AI exposure: Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers
Draw and construct sets of precision master fabric patterns or layouts. May also mark and cut fabrics and apparel.
Reading this score
computedAt 23.3% of weighted task load, Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers sits at the 44th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 68.6% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 16 tasks it averages 2.16 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Create a master pattern for each size within a range of garment sizes, at 60.0%. The least is Trace outlines of specified patterns onto material, and cut fabric, at 0.0%. A gap of 60.0% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within production occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 107 roles in the group is 16.1%, and only 12 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 16 tasks, 7 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 9 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 1.31 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.16 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.06 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.16 | 0-3 |
| Context | 0.66 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.88 | 0-3 |
Task by task
16 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create a master pattern for each size within a range of garment sizes, using charts, drafting instruments, computers, or grading devices. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 4.69 | exposed |
| Create a paper pattern from which to mass-produce a design concept. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 4.29 | exposed |
| Create design specifications to provide instructions on garment sewing and assembly. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 4.07 | exposed |
| Compute dimensions of patterns according to sizes, considering stretching of material. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 4.45 | exposed |
| Discuss design specifications with designers, and convert their original models of garments into patterns of separate parts that can be laid out on a length of fabric. | 52.5% | 22.5% | 25.0% | 4.19 | exposed |
| Examine sketches, sample articles, and design specifications to determine quantities, shapes, and sizes of pattern parts, and to determine the amount of material or fabric required to make a product. | 36.7% | 13.3% | 50.0% | 4.13 | exposed |
| Draw outlines of pattern parts by adapting or copying existing patterns, or by drafting new patterns. | 28.7% | 8.8% | 62.5% | 4.43 | untouched |
| Input specifications into computers to assist with pattern design and pattern cutting. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.58 | exposed |
| Trace outlines of paper onto cardboard patterns, and cut patterns into parts to make templates. | 8.8% | 3.8% | 87.5% | 3.93 | untouched |
| Draw details on outlined parts to indicate where parts are to be joined, as well as the positions of pleats, pockets, buttonholes, and other features, using computers or drafting instruments. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.51 | untouched |
| Make adjustments to patterns after fittings. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.48 | untouched |
| Mark samples and finished patterns with information, such as garment size, section, style, identification, and sewing instructions. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.44 | untouched |
| Test patterns by making and fitting sample garments. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.37 | untouched |
| Position and cut out master or sample patterns, using scissors and knives, or print out copies of patterns, using computers. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.35 | untouched |
| Determine the best layout of pattern pieces to minimize waste of material, and mark fabric accordingly. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.08 | untouched |
| Trace outlines of specified patterns onto material, and cut fabric, using scissors. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.75 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.