Lesson 4 · Fabric basics
Marker efficiency and cutting wastage
6 min
In a real company
CAD operator, cutting master, IE / fabric audit
Every 1% of marker efficiency is fabric money saved on the whole order. Factories track it per style and audit the cutting room's wastage against it.
Key ideas
- Marker efficiency = area of all pattern pieces ÷ area of the marker.
- Good woven markers run about 80–88%; knits and small garments can go higher.
- Cutting wastage compares fabric issued to the cutting floor with fabric actually used in markers.
Formula
- Marker area
- = Marker length × Marker width
- Efficiency %
- = Pattern area ÷ Marker area × 100
- Cutting wastage %
- = (Issued − Used in markers) ÷ Issued × 100
Worked example
A 6-shirt marker is 9.6 m long on 58" fabric. The pattern pieces add up to 11.8 m².
- 1Width = 58 × 0.0254 = 1.473 m
- 2Marker area = 9.6 × 1.473 = 14.143 m²
- 3Efficiency = 11.8 ÷ 14.143 × 100 = 83.43%
✅ 83.43% — the other 16.57% is waste between the pieces.
Try it live in the calculatorCommon mistakes
- Calculating with full width instead of the marker's usable width.
- Ignoring end losses per ply when checking the cutting room.
- Comparing efficiency of different garment types — it is only fair within a style.
Quick quiz
Answer 2 of 3 correctly to complete the lesson.
1. Pattern area 12 m², marker area 15 m². Efficiency?
2. 1,200 m issued, 1,152 m used in markers. Cutting wastage?
3. A higher marker efficiency means…