How much fabric do you need for a certain project? Many sewing patterns include yardage quantities, but what if your pattern doesn’t, or you want to hack or color-block your garment? Here’s how to figure out how much fabric you need.
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Step 1: Make your plan
Start with the technical illustration or croquis to plan out your design. If you’re color blocking, be sure to catalog exactly which pieces you want in each color (use the pattern inventory to keep track). If you’re pattern hacking, make notes on which pattern pieces will need to be altered and which you can use as-is.
(Want to plan your garment on a body model that looks like you? With MyBodyModel, you can sketch on a custom croquis that’s made with your measurements!)
Step 2: Gather your pieces
Print or trace your pattern pieces in your size, making any alterations desired. Be sure to accurately transfer grainlines and other markings when tracing.
You will want to determine if you will cut in a single layer or on the fold as this will determine how many pattern pieces you need. If you are planning on cutting on the fold, you will only need the paper pattern pieces provided, but if you want to cut single layer for the most efficient use of fabric, you will need to modify your paper pattern pieces in the following ways:
- For pieces cut on the fold, make them into flat pieces by tracing a mirrored copy and taping the two pieces together.
- For pattern pieces that need multiples cut, you can either trace off multiple copies or carefully note the number of pieces needed and move the single pattern piece as you do your layouts. (If it’s your first time calculating your own yardage, we recommend tracking multiples!)
Once you have all the paper pattern pieces traced out, cut them all out, and, if color blocking, separate your pieces into piles based on the fabric you’re using for each piece.
Step 3: Figure out the width of your fabric
To get the most accurate yardage results, you’ll need to figure out how wide your fabric is.
If you’re shopping online, most stores list the width of the fabric, but you can contact them if they don’t.
What if you’re not sure yet which fabric you’re using? Fabric is typically about 45” (115 cm) wide for things like quilting cottons and some shirtings and about 55” (140 cm) wide for things like rayon challis and knits, but it can be quite variable. For that reason, we recommend choosing your fabrics before calculating the yardage.
Step 4: Create your layout
Next, we’re going to mock up our fabric layout; you’ll want to do this on the floor or a big table if you have one available.
Start by laying out a long strip of painter’s or masking tape on the floor. Depending on the size of your pattern, you may need a few yards worth of this tape. This is effectively going to be either the selvedge of your fabric (if you’re laying out your pieces flat) or the folded edge of your fabric (if you’re cutting on the fold).
Using a large quilting ruler or a carpenter’s square to ensure you have a perfectly straight line, lay a second line of tape perpendicular to the first.
On the second line of tape, mark the width of your intended fabric, either folded for simplicity or unfolded for most efficient layout, minus an allowance of 1” (2.5 cm) for each selvedge. So, if your intended fabric is 55” (140 cm) wide, your mark should either be 26.5” (67.5 cm) away from the corner for folded fabric, or 53” (135 cm) away for unfolded fabric.
Add a third piece of tape parallel to the first to create the second edge of your fabric. (Here we have markings at both 26.5” (67.5 cm) for a folded layout and 53” (135 cm) for a single layer layout.)
Lay out all of the pieces for the given fabric, being careful to keep the grainlines parallel to the first piece of tape (double check with your quilting ruler or a yardstick/meterstick). If your fabric has a nap or a sheen, be sure to lay all the pieces out in the same direction.
If you’re going to be pattern matching, you’ll need to add extra to your requirements to accommodate that.
Leave enough room between pieces that you can comfortably cut around them. Double check that you have the correct number of copies of each piece and the cut on fold pieces are mirrored if you’re laying it out flat.
For folded fabric, you just need one paper pattern piece (unless otherwise specified in the pattern). Any pattern pieces that are to be cut on the fold are placed along the fold line.
For a single layer layout, you will need two (or however many is specified in the pattern) of each pattern piece. The second pattern piece should be mirrored (flipped over) and the two halves of the pattern piece that is shown on the fold should be taped together down the fold line.
Step 5: Calculate your yardage
Measure along of the length of the tape to see how much fabric you’ll need for your layout. (We’ve added another piece of tape across the top of the layout to make it easier to see). To accommodate shrinkage, we usually add 10% to this measurement. So, in this case, we’ve measured 21” (54 cm), so we’d want to purchase at least 23” (62 cm) or 5/8 yard (0.6 m), or the closest available increment.
Repeat this procedure to calculate your yardage steps for any additional fabrics you’re using.
Additional tips
- If you’re color blocking with lots of fabrics, make yourself a table showing which piece is cut of which fabric. You can even write which fabric a piece should be right on the pattern piece. Keep a clear list of the yardage for each fabric type.
- When in doubt, buy a little extra! It’s never fun to be short by a piece when you’ve done all this work.
- You can also use this process if you are using a fabric of an unusual width and want to see how much you’ll need.
- Make sure to snap a picture so that you remember how you laid out the pieces when it comes time to cut them out.
- Planning and sketching out pattern hacks and color blocking can be much more fun on a body model that looks like yours! Create your own custom croquis using your measurements with MyBodyModel.
We hope this tutorial helped you calculate how much fabric you’ll need for your project! If you have any questions or your own tips to share, drop them in the comments below.
This was super helpful and really clearly explained! Thanks for sharing photos to make it easy to understand.
It is great to have a resource available to walk us through the process. Each step is important and your directions are very good. Now I know I won’t forget a detail and come up short! Thanks!!!