textile pattern making machine operator
Textile pattern making machine operators create patterns, designs and decoration for textiles and fabrics using machines and equipment. They choose the materials and check the quality of the textiles both before and after their work.
textile pattern making machine operator textile pattern making machine operators create patterns, designs and decoration for textiles and fabrics using machines and equipment. They choose the materials and check the quality of the textiles both before and after their work. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include properties of textile materials, textile techniques, create patterns for garments, use textile finishing machine technologies, modify textile designs.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £27,915 a year for Textile process operatives (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 8112). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Plant and machine operators and assemblers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only textile pattern making machine operator, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 8. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Design
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Production and Processing
- Education and Training
- Engineering and Technology
- Computers and Electronics
- Administration and Management
What you'd actually do
- Create a master pattern for each size within a range of garment sizes, using charts, drafting instruments, computers, or grading devices.
- Input specifications into computers to assist with pattern design and pattern cutting.
- 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.
- Make adjustments to patterns after fittings.
- Compute dimensions of patterns according to sizes, considering stretching of material.
- Mark samples and finished patterns with information, such as garment size, section, style, identification, and sewing instructions.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does textile pattern making machine operator do?
Textile pattern making machine operators create patterns, designs and decoration for textiles and fabrics using machines and equipment. They choose the materials and check the quality of the textiles both before and after their work.
What skills does textile pattern making machine operator need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include properties of textile materials, textile techniques, create patterns for garments, use textile finishing machine technologies, modify textile designs, produce textile designs. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace textile pattern making machine operator?
Our AI-durability model gives textile pattern making machine operator a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.