Often designers over-spend on their latest masterpiece when shopping for fabric. This can easily be overcome by using a simple estimation formula that I give you in this very detailed article.  You will learn how to estimate the exact yardage needed for any design in your collection.  I will use a dress design that I created once as an example.

Factoring For Fabric Cost

Of a multi paneled dress that’s lined and facing pieces.  After deciding on the fabric, specific to all the pattern pieces, including lining.   This formula is exclusive to figuring the cost of fabric only. The notions and interfacing are not necessarily part of fabric costs, but certainly are figures that will be in your expense report.

Lay out all the pattern pieces in construction order, keeping the grain lines parallel to each other.  As if you where making a marker.  Notice the photo of Dean laying out the pattern pieces. This helps to visualize where the fabric is going to be used in the design, as well as calculating the widths of each pattern piece.
Measure the widest part of each piece from stitching line to stitching line, and add them together in cut -1, cut – 2 orders.  Note: some pattern pieces call for cutting more than 1, as indicated on the piece. To have enough fabric for each piece, add all the same cut pieces together separately and multiply by the cut number, and add the totals together. This example dress pattern has 4 panels, or pattern pieces that are fully lined, and has 4 facing pieces.  All pieces must be computed into the formula to get the exact yardage of both fabric types. Of the four panels, three of them are cut – 2 pieces, plus the facing pieces. These pieces are the main fashion fabric that costs the most. The lining pieces are the same four panels excluding the facing pieces, yet still in cut -1, cut – 2 orders. The cut-2 pieces are: center back, side back, side front, and the facings of those pieces. They will also be the same pieces for the lining, minus the facings. The cut-1 pieces are; center front and the facing. The lining is the same, minus the facing.  As you find the widest part of each piece at the hem line, from cutting line to cutting line, write the numbers down in a mathematical formula.
Example: center back = 18, back side = 16.5, front side = 16.5, plus the top bodice facing = 9, back side = 8.25, front side = 8.25, equals. Add up like so: 18 + 16.5 + 16.5 + 9 + 8.25 + 8.25 = 76.5 inches. Then, Multiply the cut – 2 pieces by 2 = 76.5  X  2 = 153.  This is the total cut 2 widths that must be added to the cut 1 total width.

The cut 1 pieces are: center front, at the hem line, = 23, plus the facing = 12. Generally the center front piece is cut on the fold, but for convenience it can be made into a mirror piece. That doesn’t change the measurement. Add together like the cut 2 pieces = 23 + 12 = 35 inches. Cutting only 1 of each, there is no need to multiply this number.

Now add the two totals together to get the total width of all the pattern pieces.

Cut – 1 = 35 + Cut – 2 = 153 = 188. Save this number. To find the total length measurement, measure the longest piece of all the patterns. In this four panel dress the front side panel is the longest piece from the top above bust point to the hem line = 61 inches, plus the hem length, = 2.5 inches.  The total length of this dress is: 61 + 2.5 = 63.5 inches. Only one piece needs to be the longest. Now multiply the two totals together and divided by the width of the fabric. Generally retail fabrics come in two standard widths of 45 or 60 inches. L X W = 188 X 63.25 = 11938. This seems like a big number, but it will get smaller as the other variables are computed. Find the lining figures by subtracting the facings from the calculations. Refer back to the beginning: 18 + 16.5 + 16.5 = 102 + 23 = 125. There are no facings in this calculation. The lining length is the 63.25 – 4 inches from the top above bust point to the top of the liner piece = 59.25, multiplied by the total width of 125 = 7406.25 is the lining total factoring formula figure.

Generally the width is unknown until it is selected at the retail store, so calculate out the formula using both width values to save time. For this dress the total L X W is 11938 divided by the general width of 60 inches = 198.96 for the main and 127.08 for me lining.
The last step in the formula is to find the total yardage for the design at hand. That is in yards, so 36 inches = 1 yard. Divide 36 into 203.66 = 5.65 = or approx 55/8 yards of main fabric that is 60 inches wide, and 3.53 or 31/2 yards of lining. And 7.54 or 71/2 yards of 45 inch main fabric and 4.70 or 4 ¾ yards of lining fabric for this dress.
Now this is the formula for factoring fabric cost, which saves time, money and allows for profit calculations for the bidding process.
LXW = TI/FW/36 = TY

Total Length by total Width equals Total Inches, divided by Fabric Width, divided by (1 yard) 36, equals Total Yardage needed for any design.

Practice using this formula with all the design projects and you’ll never over bid or spend again.

Additional Information:
Exciting fabrics have been available to the home sewers for years. Leather, leather-like, felt, bonded/laminated and double faced fabrics, are fabrics that present a challenge as they offer all sorts of diversified sewing projects, and are quite stimulating to work with.
Leather is not sold by the yard, but by the square foot. Think of the pattern shapes as you calculate the footage since there are 13 square feet in one yard of 54” fabric. Multiply the number of yards specified for this width in your size by 13. Allow additional footage for piecing and irregularities in the leather. Use 0.15 for a large skin and 0.20 for a small skin.

Specific yardage = 4, conversion figure = 13, converted yardage = 52 piecing percentage = 0.15 or 0.20. Piecing allowance 7.80, converted yardage = 52 total square feet needed = 59.80.

Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions about anything on this site, by emailing me : daringdesigninc@hotmail.com

OK, so the first thing you must do is acquire a sunny young speed grader….

Good luck with that… Or possibly you’re an ole timer like me and you’ve kept the one you got when you were in fashion design school back before CAD, when we were all doing the Charlie Pivnick method. EH?  Which is another really great story.  If you want to learn about his daughter who was an amazing design and pattern maker Esther Pivnick . She wrote an amazing book that you would be lucky to get How to design beautiful clothes
Of course I’m talking about a few decades ago when it was the coolest time to be a designer I’ll tell you, cause that’s when we all had to talk to each other face to face and we relied on craftsmanship and honest interaction.  And the bobbin show was at it’s best and the Industrial Conventions where off the chain… Until the president sold us out to the off shore out sourcing business, and collapsed the whole industry.. So many companies went to China, India or Cuba for the simplest work to be done…. But I guess that’s another article too, huh?

So once you have your sunny young grading machine, Or the other type of grader,  the hinged grading ruler the one of my old school web forums that I’ve been on for a long time that tells about it, Fashion Incubator …  On there is a really cool explanation of the ruler method that you’ll definitely want to read.

So as the fashion engineer that I am using a sonny young is the best piece of equipment that I have.  Learning how to use it was another thing entirely.  Per pairing to grade is an important process as well.  First you’ll want to make sure it’s in perfect condition and is completely flat and all the gears work.  Zero out your arms and clip down your master pattern to the arms and use a 90 degree square to line up your grain line with the edge of the machine.   Like it shows in the photo.

I have been looking for a book that really helps me understand the “grading” process to paper patterns. I have found the book. I bought this book on accident, and have learned everything I needed to grade any collection.  It is a wonderful book filled with the greatest illustrations and details of the general procedure for grading patterns using the Cartesian graph, and establishing the X,Y coordinates  of a grade rule based on the pattern orientation.   The book shows the ruler method as well as the computer.

This book is not going to teach you how to design clothes, but it does explain the grading process completely, and it’s very much worth the cost of the book.  I am especially impresses with the stretch portion and how simple grading swim suits, catsuits, and all things stretch are.  Changing the size of the bust is explained perfectly, and covers pants, children’s clothes the skirts.

If you have a collection ready for production and you need assistance with changing the sizes, this book is the one for you.  But if you are looking to learn how to make patterns this is not the book for you.  Having some training, and understanding of paper pattern drafting is highly recommended.

If you are a fashion student it is easier than you think to change the size of your own pattens.. Watch this video and see how it’s done with the use of this book.

You can go to amazon and get these really cool books and learn how to change the size of your patterns just as I’m doing in the video, and I have another video on a cool TV site that you can go see too.

If you would like to ask question about the pattern development process feel free to contact me at the email address in the footer.

The biggest advantage of learning to Design and make your own clothes, or Bring Your Fashion Dreams To Life; is of course the cost. These days “a fraction of the cost of buying them”, is not so true.  As the price of some fabrics can be unexpected to say the least. I’ve seen yardage prices of $48.00 and $125.00 at some of the more high end fabric stores.  There are also many discount fabric stores, which I highly recommend to any fashion student or upcoming fashion designer putting a collection together. Just for your first samples it’s acceptable to use low end fabrics to test your designs fit and look with certain fabric choices.

Of course the pattern is your most important concern during the development of any collection.  Learning pattern making from reliable sources is what I am hoping to share with you on this site. A good education is a prerequisite for a successful career of any field. Finding the perfect course of study in an ideal economic environment is something that qualified advisers from many online education web sites can do for fashion students.  Joining forums and starting your own blog can increase your chances of becoming a popular and successful fashion designer as well as Design And Make Your Own Clothes.  Schools offering the appropriate programs open the doors of communication and makes finding the perfect course of study easier than ever before.

National Education Online Center works with thousands of accredited institutions nationwide to provide students from all walks of life with the information they need to make an informed decision regarding their educational future. As well as the 360 training web site that will introduce you to a whole new category of career choices.   As a student, having a counselor or mentor can accelerate your learning curve.   Using the most effective tools that reading the best books on topic are a way to develop your mental growth as well as a resource library that you’ll need from time to time. Understanding fitting can make all the difference in the way your designs fit on you and your models. Fitting and Pattern Alteration is not only a great book that you must have in your resources library, but it’s a process that you’ll find yourself doing regularly during the development of your Design Your Own Clothes process.

As a designer myself I have a style that you will develop your own as you go, where I always begin with a dream.  Yes that’s right everything begins in our head when we are sleeping, and when we wake up in the morning we sketch it out and look at it. Post it on the wall or carry it in our book. Thinking about all the things that are going to go into it and where we will get them all. Buttons, zippers, fabric colors, linings, and all kinds of goodies that our new pair of pants, or coat will have to make it the coolest in the school. YEAH!

Then comes buying the things we dream. Going to the store and measuring out the fabric. This article will show you exactly how to find the exact cost for your fabric after you have completed the pattern and you are shopping for everything you need to bring your fashion dream to life and Design and Make Your Own Clothes.

Fashion Pattern Making has become a dieing art since the raise of Computer Aided Drafting.  Evolving a variety of styles against the background of ever changing fashion is the creative side of the work, in which natural ability of flair, individual taste and fashion sense play a considerable part in ones teaching yourself fashion pattern making.  This skill can be developed but not learnt. Developing natural ability,teaches one to use ones judgement, and to see ones mistakes and learn from them. Since the days of Natalie Bray in 1928 when fashion designers where living artists. It was a life style rivaled by only a few select masters of the craft. Out of the industrial era there where several designers that made their mark on the fashion community and industry for decades.

It was always considered essential that students be familiar with the basic master pattern development process, in order to learn from experienced and advanced teachers as Natalie Bray.  They should recognize the significance in relation to good fit and how it came to be. To visualize the fit of a garment on the thee dimensional figure, with all its curves and hollows, dealing mainly with the fundamental principles of cut and fit and on which is based all pattern construction.  The book follows closely lessons given at the Katinka School of Dress Designing.  Examining and illustrating the ever changing advanced patter designing, practiced at the school. The result of many years of research and experimenting with patterns, carried out through many changes of lines and fashion modeling on the flat.  One of the most convenient ways in which any fashion student can design their own collection, men or women’s and even children’s wear, it’s all the same process.  Is to learn from from a master as Natalie Bray. As long as you are using the correct blocks or master patterns, your draft will fit whom ever it is based on.  She identifies all the different Blocks that are used in the garment industry. The second important aspect of Teaching Yourself Fashion Pattern making  is who you learn this craft from. There are many many teachers and teaching methods from your grandmother to Parsons.  And then there is the old fashioned trial and error, which is my favorite.  I got her book many years ago when I was learning fashion design and going to fashion school.  My biggest challenge was understanding how to think like an engineer. I wanted to be able to see my design before I went to the table to create the pattern.

Natalie Bray’s Dress Pattern Designing (Classic Edition): The Basic Principles of Cut and Fit book has a prefect way of translating the drafting process into visual and written explanation so that I could internalize the concept of drafting and bring my own fashion design vision to life within a short time frame.
I love this book. The illustrations are impeccable and very well written, showing every detail on style lines and pivot points to assist me in making my pattern the best it could be with 100% accuracy.  I am very excited to be collecting her other two.  You will want to go to Amazon and find her book by clicking on this link:Dress Pattern Designing (Classic Edition): The Basic Principles of Cut and Fit

Tools are another aspect of your learning curve, that I will show you in the posts to come. Please come back and ask for anything specific.

The French Curve is one of the best rulers you can use to draft your patterns.

These rulers are the two most important tools required if you want to cut your own design patterns. If you want a perfect measurement of the different curves you should use 400 the Tailors Curve. Whether it is coats, jackets, or suit sleeves, this ruler is the perfect tool. If you are a perfectionist then you should go after these rulers as they are some of the most accurate tailoring instruments available. And anyways, who would want a badly sewn dress?

The second ruler which is equally important is the Designers Curve. Fashion pattern making has seen new light due to the development of this curve. This ruler is known for its international standards of design. They help to calculate and measure curves carefully. The back and front armhole design ease up your work! Top ranking designers make these curves so you can rest assured that you have got the best in fashion pattern making.

Is a very important process that any fashion designer should enjoy learning and mastering as they develop their own collection of swim wear, costumes or any garment using stretch fabric.   There is an amazing book that shows you how to do the things that are in the video below.  Design and Pattern Making for Stretch Fabrics is a very well written book that illustrates the process.

So you want to make a swim suit or a jumpsuit of some kind but you don’t understand how to make the fabric fit so tightly as it is supposed to when you wear a suit like that right?   Well; you see stretch fabric, is a different kind of fabric that for once the pattern must mind the fabric…        You must prepare the pattern by drawing fold lines on the bodice and the skirt at the arms eye, midriff and the side seam every 5 inches. Once you have determined the stretch value of the specific fabric you are using, and every fabric is different.  Meaning that there are 4 way stretch and 2 way stretch.

It is a very important process and this video will show you exactly how to find the stretch value of any stretch fabric, whether it be 4 way or 2 way, and then show you how to fold out your pattern to accommodate the values that you find. It’s really simple and very rewarding when a fashion student or home sewer can do something so scientific and succeed at bringing their own fashion dreams to life.

Please feel free to ask me any questions regarding this process an I will happily respond.   Make your comments to the box below and I’ll get back to your soon.

Dean Dyer.