Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 51% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 52% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 48% of the time, stays with people.
Draw and construct sets of precision master fabric patterns or layouts. May also mark and cut fabrics and apparel.
2,950 people do this job in the US. $62,750 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on20 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet1 h
- Stays with people19 h
Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 20 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 1 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 19 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Create a master pattern for each size within a range of garment sizes, using charts, drafting instruments, computers, or grading devices (about 6 h); Draw outlines of pattern parts by adapting or copying existing patterns, or by drafting new patterns (about 3 h); Make adjustments to patterns after fittings (about 3 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 52%
- 6%
- 42%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 24%. Today's estimate: 51%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 16 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 31% of this job's working time as physical work. For 18% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 18% in a purpose-built cell. 0.18 of 3, the 454th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 69%
- No robot shown 13%
- In a purpose-built cell 18%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create a paper pattern from which to mass-produce a design concept.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 17% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.6 work days | Stays with people | |
| Create a master pattern for each size within a range of garment sizes, using charts, drafting instruments, computers, or grading devices.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 16% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | 93%Half by now | |
| Test patterns by making and fitting sample garments.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 5.8 h2.5 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Draw outlines of pattern parts by adapting or copying existing patterns, or by drafting new patterns.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 9% | 2.1 h50 min to 5.8 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Make adjustments to patterns after fittings.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Determine the best layout of pattern pieces to minimize waste of material, and mark fabric accordingly.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Flex Offer by Lectra (automatic nesting / marker making) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| 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.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| 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.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Position and cut out master or sample patterns, using scissors and knives, or print out copies of patterns, using computers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Graphtec CE8000-130AP Garment Pattern Cutting Plotter (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Create design specifications to provide instructions on garment sewing and assembly.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Compute dimensions of patterns according to sizes, considering stretching of material.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Input specifications into computers to assist with pattern design and pattern cutting.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 51% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 52% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Create a master pattern for each size within a range of garment sizes, using charts, drafting instruments, computers, or grading devices (93% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Draw outlines of pattern parts by adapting or copying existing patterns, or by drafting new patterns (99% of the task's time now); and Make adjustments to patterns after fittings (99% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Create a paper pattern from which to mass-produce a design concept; Test patterns by making and fitting sample garments; and Determine the best layout of pattern pieces to minimize waste of material, and mark fabric accordingly. Together such tasks are about 48% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 31% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 18% of the working time. Its index is 0.18 of 3. One example: Flex Offer by Lectra (automatic nesting / marker making) for "determine the best layout of pattern pieces to minimize waste of material, and mark fabric accordingly". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 16 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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