Garment yardage charts are averages, and they are averages of layouts rather than of garments. Once you understand how a pattern is laid on fabric, you can work out your own yardage more accurately than any chart, for your size and your fabric width.
The three things that decide your yardage
Fabric width. A bolt is usually 44 to 45 inches wide or 58 to 60 inches wide. The wide bolt fits more pieces across, so it often needs noticeably less length. This is why a pattern envelope prints two yardage figures, one per width.
The size of the largest pieces. Yardage is driven by the biggest pattern piece, not the total area of all of them. A dress with a full skirt needs long, uninterrupted lengths of fabric; the same dress with a fitted skirt uses far less.
The layout. Pattern pieces have to sit on the grainline, and they cannot overlap. A layout that leaves a 12 inch gap at the end of a run wastes that 12 inches, and no amount of clever cutting recovers it.
Why area-based estimates are always low
It is tempting to add up the square inches of your pattern pieces, divide by the fabric width, and call that the yardage. Do not: that answer is reliably 30 to 50 percent short.
The reason is that pattern pieces are not rectangles and layouts are not perfect. A curved bodice piece has a big bounding box and a much smaller actual area, and you buy the bounding box. Real layouts also need extra length for:
- The grainline. Pieces must run along the lengthwise grain, so you cannot rotate a piece to fill a gap.
- Seam allowances, which are added to every edge.
- Hem and cuff turnings.
- Pattern matching on a print or a plaid, which can add a whole repeat per panel.
- Nap or pile direction on velvet, corduroy or fleece, which forces every piece to run the same way.
A working rule for a simple garment is to add 35 percent to the area-based figure for a plain fabric and 50 percent for a patterned one. That is not precision, it is the difference between a useful estimate and a wrong one.
The method that actually works
- Get your measurements. Take the bust or chest, waist, hip and the length you want.
- Choose your size by measurement, not by the size you wear. Pattern sizing has almost nothing to do with ready to wear sizing.
- Add seam allowance if the pattern does not include it. Most commercial patterns include 5/8 inch. Most downloadable patterns do not, or use 3/8 inch.
- Look at the layout diagram on the pattern. Almost every pattern prints one. It tells you the minimum length needed for that width, and it is the most reliable figure available.
- Check the width of the fabric you are actually buying. If the pattern's chart assumes 60 inches and you have 44, use the other column.
- Add your waste allowance. 10 percent for a simple project in a plain fabric, 20 percent if there is a print to match, a nap to respect, or you are cutting on a single layer.
Common projects, roughly
These are typical figures for a plain, medium weight woven fabric at 44 inches wide. Treat them as a sanity check, not as a substitute for the pattern.
| Project | 44 inch fabric | 58 inch fabric |
|---|---|---|
| Simple A line dress | 2.5 to 3 yards | 2 to 2.5 yards |
| Full skirt dress | 4 to 5 yards | 3 to 4 yards |
| Lined tote bag | 0.75 to 1 yard plus lining | 0.5 to 0.75 yard |
| Cushion cover, 18 in | 0.6 yard | 0.5 yard |
| Pair of curtains, 72 in drop, 2x fullness | 12 to 14 yards | 8 to 10 yards |
| Quilt top, 60 x 70 in | about 4 yards of top fabric | about 3.5 yards |
What to do with the leftover
Fabric left over from a main project is only waste if you throw it away. Anything bigger than about 6 inches square will make a patch pocket, a hair tie, a coaster, a quilt block, or the facing for a future garment. A scrap bin sorted by colour is worth more than you would think, and it is free.