Fabric Cost Calculator

Cost a length of fabric at the price per yard or per metre, add notions and thread, and see the total and the cost per finished item.

Sewing

Fabric is priced by the yard or the metre but you buy it by the length, and the price per yard tells you nothing until you know how many yards the project takes. This calculator multiplies out the fabric, adds the notions that always get forgotten, and divides by the number of items you are making so you can see what one of them really costs to produce.

At a glance

What you enter: Fabric length, Price is quoted per, Price per unit, Notions for the whole project, Pattern cost charged to this project, Shipping and tax on the order, Items you will make, Waste allowance bought
What you get: Cost per item, Fabric per item, Notions per item, Fabric share of cost, Effective cost per metre
Formula shown: Yes, every step, right below your results.
Cost and privacy: Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.

See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓

Fabric length yd

The amount you are buying, in the same unit as the price below.

Price is quoted per

Price per unit USD

The shelf price per yard or per metre, before shipping and tax.

Notions for the whole project USD

Zip, interfacing, thread, buttons, elastic, bias binding.

Pattern cost charged to this project USD

A 20 dollar pattern used eight times is 2.50 per item.

Shipping and tax on the order USD

Items you will make items

Used for the cost per item. Enter 1 for a single garment.

Waste allowance bought %

If you bought extra fabric for matching or mistakes, enter how much extra here so it is counted in the cost.

Reset

Results are estimates for general information only, always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.

How to use the Fabric Cost Calculator

1 Enter Fabric length (yd), The amount you are buying, in the same unit as the price below.
2 Enter Price is quoted per
3 Enter Price per unit (USD), The shelf price per yard or per metre, before shipping and tax.
4 Enter Notions for the whole project (USD), Zip, interfacing, thread, buttons, elastic, bias binding.
5 Enter Pattern cost charged to this project (USD), A 20 dollar pattern used eight times is 2.50 per item.
6 Enter Shipping and tax on the order (USD)
7 Enter Items you will make (items), Used for the cost per item. Enter 1 for a single garment.
8 Enter Waste allowance bought (%), If you bought extra fabric for matching or mistakes, enter how much extra here so it is counted in the cost.
9 Press Calculate. You get Cost per item, Fabric per item, Notions per item, Fabric share of cost, Effective cost per metre, and every intermediate step stays visible under "How is this calculated?"
10 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result, that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.

Worked examples

Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.

Three dresses from one bolt

Three yards per dress at 14 dollars a yard, 8 dollars of notions each, a 20 dollar pattern shared across three, buying 10 percent extra fabric.

You enter

Fabric length: 9 yd
Price is quoted per: 1
Price per unit: $14.00
Notions for the whole project: $24.00
Pattern cost charged to this project: $20.00
Shipping and tax on the order: $0.00
Items you will make: 3
Waste allowance bought: 10%

You get

Cost per item: $60.87
Fabric per item: $46.20
Notions per item: $8.00
Fabric share of cost: 75.9%
Effective cost per metre: $15.31

A one time pattern cost spread over a batch is what makes small batch sewing viable.

Open this example in the calculator →

A single tote bag

One metre of canvas at 12 dollars a metre, 4 dollars of webbing and thread, one item.

You enter

Fabric length: 1 yd
Price is quoted per: 2
Price per unit: $12.00
Notions for the whole project: $4.00
Pattern cost charged to this project: $0.00
Shipping and tax on the order: $0.00
Items you will make: 1
Waste allowance bought: 0%

You get

Cost per item: $16.00
Fabric per item: $12.00
Notions per item: $4.00
Fabric share of cost: 75.0%
Effective cost per metre: $12.00

Small projects are dominated by notions, not by fabric.

Open this example in the calculator →

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Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to make a dress?

Three yards of a mid range dress fabric at 14 dollars a yard is 42 dollars, plus roughly 8 to 15 dollars of notions for a zip, interfacing and thread, plus a pattern if you bought one. A lined dress with a good quality fabric lands between 70 and 120 dollars in materials before any of your time. The same dress in a 5 dollar a yard cotton is under 30 dollars.

Is it cheaper to sew your own clothes?

At the bottom of the market, no: a mass produced t shirt costs less than the fabric to make one. At the top it is the opposite. Comparable quality fabric and construction can beat a designer price by a wide margin, and the fit is better because you drafted it to your own body. The honest answer is that sewing is not a way to save money, it is a way to get something that does not exist in the shops.

Why is fabric sold by the yard rather than by the item?

Because a bolt is a continuous roll of fixed width, and the shop cuts a length off it for you. The width is set by the mill, and the price per yard is the only sensible way to price a product whose area per yard is fixed. This is also why a wider bolt is not proportionally cheaper: the mill used more yarn to weave it.

Should I include the pattern cost in every item I make?

Only the first time, or spread across the items made from it. A 20 dollar pattern used for eight garments adds 2.50 to each. Charging the full 20 dollars to each of the eight overstates your cost by 140 dollars and leads you to price above the market. If you sell a design repeatedly, work out the share and keep it in the pattern field.