Glossary
What is a marker?
A marker is the cutting layout that arranges every pattern piece on the fabric width to use as little cloth as possible.
Also called: marker making, lay plan.
Marker efficiency — the share of the cloth actually covered by pieces — is the number that decides fabric cost per garment. Production markers typically run between 80 and 88 percent; the remainder is unavoidable waste between irregular shapes.
Because efficiency is expressed against the usable width, fabric width changes consumption directly. The same garment cut on 60-inch goods will use meaningfully less cloth than on 44-inch, which is why quoting yardage without stating the width is meaningless.