Part of what I love about my new company is the interaction I have with customers. Yesterday I got chatting with Lillie. She ordered the last of one of my fabrics, and when we rolled it off the bolt, it turned out we came out 1/2 yard short. Ouch! I hate when that happens. So I called her to let her know, and we got talking about what she was going to use it for. I checked the pattern and she had enough even with the shortage, so she was fine. But I then started talking with her about layouts, because we all hate to come up short on fabric when we're cutting out a great garment, right?
Well here's a little secret that not too many people talk about. You can get away with less yardage than the pattern companies recommend. Sometimes a lot less. How? Simple. Use a single layer layout. By that, I mean, open your fabric out with the right side facing up, and cut each pattern piece twice, flipping the pattern piece over so you get the right/left sides.
Now, don't go looking at me like I just sprouted horns. There are lots of good reasons to do this. First, you might not have as much fabric as the pattern envelope recommends. One example stands out in my mind. I wrote an article for Threads magazine called, "Pressing Matters". I needed to make two versions of the same blouse for emphasis. One would be left unpressed during construction (the "Sad Blouse") while I would press the other blouse at all stages of construction (the "Happy Blouse"). I called Kashi to get a brocade, which can look either fabulous or hideous depending on your technique. He had a perfect one, BUT, he only had 3 yards. The pattern envelope called for 2 1/8 yards of fabric for one blouse. So I was coming up short by 1 1/4 yards. Well, damn the torpedos, right? I laid the pattern pieces out using a single layer layout, and I was just able to eke two blouses out of 3 yards of fabric! I did have to get a little creative and leave off the cuffs, but other than that, it was the same top, and it turned out great for my needs!
Another reason to do a single layer layout is to match patterns across seamlines. It gives you much more control, while saving you fabric. Couture garments are all cut one piece at a time.
So don't be afraid to do a single layer and buy slightly less fabric. It takes some practice, but once you've done it a few times, you'll find you can estimate yardage pretty accurately.
Happy Sewing!
8 minutes ago
14 comments:
Very useful tip. I rarely consult the fabric layouts anyway, and prefer to lay the pieces out to suit me - as long as the grainlines are correct. If the pattern has unusual pieces I'll consult the layouts to see if it's any better than what I come up with.
I totally agree with your stratedgy! Last week I incorrectly ordered the wrong amount of fabric for the Hot Patterns Shanghai Tunic. By cutting out the pieces from a single layer of fabric I was able to complete the garment despite being short by 1 yard!!! Yeh!!!!
This is a great strategy that I've never heard before. I'm just torn though, because I barely have enough room to cut when the fabric is folded, and fear that using a single layer will require way more crawling around on the floor than my back and knees can tolerate since that's how I'd have to lay it out. I'll give it a try and see how it seems.
So how do you ensure the grainlines are correct when you cut out of a single layer? When I cut out of a double layer I make sure the fold is on grain and use that as my reference. Dare I use the selvege? What if the selvege is wonky?
thank you! what a great idea.
I could have used this tip last week! It would have saved me a lot of stress! But thank you because I will definately use this in the future. (like tomorrow)
Oooo! Lori asked a great question! Seriously. 10 points for you Lori. Here's the deal with grain. You can actually be much more precise with the grain on a single layer layout. The reason is that even though you may have the fold on grain, if the underlayer (or the upper layer, for that matter) slips, poof! That piece will not be on the grain.
I don't always rely on my selvages either. In some fabrics they are on grain, but in others, notably knits, fabrics with lycra, or very loose weaves, they can be off the grain. And face it. Every fabric will have some part of it that is off grain. You can straighten the grain on almost any piece of fabric (that's a subject for another post) in a single layer with relative ease. And, by using a single layer, you can use another little trick I have. Fold your pattern along the grainline, and lay it on your fabric lining the pattern grain with the fabric grain. It's very precise that way. Does that make sense?
Thanks for the great tip Ann! BTW, I loved the ironing article!
Thanks for the tip Ann! I just bought some fabric at Hancocks a couple of weekends ago and want to make the Cha-Cha-Cha HP dress and didn't think about using this pattern until I had already bought the fabric and was in the car, so it's a bit short on yardage. I like that our going through some of the tips you have put on other websites, it helps out for a newbie.
Great article, Ann! Very useful. Thanks once again!
Love your new fabrics.
I've been doing that, cutting single layer, for years. It truly does require less fabric and gives me far more control. I still sometimes buy too much fabric but only because I am not sure what I want to make, and because of other fit issues that can eat up yardage, especially if I am trying to match.
Great article.
I just did that for the first time, and I knew I'd be shortening the skirt so I didn't need quite as much, but I'm having to do some inventive hemming to make up for the short spots.
I need to see if this will work becuase I've have lots of 2 yard pieces of fabric which seem to be good for not much more than simple skirts!
Thanks so much for the tip about folding your pattern on the grainline! I will definitely cut out my next project from a single layer of fabric. I guess I just dislike the cutting part so much that cutting on a single layer seemed like double the work, but now I see that I've probably spent more time getting the two layers to line up. I also need to get away from believing that I must follow the layout given in the instructions. I'm a rules-follower. I can't cook without a recipe either!
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