[Paige]

I’ve been eyeing some Lana Canberra at purl soho to use up a GC, and at 95/yd and living in San Diego don’t want too much leftover 😛

I’m a bit of a fabric Scrooge as well and have never used full yardage for an o+S pattern myself, but I so appreciate that it is there. I have found all the responses fascinating and did end up purchasing a digital pattern and will print and piece once the sickies are in bed. Since it’s boiled wool there’s no grain to consider so even more freedom, but the large-looking pieces do make it more challenging.

Thank you all for your responses! I’ll follow up with pictures tomorrow in the light.

[Paige]

That’s exactly the thread I was thinking of Nicole, thank you!

[Sarvi]

Haha, all right, now we’re talking! I think I still have the selvedge from some Armani cashmere coating around here somewhere. Like Nicole said, the only thing worse at that price than buying too much is buying too little. Cashmere coat with the grain going the wrong way on the collar because I tried to be clever — now that would not be cute.

[Off topic a bit, but one nice thing I’ve found with scraps of precious fabrics is that what’s too little to be useful to a garment sewist is still usable to a quilter, and you can make some great swaps. Just did a trade recently and not only got some swell fabric, but also made a nice new friend. Win-win!]

[Todd Gibson]

@maraya thanks for your thoughtful response to my post.

I’m glad there are people who understand that the old adage “penny wise, pound foolish” still holds true. We want our patterns to give everyone a sewing experience from start to finish that exceeds their expectations. We know that the most important commodity in most people’s lives today is time, and if we waste your time in order to save you a dollar or two on a project we’re actually doing you a disservice.

We get emails and phone calls every once in a while from people who don’t have that same mentality, and it’s hard to get them to understand that they would be even more upset if they ended up in the situation @sarvi mentions, for example, where they have a little too little fabric instead of a little too much. Or that they would be more dissatisfied if we would just “wing it” in the process of creating our PDF patterns so that we could price them a few dollars less than our printed patterns.

[Liesl Gibson]

Very well explained, Todd!

Actually, there’s one piece of the puzzle that Todd hasn’t included in his description of the process and which would certainly account for a discrepancy between the yardage chart and the minimum amount of fabric you actually need. That piece is this: I try to use one cutting layout for as many sizes as possible. I could alter the layout for each size and probably save you some yardage, but that would mean a different layout for every size and every view. Which would make the layouts really messy and complicated. And they’re time-consuming enough to create and format–and to follow–as is! So yes, you might be able to squeeze out your pattern with less yardage. In fact, in many instances you probably could. But from a standardized process perspective, the layout we give will safely get everyone enough fabric if they follow the diagram. (And I will happily confess that I rarely refer to the cutting layouts because I’m a fabric scrooge, too. Still, you can see why the layouts and the yardage charts are as they are now, right?)

• This reply was modified 9 years ago by Liesl Gibson.

[Liesl Gibson]

Yes, Sarvi! A few years ago I purchased a pattern and yardage for a pair of PJ pants from a well-known pattern company that’s well respected within the industry. It was meant to be a very quick sew for my sister, who was about to be hospitalized and needed some TLC. And I could have just cried with frustration when the yardage was more than 1/2 yard too short when I followed the chart. I couldn’t even squeeze it by trying alternate layouts. I mean, how hard is it to estimate yardage for PJ pants? Three pattern pieces???

THAT’S the frustration we’re trying to avoid. Yes, penny saved…SO not worth it. It was just cotton, but my sister never got her PJ pants. And my perception of that company was forever altered.

[meleliza]

another reason it’s better to have leftovers: what if something goes wrong and you need to cut a new piece? Even the best of us make mistakes.

I’d definitely rather have a little left over than to make a mistake and not have enough to fix it. I always seem to find a way to use the scraps. For a while it was baby clothes, but now it’s bias trim, covered buttons, facings, doll clothes, etc.

[Liesl Gibson]

I’m so with you on that one @meleliza! I keep a few baskets with the larger pieces and they’ve become all sort of fun projects and trims on other projects. I’ll often cut and prepare bias trim with the scraps so it’s ready when I need it. Remaining scraps go to a painter friend who uses them to wipe his brushes or to local schools for art classes. Nothing goes to waste!

[poppy_andrew]

Ha ha ha!! Mystery solved! I have been stumped: I keep ending up with a good 1 3/4 yards left over, so I finally started to search the forums. Thanks for the great explanation, Todd! I had no idea the fabric I was buying was 58″. It never occurred to me to look; I just assumed I would have to go out of my way to buy wide fabric. But my extra fabric is exactly the difference between the requirements for 58″ and 44″. I love this community!

[Liesl Gibson]

I do too, @poppy_andrew. Thanks for being part of it!

[cybele727]

For Halloween I bought a big 4 and the recommended fabric amount plus 1/2 yd. I followed the layout carefully and still not enough. I had 58 inch when it called for 44. Still not enough. I had to rig the layout and the pieces piecemeal to sew up a silly blue panne velour robe for a costume. Let me tell you the time I lost and the $$ (to the swear jar) as I grumbled under my breath. Always over estimate, and use the rest for trim or straight stitch society projects. It is better than the other….

[Sarvi]

Funny this thread should pop up again. I got some funny looks over buying what the gal at the shop thought was way too much yardage for a small project — but it had a directional print, and I was making the pattern for the first time. I managed to make SO many mistakes — from tracing the wrong grain line (so I had the print running sideways), to forgetting which way the lining needs to be cut, to finally stitching the piece on perpendicularly to the way it should’ve been. Sob! I am very glad not to have added “didn’t buy enough to cover contingencies” to my list of user errors.

[Liesl Gibson]

Ack, that’s the worst! I narrowly squeezed out my Lisette pjs from the Liberty I purchased before the pattern was finished, and I was sweating that it wouldn’t work out. I spent more time arranging pattern pieces in create ways than I did cutting and sewing, I think!