Fabric cutting and lay planning.
Cloth is usually the most expensive thing in a garment budget, whether you are a London label or a local business. Cutting it accurately, with a lay plan that wastes as little as possible, is where a production run is won or lost.
Cutting looks like the simple part and is not. Grain has to run true or the finished garment will twist on the body. Pattern repeats have to be matched across seams. Pile fabrics have to run the same direction on every piece or the colour will look different panel to panel. Get any of this wrong and the error is multiplied by every unit in the run.
Lay planning
Before anything is cut we plan the lay — how the pattern pieces sit on the cloth to use the least fabric while respecting grain, nap and repeat. On a sizeable run, a well-planned lay is the difference between a comfortable margin and none. Where you are cutting several styles from the same cloth, we can share fabric across them to get more out of your budget.
Fabrics we handle
Fine and slippery cloth — chiffon, georgette, silk satin, crepe de chine — which needs weighting, backing and patience. Structured wovens, wool suiting and coating. Knitted jersey, which moves as you cut and has to be relaxed properly first. Denim, canvas and heavy workwear cloth. Pile fabrics, velvet and corduroy. Lace, sequinned and beaded cloth. Technical, coated and waterproof fabrics.
Single garments to production quantities
We cut one-offs and we cut in bulk. For quantity work, multiple plies are laid and cut together so every piece matches exactly. For delicate or expensive cloth, single-ply cutting is slower but far safer, and we will recommend it where the fabric warrants it.
You supply the cloth
For garments, you buy the fabric and send it to us with the pattern. We do not source cloth for clothing: we have been burned by it in the past, because fabric chosen by someone else is rarely the fabric the customer had in mind, and nobody wins that argument once it has been cut.
What we will do is advise before you buy — the weight, the fibre, the width, and exactly how many metres your pattern needs, including extra for matching a print. That advice is free and it saves far more than it costs. Send a metre in advance where you can, so we can see how it behaves before we cut the roll.
Cut-only, or cut and made
Some clients want only the cutting done and take the bundles away to their own machinists. That is entirely fine. Others go straight on to a production run with us.
Things designers ask
Can you cut fabric I supply?
Yes — that is how all our garment work runs. Send a metre in advance if you can, so we can test how it behaves before we cut your whole roll.
Do you supply the fabric?
No — for garments you buy your own cloth and send it to us. We learned the hard way that choosing fabric for someone else rarely ends well: cloth that looks right to us is not always what you pictured, and by the time it is cut it is too late. What we will do is tell you exactly what to look for, how much to buy and which weight and fibre will behave the way your design needs, before you spend anything.
Do you cut delicate fabrics like chiffon and silk?
Yes. Fine and slippery cloth is cut single-ply with weighting and backing rather than stacked, which is slower but far safer on expensive fabric.
Can you cut without making the garments?
Yes. Plenty of clients take the cut bundles away to their own machinists. Cut-only is a perfectly normal booking.
How do you keep waste down?
By planning the lay properly before cutting, and by sharing fabric across styles where you are making more than one thing from the same cloth.
Do you match patterns and stripes across seams?
Yes. Tell us at the outset, because matching affects how much fabric you need and we would rather allow for it than run short.
Can you cut technical and waterproof fabrics?
Yes. Send a sample first so we can check how it handles and whether the coating affects the cut edge.
Other things we make and mend
Send us a sketch or a spec
We will come back with a price, a timescale and any problems we can see coming.