Cutting gradients, matching prints and finding the top of a piece
Grain counts toward Quality, and the way you lay each piece decides how a print or gradient sits on the finished dress. Turn the piece the right way before you cut.
| You want | Do this |
|---|---|
| A gradient that runs top to bottom | Cross-cut: turn the pieces off the straight grain |
| Know whether 75% grain can pass a commission | Compare the whole-dress Quality, including fit and sewing |
| Know which end of a piece is the top | Read its arrows before you turn it |
| Get a piece back to 100% grain | Scroll wheel or Page Up / Page Down, ten steps |
| A print that carries across a seam | Hide the seam allowance with the eye icon |
| Stop the print squeezing at the waist | Allow for a small mismatch there |
Gradient fabric, top to bottom
For a gradient that runs from the top of the dress to the hem you have to cross-cut: turn the pieces off the straight grain. That costs grain, and cross-cut pieces usually sit around 75% instead of 100%. Grain feeds Quality, so keep it for cards with room to spare, and sew those pieces carefully to make up the difference. How grain and sewing add up is on getting 100% quality.
75% grain is not 75 Quality
The grain label belongs to a panel. Commission Quality combines the average grain across the dress, fit and the combined sewing score. A perfect last seam does not mean the entire dress has perfect sewing.
| Fit | Sewing | Commission Quality | Try the inputs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | 100% | 92 | Adjust example |
| 100% | 75% | 80 | Adjust example |
| 30% | 100% | 78 | Adjust example |
These examples use the extracted Build 410 formula, including rounding to the even number at an exact half. They calculate Quality only; colours, style tags, materials and decorations still have to meet the card.
If grain is really 75% throughout the dress, perfect fit and sewing reach 92. For a higher target, improve the grain on some panels instead of relying on sewing alone. Start with the Crowning Glory quality check for that commission.
If perfect sewing still leaves the dress below its target, check the mannequin fit and which readings to enter before recutting. Making an off-the-rack dress? Compare the same grain in sale mode; that formula leaves fit out.
Which end of a piece is the top
There is no top marker on a pattern piece, which matters for one-way prints such as the vegetable-print cotton. Try this: take the piece out of your inventory and look at it before you turn it. In that starting position, the arrows pointing up and down usually show which way the piece will face on the dress. Note the top, then keep track of it as you turn the piece onto the grain. Turn every piece the same way from where it starts, all clockwise or all anticlockwise, so their tops end up on the same side. The starting position may not tell you the top for every shape, so with a one-way print, pin the first piece on the mannequin and check it before you cut the rest.
Turning a piece back to 100% grain
With a piece selected on the fabric, the scroll wheel turns it in steps, and so do Page Up and Page Down. Ten steps bring it to 100% grain. If a piece has slipped to 98%, one step snaps it back. The line on the piece flashes from red to green when it is at or near 100%, and clicking the white rotation circle without moving the mouse shows the exact figure. On a Steam Deck with the default layout, L1 and R1 do the same job. While you hold a piece, A and D scroll along the fabric, so you can carry it to a clear stretch without putting it down. The rest of the keys are on controls.
Lining up a print across a seam
The eye icon next to the scissors hides the seam allowance, so you see only the fabric that will show on the dress. Work piece by piece: cut one, lay out the piece that joins it, then drag the cut piece alongside to see whether the print lines up before you cut the second. Matching a print eats fabric, so buy a little more than the pattern’s estimate.
Not cut yet
Hide the seam allowance with the eye icon, then compare adjoining edges on the table. Check the first piece on the mannequin before cutting the rest; a flat layout can look different once fitted.
Already cut or sewn
You can redo one panel instead of restarting the dress. If sewn, unpick its seams first; return that panel to its source fabric and drag it to the cutting table’s bottom-right recycling basket. Follow the single-panel recovery steps. Fabric already cut away from the bolt may not come back.
For a final visual check, place the first cut panel on the mannequin before committing the rest of the fabric. Recut only the panel whose print needs moving.
Print squeezed at the waist
On a fitted top, the fabric texture looks compressed around the waist, so a print that lines up on the table will not quite meet the skirt there. It looks like the 3D model stretching the texture rather than a mistake in your layout, so allow for a small mismatch at the waist instead of recutting to chase it. When you line pieces up for the rest of the dress, remember the seam allowance.
New to the cutting table? The full order of cutting, sewing and finishing is in the beginner’s guide.
Plan a painting or character dress around its colours and trim details.