Existing studies focus on the zero-waste garment design process and role of the designer in this process, but few look at how a zero-waste garment pattern may be graded into different sizes. This study tested two methods for grading zero-waste garments: (1) traditional grading and (2) varying fabric width for each size. Pattern manipulation and grading was carried out using Gerber Accumark software. The fabric utilization was evaluated for each grading method in order to facilitate industry practices. A non-zero waste garment was redesigned using the "jigsaw" zero-waste design method. This allowed the interlocking of pattern pieces and 100% fabric utilization. For the conventional grading method, grade rules were assigned to cardinal points on the "jigsaw" pattern pieces, and then the pieces were graded to a size four and size twelve. In the second grading method, a 36" wide fabric was used for the size four garment and 44" wide fabric was used for the size twelve garment. The "jigsaw" marker was scaled up and down proportionally in order to fit the new fabric widths. Fabric utilization data generated by the Gerber software was collected and compared for each grading method. The results show that grading method 2 (varying fabric width) did not create any additional fabric waste, while method 1 (conventional grading) created a small amount of fabric waste. The study concludes that scaling a garment to different widths of fabric may be a more acceptable grading method for zero-waste garments; however, both methods resulted in an increase in fabric utilization over industry norms.
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