How much fabric?

Image from: www.envyawear.com

Hello internet people!

The topic of today's post is something that always bothers me when I am thinking of a new project, how much fabric do I need?.

As a wannabe seamstress the moment of fabric buying was kind of a nightmare, I always went home with less or way more fabric than I actually needed. 

Everybody that is crafty loves scraps of fabric, so many possibilities for future projects. But at the same time if you have a lot of material left after sewing that dress made by that super special fabric, you wouldn't want to make a top or skirt from the same exactly fabric. 

Maybe... If you wanna have a cartoon character wardrobe full of clothes of the exact same color. :)

Does anybody remember this cartoon? Doug was my childhood favorite.

The amount of fabric is still something very tricky for me, each special project takes an specific amount of fabric, and also if you are sewing for someone else the amount it would take for yourself might not be the same for your friend. 
But here are a few tips you can use to look like you know what you are doing when buying your fabrics:

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1. Consider your project:

What are you going to sew? Just by picturing at your project you can already determinate if you will need a lot of fabric or not. If its just a simple pair of shorts you won't need more than a meter of fabric but if you are doing a full length dress big chances are 2 meters won't be enough. 

Also consider if you are sewing a costume with a big head piece or a tail for example, you will need some extra fabric. I recently made a shark jacket for my favorite little boy, a child jacket don't take much of fabric but, since I was going to add more details to it I had to nearly double the amount.

Pictures of the project below:

2. Take a look at your own clothes:

This might sound like a silly tip, but really helped me. Open your closet and look around, grab your favorite skirt and take a look how it was made, how the seams are sewn together, the cut, everything. It will help you to understand better the idea of fabric usage for each individual clothing piece.

This is actually a wonderful way to learn how clothes are made, by turning it inside out and taking a closer look you can actually learn a lot with it or even better: if you just have no idea how that sleeve was attached Google it! Chances are you will find it and learn even more.

3.General rule: Measure the length

This is the grand rule. Since mostly of fabrics have around 1.50 and 1.20m of width you will only need to buy it's lenght. For exemple, let's take a look at those faceless ladies:

Image from Google

- Girl number 1: This would be the total length of an above the knee dress/romper. The measurement goes from the shoulder line until how long you want your dress to be, if you are making a strapless dress the measurement would be from your bust line for example. 

Let's say measurement 1 is 80 cm, you could go ahead and buy 1 meter of fabric (just to have some extra room). This amount would be just perfect.
-Girl number 2: Let's say we are making a skirt for her, or a pair of high-waisted shorts. Our total length is from her waist until the tight.

So, measurement 2 will be 32 cm, I would buy 40 or 50cm of fabric for this project.

4. Give yourself some room:
As I mentioned above, I always like to buy a little more fabric than the exact amount you will need. I like to even out on half's (50cm, 1m, 1.5m), but that is just my rule. Never lower it down, if you need 1.10m, go ahead and buy 1.5m/1.3m if you get only a meter you won't have enough fabric.
Call this a fabric seam allowance.

5. Double layers means double fabric:
If your project is lined with the same outside fabric you will have to double the amount or at least add the length of your lining to the amount of fabric to buy. For example, if Girl number 1 dress has only the top lined we would buy: 
80cm of its length + 30cm for lining = 1.10m ( ±1.30m for extra room)

6.Skirts, skirts, skirts:
Tip number 5 also works in here, to buy fabric for a circle skirt or a ballgown-like skirt you will need the double amount of its length. I won't get in details about skirts and circle skirts here because this is a whole other post.
But keep in mind that: the fuller and bigger the skirt the more fabric you will need.

Image from: http://www.care2.com

With those tips I'm sure you will be able to measure fabric quantities for mostly projects. And if you are completely lost you can always take a little sketch or a picture of what you wanna do to the fabric shop and they can help you with the quantities.

I hope you all enjoyed this post. Keep up for new updates and new projects.
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I see you soon!
Tchau, tchau :)