Add notches and balance marks

What you are trying to accomplish

Place small, printable marks at exact construction locations so related pieces can be lined up in the correct order and orientation. A notch may identify a seam position, distinguish front from back, or control intentional ease, gathers, or another construction event.

Why it matters

Two seam edges can have the correct overall length and still assemble badly when their matching points are missing or misplaced. Notches divide a seam into meaningful sections and tell the maker which points meet.

PatternForge can store notch position, style, direction, and a relationship check. It cannot know where the original balance marks belong. Copy them from the source or derive them through a deliberate patternmaking check.

Step by step

1. Identify the source notch and the matching location on the related piece. Work from the sewing relationship, not from visual symmetry alone.
2. Choose Notch from the tool palette.
3. Click or tap the intended outline location. Drag while placing if you want to aim the notch; a simple click keeps its default direction.
4. Select the notch. If it sits slightly away from the outline, choose Snap to edge.
5. Choose a style: Single, Double, T-bar, or V-cut. Use a consistent convention across the pattern and explain any convention that buyers may not know.
6. Refine the location with the on-canvas handle or the notch’s distance or percent controls. On curves, verify visually against the source; the numeric position is based on the local point-to-point outline segment, not a full seam-walking calculation.
7. Adjust Direction° and Length × only enough to make the mark clear and keep it from obscuring the cut or sewing line.
8. Add the corresponding notch to the other piece. Use double notches or another documented convention only when it genuinely communicates orientation.
9. For seams that should relate, use Advanced → Seams & matching to define and match the edges. PatternForge can then warn when related notch positions disagree.
10. Inspect the notches in print preview with markings enabled.

What success looks like

• Every notch comes from a known construction purpose.
• Matching pieces have corresponding marks in the right order.
• Notches sit on the intended outline and point clearly toward it.
• Front/back or other orientation conventions are consistent.
• Intentional ease or fullness is controlled with marks rather than hidden in unexplained length differences.
• The marks remain visible without damaging the readable boundary in the export.

Common problems and recovery

The notch floats off the edge

Select it and use Snap to edge, then confirm the correct local edge was chosen.

The notch snapped to the wrong segment

Undo, place it closer to the intended segment, and snap again. At crowded corners, zoom in before placement.

Distance and percent do not match a measured curved seam

Those fields position the notch along the local anchor-to-anchor segment. For a curved production seam, compare the visible mark with the source and verify the full seam relationship independently.

The paired notch warning appears

Check that both notches belong to the intended matched-edge relationship, then compare their order and relative positions. Move the incorrect mark; do not silence the warning by changing a correct source notch.

Two edges have different lengths

First ask whether the difference is intentional ease, gathers, pleats, or stretch. Use an Ease relationship when that difference is deliberate. Otherwise repair the underlying outline or seam definition before moving notches.

The mark is hard to read in print

Adjust its style, direction, or length, then preview again. Confirm that Include markings is enabled in the print arrangement and export path.

You are unsure whether a single or double notch means front or back

Do not rely on a universal assumption. Use the convention of the source pattern and explain it in the instructions.

Quick safety check

For each seam pair, verify:

• Do both pieces carry every required matching mark?
• Are the marks in the same construction order from a shared start point?
• Is any length difference intentional and documented?
• Are the notches on the actual sewing relationship, not just similar-looking cut edges?
• Can every mark be seen in the final PDF?

Related tools and next step

Use Define and match seams to compare related edges and notch positions. Continue with darts, seam allowance, and the final Pattern Check.