The grainline is a line on the pattern piece stating how the piece must lie on the fabric. It runs parallel to the warp threads.
Fabric does not behave the same in every direction. Along the warp it barely gives, across the weft it gives a little, and diagonally it gives a lot. A piece cut against its intended direction hangs differently, twists on the body and can grow or shrink after the first wash. The grainline is what keeps that from happening by accident.
A straight line with an arrow at each end, running the full length of the piece. When cutting, that line is placed parallel to the selvage. On a piece that lies on a fold, the fold line takes over the job.
Cutting at forty five degrees to the warp is a bias cut. The fabric then stretches and drapes in a way it never would on grain, which is exactly what a bias cut skirt or a bias binding relies on. That is a decision, not an oversight, and it belongs on the pattern as clearly as any other grainline.
In the exported file the grainline is a line of its own and not part of the contour. Programs such as CLO3D read it separately. In PatternScan Pro you set it in the editor.
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