Love Sewing — Issue 45 2017

This month Claire-Louise Hardie shows

how to calculate fabric quantities when

you don’t have a pattern to hand

THRIFTY

I

am often asked by my students how

much fabric they should buy when

they fall in love with a design but don’t

have a pattern in mind. We’ve all been

seduced by that gorgeous cloth when we

weren’t planning to shop and didn’t come

prepared. And with self-drafting becoming

more popular, you may not even have

a handy fabric quantity chart to refer to

at all.

There are a few approaches to solving

this conundrum! One school of thought

is to only ever buy three metres, that

way you’re covered for most projects. It’s

a great plan if inspiration strikes when

shopping at a market stall, less brilliant

if you’re in Liberty and don’t want to max

out your credit card!

Personally I’d take a second

and have a good look at

the hand and drape of

the fabric, as this will

often determine what

it’s suitable for and

therefore what kind of

garment I can make. If

it’s a super lightweight

Tana lawn for example it’s

probably best used for a top

or a blouse, rather than trousers.

Woollen fabric works really well in tailored

pieces, so could become a jacket, skirt or

trousers, all needing a little more fabric

than a top. Heavier cloth like denim, drill or

canvas would be better suited to structured

garments like jeans, coats and some skirts.

ASK THE

EXPERTS

STITCHER

The Maker’s Workbook

planner, £12.50 available from

http://www.creative-industry.co.uk

Sheer fabric works really well

for clothes with a little volume

like gathered details, so you may

need a lot more fabric.

One tip that could be very useful

when you’re out and about is to keep

photographs of the back of some of your

favourite pattern envelopes on your phone

and use the fabric quantities suggested.

If you have some tried and true (TNT)

patterns that suit your own style, it’s likely

you’ll be looking to make similar pieces. I

love a shift dress so having a picture of the

back of my favourite pattern to hand means

I can quickly see what sort of quantities I’d

need for common fabric widths.

I’m also a big fan of keeping a note of

how much I use when making up a

project. Since I always do a rough

tissue fit, I adjust the length on the

paper pattern first. This allows me to

be able to measure the fabric as I cut out,

Top tip!

Many pattern companies

create layplans that are easy

for beginners to

follow rather than

being economical

Simplicity 1609

36 http://www.lovesewingmag.co.uk

LS45 p36 Thrifty stitcher.indd 36 19/09/2017 16:51