stitchu / sewing guide / How much fabric to buy for a dress pattern
How much fabric to buy.
Fabric is sold by length off a roll of fixed width, so the amount you need depends on the width you buy. The cutting layout gives you the length; a few fabric choices add to it.
Start from the width
Common widths are about 115 cm (45 in) and 150 cm (60 in). The same garment usually needs more length in a narrower fabric, because fewer pieces fit side by side. Check the width on the bolt or in the shop listing before you buy.
Read the cutting layout
A cutting layout shows where each piece sits on the fabric for a given width. Most are drawn on fabric folded selvedge to selvedge, so a piece marked “on fold” is placed against the fold and two layers are cut at once. Lay every piece with its grainline arrow parallel to the selvedge: measure from both ends of the arrow to the selvedge and make the two distances equal.
What adds to the amount
- Preshrinking. Washable fabric should be preshrunk before cutting, the way you will launder the dress. Extension sewing guides suggest buying about a quarter yard (about 25 cm) extra for shrinkage and for straightening the cut ends.
- One-way prints and pile. Velvet, corduroy and other pile fabrics, one-way prints and some plaids need a “with nap” layout in which every piece points the same way. That usually takes more fabric.
- Checks, stripes and plaids. Matching the design across seams needs extra fabric, so each piece can be placed on the same line of the check. See how to cut checks.
Fabric amounts in stitchu’s sample patterns
From the cutting layouts of the five published sample patterns, size EU36, read on 17 October 2026. Each layout is drawn on folded fabric and, as the file says, covers the placements only: add extra for preshrinking and for matching a print. The full list of notions, such as buttons and zips, is in each cutting layout and journal story.
| Pattern | 115 cm wide | 150 cm wide | Notes from the layout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pink bow keyhole mini | 1.40 m | 1.40 m | zip of at least 60 cm; 407 mm of 5 mm double-fold bias binding |
| Red gingham button-front mini | 1.69 m | 1.68 m | about 0.5 m more to match the checks; fusible interfacing for the front facings |
| Navy gingham off-centre button mini | 2.47 m | 1.78 m | about 0.5 m more to match the checks; interfacing, bias tape and a 10 mm snap |
| Pink bow wrap mini | 2.28 m | 1.82 m | plus 0.82 m (115 cm) or 0.41 m (150 cm) of contrast fabric for the underskirt; zip of at least 65 cm |
| Pink bow wrap mini with a pleated underskirt | 1.94 m | 1.29 m | plus 0.95 m of polyester or nylon chiffon or georgette for the pleated underskirt; zip of at least 65 cm |
Our suggestion: buy the layout’s length for your width, plus about 25 cm for preshrinking and straightening, plus the extra the layout asks for checks. For the navy gingham mini in 150 cm fabric that is 1.78 + 0.5 + 0.25 = 2.53 m, so about 2.6 m.
Sources
- Simplicity: Understanding the pattern envelope (PDF)
- University of Kentucky Extension: Layout, Cutting, and Marking, CT-MMB.181 (PDF)
- University of Kentucky Extension: Fabric Selection for Sewing, CT-MMB.180 (PDF)
- Utah State University Extension: elastic waist skirt (fabric amount)
- Pacific Northwest Extension (Oregon State University): Sewing with Stripes, Checks, and Plaids, PNW187 (PDF)
Next: make a toile before you cut, or go back to printing the pattern at true scale.