
Production
Spreading
Manual
Automatic
Cutting
Manual
Automatic
Preparation
for Sewing
Ticketing
Bundling

SPREADING AND CUTTING
Cut Order Planning
Why?
 It translates customer orders into cutting
orders.
 Minimize total production costs.
 Meet deadlines.
 To seek most effective use of labor,
equipment, fabric and space.
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SPREADING AND CUTTING
Responsibilities of Cut Order Planning
 Examining incoming orders and piece goods
width and availability.
 Determining volume, size ratios, and
sectioning procedures for marker making.
 Determining whether file markers are
available or new ones are needed.
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SPREADING AND CUTTING
Responsibilities of Cut Order Planning
 Developing specifications for optimum
marker making and fabric utilization.
 Determine most effective use of spreading
and cutting equipment and personnel.
 Issuing orders for marker making, spreading
and cutting.
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SPREADING AND CUTTING
9
Cutting Orders
lead to
Marker
Planning Lay Planning

MARKER PLANNING
Marker:
A marker is a diagram of a precise arrangement
of pattern pieces for sizes of a specific style that
are to be cut from a one spread.
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MARKER PLANNING
11

MARKER PLANNING
Marker Making:
Marker making is the process of determining a
most efficient layout of pattern pieces for a
style, fabric and distribution of sizes (source:
Apparel Manufacturing, Factories those don't
have CAD system perform this process
manually.
12

MARKER PLANNING
There are two different methods of marker making followed in
apparel industry.
Those are-
a)Manual method
b)Computerized method
13

MARKER PLANNING
Manual method can be done by two ways: –
Marker planning with full size pattern
• According to the standard measurement,
all the patterns are in full dimension.
• At first, all the hard patterns are placed on
the paper
• The patterns are marked by turning various
directions to reduce the fabric usages.
14

MARKER PLANNING
Planimeter is used here to measure
covered area of pattern lies in the
marker.
“The marker efficiency is determined by
calculating marker area and fabric
area.”
15

MARKER PLANNING
Computerized method can be performed by two
ways:
Automatic marker making
• It is the most efficient marker making system.
• The computer makes the marker itself
according the command given to computer.
• Small pattern pieces are displayed in computer
screen but full size in computer memory.
• Though marker making is time consuming
method but modern automatic marker making
system overcome that problem of time and
needs only two minutes to make a marker.
16

MARKER PLANNING
Interactive method
• The operator plans markers by connecting
directly with the system through a computer
screen.
• All the pattern pieces are displayed at the top
of the screen in the miniature form.
• Those are dragged and draped to the pre-
determined place by data pen or tablet.
• It is less efficient, and less time required than
automatic marker making system. .
17

MARKER PLANNING
Markers are made to fit specific width.
They could be produced as:
Blocked or sectioned markers
Blocked or sectioned markers contain all
of the pattern pieces for one style in one
or two sizes.
• Stepped spread
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MARKER PLANNING
19
Blocked or sectioned markers

MARKER PLANNING
20
Blocked or sectioned markers

MARKER PLANNING
Continuous markers
Continuous markers contain all the
pattern pieces for all sizes included
in a single cutting.
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MARKER PLANNING
Splice marks
Cutting the fabric across its width to overlap layers in
between the ends of the lay.
It can be used for different reasons:
1. To accommodate for fabric defects.
2. When the fabric roll being spread ends in the middle of
the marker.
3. When there is a change in the size, i.e. the pattern
pieces of each size have not been mixed in the marker
(e.g. on step markers).
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MARKER PLANNING
Splice marks
23

MARKER PLANNING
Splice marks
24

MARKER PLANNING
25
Straight splices
Interlock splices

MARKER EFFICIENCY
 Types of markers
Open marker
Marker made with full pattern pieces.
Closed marker
Marker made with half garment parts pieces for laying along the
folds of the tube (tubular knit).
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MARKER EFFICIENCY
 Marker efficiency is defined as a ratio of area
of marker used in a garment and area of total
marker.
 Secondly, Marker efficiency is determined from
fabric utilization, the percentage of total fabric
that is actually used in garment parts.
Marker efficiency% = (Area of marker used for
garments / Area of total marker) * 100
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MARKER EFFICIENCY
If CAD or Planimeter are not available, then:
 Calculate ratio of weight of fabric consumed
by pattern pieces and total weight fabric
under total marker area. So, a separate
formula is used to find marker efficiency
Marker efficiency% = (Weight of fabric consumed
by patterns pieces in a marker / Total weight of
fabric of under the marker area)*100
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FACTORS AFFECTING MARKER
EFFICIENCY
 Marker planner
 Size of garment (more number of sizes
higher efficiency)
 Marker Length
 Pattern Engineering
 Fabric characteristics (Symmetric or
Asymmetric, check or stripes)
 Marker making methods
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FACTORS AFFECTING MARKER
EFFICIENCY
 Marker width
 Style of garment (mixture of large and
small components)
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KEY POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED FOR
MARKER MAKING
• During marker making it should be followed that fabric
width must be higher than marker width (At least ½
inch).
• Fabric length must be higher than marker length (At
least one inch).
• Marker width should be taken according to the fabric
width and fabric spreading must be done by taking
the guideline from the marker length.
• During marker making, length of fabric cutting table
should be considered.
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KEY POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED FOR
MARKER MAKING
• All the pattern pieces of a garment should be along
the same direction when laid down on an
asymmetric fabric.
• Plan for garments production should also be
considered during marker making.
• During marker making, marker should be started
with the large pattern pieces. Then fits the smaller
pieces in the gap of larger pieces. In this way, fabric
wastage is minimized and marker efficiency is also
increased.
32

KEY POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED FOR
MARKER MAKING
• In the last step of marker making, all the patterns are
shuffled in various directions to reduce the marker
length. It also helps to increase the marker
efficiency
33

LAY & LAY PLANNING
Lay
A stack of fabric plies that have been
prepared for cutting.
Spreading
 Spreading is the processes of superimposing
lengths of fabric on a spreading table
cutting table or specially designed surface
in preparation for the cutting process.
 Spread or lay is the total amount of fabric
prepared for a single marker.

SPREADING/LAYING
Lay planning
 Basis of managing cutting room labor and
table space.
 Spreading and cutting schedules are affected
by table length, type of equipment, spreading
length, spreading time and cutting time.
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SPREADING/LAYING
Requirements of spreading
Shade sorting of cloth pieces
Correct ply direction and adequate lay
stability
Alignment of plies
Correct ply tension
Elimination of fabric faults
36

SPREADING/LAYING
Spreading equipment
• Spreading surfaces ( table, pin table, vacuum
table.
• Spreading machines.
37

SPREADING/LAYING
Manual spreading
• In manual spreading, fabric is drawn from its
package which, if it is a roll, may be supported
by a frame and carried along the table where
the end is secured by weights or by clamps.
• The operators work back from the end,
aligning the edges and ensuring that there is
no tension and that there are no wrinkles
38

SPREADING/LAYING
Manual spreading
39

SPREADING/LAYING
Automatic spreading
 Spreading machines carry the piece of fabric from end to end
of the spread, dispensing one ply at a time on the spread.
 Spreading machines may include:
• A motor to drive
• A ply cutting device with automatic catcher to hold the ends
of ply in place
40

SPREADING/LAYING
• A ply counter
• An alignment shifter actuated by photo electric edge guides
• A turntable
• A direct drive on the fabric support, synchronized with the
speed of travel, to reduce or eliminate tension in the fabric
being spread.
41

SPREADING/LAYING
Types of Lay Plan
The types of marker or lay plan being used in the industry are
of the following type:
 Half Garment Lay
 Whole Garment Lay
 Single Size Lay
 Multi-Size Lay
• Sectional Lay
• Interlocking Lay
• Mixed Multi-Size Lay

SPREADING/LAYING
Half Garment Lay
This includes only half of the garment pieces (e.g. the right side
of the garment). They are used for folded or tubular fabrics and
for fabrics which are spread face to face.

SPREADING/LAYING
Whole Garment Lay
All of the garment pieces, left and right sides, are included in the
lay.
This type of lay is used for open width fabrics.

SPREADING/LAYING
Single Size Lay
The lay includes all of the pieces for a single size.
Restricting the lay to a single size makes order planning and
laying up the fabric easier, but the disadvantage is a somewhat
higher material consumption, compared to multi-size lays.

SPREADING/LAYING
Multi-Size Lay
Sectional Lay
The lay is made in at least two distinct rectangular
sections. Each section contains all of the parts of a single
size. Adjacent sections may be the same or a different size.

SPREADING/LAYING
Multi-Size Lay
Interlocking Lay
Two or more sections, one after the other, usually different
sizes, but the sections are not confined to strict rectangular
areas; the pieces for the different sections may merge at
the borders.

TYPES OF LAY PLAN
Multi-Size Lay
Mixed Multi-Size Lay
In this case there are no distinct sections; the pieces for
the two or more different garment sizes are intermingled.
This is the arrangement which normally gives the best
material utilization.

SPREADING MODES
49
Spreading
Modes
Nap one way
& Face one
way
Nap either
way & F/F
Nap one way
& F/F
Nap either
way & Face
one way

SPREADING MODES
50
Face
one way
Face
one way
Nap
either way

CUTTING
 To make a complete garments, cutting is
necessary.
 Cutting means to out the garments pieces
from lays of the fabric with the help of
templates(markers).
 Generally the marker is applied (drawn,
traced, sprayed, clipped, pinned) to the top
ply of a lay.
51

CUTTING
Objective of Cutting
The objectives of cutting is to separate fabric
parts from the spread of the lay according to
the dimension of the marker for the purpose of
garments making according to the pattern
pieces.
52

CUTTING
Cutting requirements
In order to achieve these objectives, certain
requirements must be fulfilled
 Precision (Exactness) of cut.
 Clean edges.
 Un fused edges.
 Support of the lay.
 Consistent cutting.
53

CUTTING
Factors involved in Cutting Fabrics
Factors affect the cutting process for fabrics are as follows:-
• Nature of fabric (grainline shade, twill etc.)
• The thickness of fabric.
• Design characteristics of a finished garment.
• Machines and tables used.
54

CUTTING
55
Hand
Sheer
Straight Knife
Round knife
Band knife
Notcher
Drill
Die Cutting

CUTTING TECHNIQUES
Three cutting technique
1. Completely by manual-Hand operated
scissors.
2. Manually operated powered knife.
 Straight knife.
 Band knife.
 Round knife.
 Die cutter.
 Notcher cutter.
 Drill.
56

CUTTING TECHNIQUES
3. Computerized technique
 Knife cutting.
 Cutting by water jet.
 Laser cutting.
 Plasma torch cutting.
57

SEMI-AUTOMATIC
CUTTING

PORTABLE STRAIGHT KNIFE CUTTER
Advantages of straight knife
 Comparatively cheap & and can be
cut many plies at a time.
 Higher lay of height can be cut very
easily.
 Round corners can be cut more
precisely than even round knife.
 Production speed is very good.
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PORTABLE STRAIGHT KNIFE CUTTER
 Garments components can be directly separated from
fabric lay.
 Fabric can be cut from any angle.
Disadvantages of straight knife
 Sometimes deflecting occur due to the weight of the
motor.
 Knife deflection is high in risk, when any height is to high.
 Sometimes accident may happen.
60

ROUND KNIFE CUTTING
Advantages of Round Knife cutting
 Suitable for cutting single ply as
well as multilayer also (say 20-30
layers).
 Suitable for small scale cutting.
 Easy to operate.
 Suitable to cut the larger parts of
garments.
61

ROUND KNIFE CUTTING
Disadvantages of Round Knife cutting
 Not suitable for curved lines because, the blade does not
strike all the plies simultaneously at the same point.
 Round knife is used only for straight lines as lower lay of
relatively few plies.
 Not suitable for large production.
 Difficult to cut small components.
62

BAND KNIFE CUTTING
Band Knife cutting
63

BAND KNIFE CUTTING
Advantages of Band Knife cutting
 Straight and accurate cutting from the first layer to the bottom
layer
 Air blowing table provides air cushion for material easy
movement
 Equipped with knife sharpening device, sharpening underneath
table no metal pieces on table surface
 High accuracy and vertical cutting finish
 Adjustable knife running speed
 Special bearing guide design to keep knife moving in same
position
64

BAND KNIFE CUTTING
Disadvantages of Band Knife cutting
 Fabric wastage is high.
 Work load high.
 Running cost is high.
 Require fix space.
65

AUTOMATIC
CUTTING

AUTOMATIC BLADE CUTTING
Advantages of Automatic blade cutting
 Flexible software control of cut speed and knife-speed to increase
throughput, thus high speed cutting.
 Machines can be used for different types of fabric.
 State-of-the-art embedded digital motion
 Fully network-compatible
 Easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI)
 Sophisticated cut data file handling
 Modified notch and cutter parameter
67

AUTOMATIC BLADE CUTTING
Advantages of Automatic blade cutting
 Fabric can be cut very rapidly.
 Fabric can be cut very accurately.
 The speed of fabric cutting can be controlled.
 The cutting knife can be moved and operated in any directions.
 Suitable for production on a large scale.
 Can be attached to computer controlled marker making.
 The fabric lay is compressed which helps cutting of the fabric.
68

AUTOMATIC BLADE CUTTING
Advantages of Automatic blade cutting
 During cutting of fabric, the fault are comparatively lower than the
other methods.
 The possibility of blade deflection is less.
 There is arrangement for sharpening of the blade.
 The possibility of accident is less.
 Marker is not required for cutting of the fabric.
 Labor cost is less.
 Fabric can be cut 6 to 8 times faster than the manual methods.
69

AUTOMATIC BLADE CUTTING
Disadvantages of Automatic blade cutting
 The initial capital investment is high.
 The maintenance cost is high.
70

WATER JET CUTTING
Advantages of Water Jet cutting
 In waterjet cutting, there is no heat generated.
 This is especially useful for cutting tool steel and
other metals where excessive heat may change the
properties of the material.
 Unlike machining or grinding, waterjet cutting does
not produce any dust or particles that are harmful if
inhaled.
 The kerf width in waterjet cutting is very small, and
very little material is wasted.
71

WATER JET CUTTING
Disadvantages of Water Jet cutting
 A limited number of materials can be cut
economically
 The time to cut a part can be very long. Because of
this, water jet cutting can be very costly and
outweigh the advantages.
 Very thick parts can not be cut with water jet cutting
and still hold dimensional accuracy.
 Inconvenient for cutting of fabric lay of more height.
 The cutting end of the fabric gets wet.
72

LASER CUTTING
Advantages of Laser Cutting
 In a very high speed, that means 13
meters can be cut per minute.
 As the cutting head is controlled by the
computer, cutting can be made along
the correct line.
 Reduced contamination of workpiece.
 As the fabric is cut by light ray,
sharpening of the cutter is not required.
73

LASER CUTTING
Disdvantages of Laser Cutting
 The fabric lay of multi-layer cannot be cut properly.
 In case of synthetic fabrics, the cutting end may be fused.
 The main disadvantage of laser cutting is the high power
consumption.
 Expensive method.
74

PLASMA TORCH CUTTING
 In this method fabric is cut by very fine flame caused by
flowing the argon gas though nozzle.
 Fabric can be cut in one or more layers. But it is suitable for
cutting single ply fabric.
 The table on which the fabric is cut, its surface should
have 85% holes.
 Still research regarding this method is going on.
75

CUTTING
Cutting Quality and Accuracy
Factors that cause cutting inaccuracies are:
• Wide or Vague lines on the marker .
• Imprecise following of lines on the marker.
• Variation in the cutting pitch (the angle at which cutter cuts the
fabric and contact with fabric).
• Shifting of the spread or block.
• Allowing fabric to bunch up or push ahead of the knife.
• Using improper equipment.
• Using improper cutting sequence as parts are cut.
• Condition of cut edges.
76

QUIZ 1 (WEAVING)
Q.1
If you are asked to do SWOT analysis of apparel industry, what
could be Strength, weakness, opportunity and threat, write one
for all? (2)
Q.2
Draw a flow chart showing the process of garment
manufacturing (2)
Q.3
What is size range known for babies born prematurely?(1
)
Q.4
How many types of apparel manufacturing exist in industry? How
each is beneficial? Explain briefly. (3)
77

QUIZ 1 (YARN MANUFACTURING)
Q.1
What would be your considerations when you go to buy a
garment? (1)
Q.2
Draw a flow chart showing the process of garment
manufacturing (3)
Q.3
How many types of measurements are for developing a
garment? (2)
Q.4
How many types of apparel manufacturing exist in industry? How
each is beneficial? Explain briefly. (2)
78

Thank You!

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