Garment Notation Language: Formal descriptive language for clothing construction

11 hours ago (github.com)

In the examples, there is discrepancy between the source, the diagram, the pieces diagram, and the 3D test each. As someone who is professionally and personally interested in grammars and textiles, I appreciate the fantasy and the vibe of the project but it does not seem to be a functioning demo of anything coherent.

  • +1. This is 100% hallucinated. Creds: My first programming language was GRAFIS CAD Fachsprache, a parametric pattern drafting software for garments, which incidentally powers our business (https:/liepelt.design—the website and intranet of which we are developing in ur/web btw just to clarify the geek factor!)

  • Yeah, and whoever kicked this off I don't think knows basics of constructing/tailoring clothes. There already is a standardized representation: patterns. Some of the older generation in my family still sew their own clothing using them for fun.

Were any people who work for the garment industry involved in GNL's creation, or is it something that's coming entirely from tech people?

  • Tech person - there's only one contributor, it's less than 48 hours old, and appears to be primarily vibe coded with the assistance of Claude Code. No mentions of types of stitches even though it's crucial to understanding how a garment is made. I wonder too if this grammar can represent a glove made from a single strand of yarn.

    • If I understand what you mean, that's more in the realm of knitting which does already have several rigorous notations in common use.

      This is for pattern drafting, which assumes knit or woven fabric as the raw material for the garment construction, along with the pattern.

      That said it still does not seem suitable for this task based on my experience sewing from and modifying patterns.

      7 replies →

Does GNL support pleats, tucks, and darts? These sewn features help make flat cloth conform to curves in the body. The terms don't seem to be mentioned explicitly in the repo, though maybe they can be implemented with the existing notation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleat | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuck_(sewing) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dart_(sewing)

Is there a service I can upload a file and get one made and shipped to me? Not necessarily this grament language but others. I have an old and unusual garment I want in an adult size.

  • Yes, but it's a service for the garment trade, not individuals.[1] They're going to want patterns in an industry standard format. If you need help with the design, that's available, but not cheap.

    There's a reverse-engineering process for garments, involving laying them out on a light table and taking pictures. That's how you make knockoffs.

    If the goal is a one-off, not volume production, just find a good custom tailor or costumer. It's going to cost.

    [1] https://www.hongyuapparel.com/clothing-prototype-manufacture...

"Dance has Labanotation. Music has staff notation. Architecture has plan/section/elevation conventions. GNL brings the same rigor to garments — a generative descriptive language where a valid expression is sufficient to construct a garment without ambiguity."

AI lmao

For another "clothing patterns as code" approach, see https://freesewing.dev/ - also with a more complete UI and editor.

  • This looks interesting but I’m struggling to find any examples of what this actually entails/produces/looks like. Most of the guides are about setting up your environment, checking out code, etc.

    • So I've actually built patterns using their system. Basically you define a layout using JS and defining a series of points and offsets and lines. You can refer to variables such as body measurements or other dimensions for bags. https://freesewing.eu/ is their more "consumer" facing site where you can enter your measurements and then download sewing patterns sized for you specifically.

      One of the other nice things they do as part of the pattern design process is testing the pattern makes sense at many "scales" and so you can actually define a "body" the size of a doll and use this for defining dolls clothing, or make really size inclusive clothing, there are members of the community with varying disabilities such as forms of dwarfism who otherwise struggle to find appropriately sized clothes.

Can we express the drapes and dresses worn in the animes. Because then it will be helpful for the cos players

  • It looks like it has a 3d draping view, but it didn't seem very good yet. Check out Marvellous Designer, that's what anyone doing digital-first uses.

    Drapey clothing is probably the easiest to freehand without a pattern though. It's accurate fits that need more measuring, planning, temporary stitching, test garments, etc.

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  • How did you determine the author is a PoC? Even now that you mention it I can't find anything in the repo that tells me anything about the author's demographic. That X profile does appear to be the author's, but I'm not sure how you made that connection since there isn't a link to it in the github repo, or the author's git profile page.

    Are you suggesting that most people commenting on this, on a site where people often don't even read the linked content are doing more than skimming the github page and saying the first few things that come to mind by taking time to track down the author's posts on other sites to determine their demographic?