What is Fabric Cutting?

In garments manufacturing fabric, cutting means to cut out the garment’s pieces from lays of
the fabric with the help of cutting template or marker. Cutting is one of the major steps to
make a complete garment. For cutting of fabric generally, the marker is applied to the top ply of
a lay.

Objectives of Cutting

▪ To separate fabric parts from the spread of lay according to the dimension of the marker.
▪ To make the garments according to the required design and shape.
▪ To prepare garments pieces to go forward with the next process of garments
manufacturing.

Cutting Section in a Garment Factory

Requirements of Fabric Cutting:

In order to ensure that the parts of the garments are cut properly and fairly, it is necessary
to full fill the following requirements as described:

a) Precession of cut: It is required to cut the correct parts of the garments as per the exact
shape of the patterns. Because, if the parts of the garments are not cut in correct shapes,
then the garments made after sewing of those parts will also not be in correct shape.
Fabrics cutting for the parts of the garments with correct shape depends on the methods of
fabrics cutting and sometimes it depends on the marker planning and its making. If the
fabric is cut in manual method, then the right cutting of fabrics depends on the condition of
cutter knife, skill of the cutting man and his attention to work. In case of dye cutting and
computer-controlled cutting, if the cutting machine is in good condition, then due to the
procedural reason, right fabrics cutting is done.
b) Clean edge: After cutting of the fabrics, the end of the cut pattern should be clean and
fair. It is required to keep observation so that yarns do not come out from the cut end and it
is not rough. If there is no proper sharpness in the knife, then problem may happen.

c) Unfused edge: During the cutting of the parts of the garments from the fabric lay through
the mechanical way, the friction of the cutting knife with the fabric creates heat. The
amount of heat caused by friction is sometimes so high that the fabric along the cutting end
may mett, specially in the fabrics where the amount of thermoplastic fiber is high. If the
fabric is fused, the cutting ends may join with one another. As a result, it becomes very
much difficult to separate them and even if they are separated, yarns come out along the
cutting ends. Again sometimes, the fused polymers takes the shape of bids after cooling.
Even after making of the garments, those bids remain and during wearing of the garments,
they prickle in the body. In order to avoid such type of problems during cutting of fabrics,
the arrangements for controlling of heat due to friction may be taken. For minimizing heat
due to friction, cutting knife needs to be sharp, anti-fusion paper may be used, silicon
lubricant may be used in the knife during cutting of fabrics, the height of the fabric lay may
be reduced and the speed of the cutting knife may be reduced.

d) Support of the lay: How will be the surface of the table on which fabrics lay will be cut, is
related to the cutting method. The surface of the cutting table needs to be able to support
the weight of the fabrics lay and during cutting of the fabrics it is to be ensured so that the
bottom most ply of the fabric is cut at the same time during the cutting of the fabrics.
Otherwise various problems may arise.

e) Consistent cutting: In whatever methods or in whatever machines the fabrics are cut,
there must have consistent cutting. Specially the shape of the cutting of all the parts from
top to bottom layer, should be of same shapes. For the reason of mechanical or of manual
methods, there may have inconsistent cutting. This may also happen due to lack of skill or
negligence.
Methods of Fabric Cutting:

In the garments industry, there are two available cutting methods, are-

1. Manual Method,
2. Computerized Method.

Fabric Cutting Method

1. Manual Fabric Cutting Method:

Here cutting process is done by using a knife, scissors, drill, etc. The knife is placed in the head
of the cutting machine. The manual method is the most used cutting method in the garments
industry.

The manual cutting method can be done by using the following equipment:
▪ Round knife,
▪ Band Knife,
▪ Straight Knife,
▪ Scissor,
▪ Die-cutting,
▪ Drill.
Advantage of Manual Cutting Method:
1. Easy process of cutting.
2. Educated manpower is not required.
 3. The low-cost knife is enough here to cut the fabric.
4. Low maintenance cost.
The disadvantage of the Manual Cutting Method:
1. Slow process.
2. Not suitable for large scale production.
3. Cutting speed cannot be controlled.
4. The intensity of the accident is very high.
5. Higher labor cost than computerized cutting method.
2. Computerized Fabric Cutting Method:

In the modern clothing manufacturing industry, the computerized cutting method becomes so
much popular day by day due to its higher production and less time-consuming efficiency. Here
all programs are loaded into the computer and the computer performs all the activities which
are loaded.

The computerized Cutting method can be done by using the following equipment:
▪ Straight knife cutting,
▪ Water jet cutting,
▪ Laser beam cutting,
▪ Plasma torch cutting.
Advantage of Computerized Cutting Method:
1. Very much effective cutting by a computer-controlled system.
2. Very fast cutting operation.
3. Suitable for large scale production.
4. Cutting speed can be controlled.
5. The intensity of the accident is very low.
6. No need for any marker.
7. Fabrics can be cut 7-8 times higher than the manual cutting method.
8. Low labor cost.
The disadvantage of the Computerized Cutting Method:
1. Higher maintenance cost.
2. Skilled and educated manpower is required.
3. So much expensive machine.
4. If the correct disc is not loaded in the computer, then an error will be indicated.
Ref:

1. https://garmentsmerchandising.com/methods-of-fabric-cutting/
2. https://ordnur.com/textile-fashion/garments/process-sequence-of-fabric-cutting/
3. https://www.textileblog.com/garments-fabric-cutting-definition-requirements-and-
methods/