- I make knits to fit about 34 inches across (accounting for negative ease). The armsyce requires a few extra inches of witdth, let's call it 36 inches all in, aka a yard of width required.
- Most knits are cut on the fold for a seam free front and back. In light of this, I need 18 inches of width (and 22 inches of length, FWIW) to get a shirt front or back.
- If I use a 60 inch-width of fabric, that means I've got quite a bit of excess remaining, but not enough to cut another front or back. That would take 12 more inches and fabrics come in standard lengths. 72 inches is one I've rarely seen.
This means I'm kind of fucked for V8323 with most of the fabric ends I have. It needs 2 yards of 60"-wide fabric (I double checked). Hmmm. In fact, I've got barely enough of most of my knits to make a T shirt or exercise shell.
Enter (potentially misguided) resourcefulness:
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| This represents 2 pairs of yoga pants, 2 KS3115 shells and a T shirt, made from my sloper... |
- Only the yoga pants and one of the T shirts is actually "cut according to the directions".
- The orange exercise shell is an XS (approx) in the back because that's all the fabric I had. Given that it's a firm ponte, it's quite possible that it will be too small.
- The light blue exercise shell has a deep slice (width wise, of course) at the waist along the side seam. I'm going to use fusible interfacing to adjoin it, and I also tried to cut it out to the best of my ability, but this is also fucking with size.
- On the blue shell, I also cut the binding in half width pieces, which will need to be joined before I attach them to the armholes and neckline. This is cuz there wasn't a piece of that fabric vaguely wide enough by the time I cut the second bodice shell. I even had to shorten the armhole binding (shorter than the new shortened length I determined when I made the last shell). I hope it will be long enough in light of the fact that this fabric is VERY stretchy.
Today's questions: How much fabric do you need to make a T shirt? Do you find the whole fabric thing terribly wasteful, no matter how hard you try? Whatcha think of all of this? Do tell!
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I usually figure it takes 1m for me to make a kimono tee, and 1.5m if it's going to have 3/4 length sleeves. For a basic racerback tank, I guess about .7m is enough? I tend to finish things with bands, so I need to have enough space to cut those. I've got big hips though (45"), so I don't end up with all that much extra fabric in the width! It's annoying to have all those scarps though - i toss mine in a bin and pretend I'll use them for contrast binding or baby clothes (gifts!) or something. I rarely do actually use them though! :P
ReplyDeleteHappy sewing - hope it all goes together easily!
Interesting! I can get a T with long sleeves (or 3/4) on 1 m, but that's it. I used to save the scraps "for other projects". Now I put them in a pile (a neat pile) and I intend to give them away on Craigs List, as I did a couple of months ago. Thing is, I don't want to give away scraps - I want to figure out how to make things without waste!
DeleteDo you not fold your fabric so the ends meet in the middle, giving you 2 simultaneous folds to cut your front and back from? I can get a long-sleeve t-shirt out of a yard of fabric, and I'm considerably larger than you :-).
ReplyDeleteOh, indeed I do! I can get a long sleeve T out of a yard. But I want to get 2!
Deleteahhh yes, that's where kids come in handy: i can almost always cut a tee for myself and one for a kid from 1 yd of fabric. i can get two for myself out of 1.5 yds i believe, but my favorite online knit source won't cut partial yards! so annoying. i've been thinking to start making headbands or something out of the scraps just to use it up!
ReplyDeleteOh, now I know your secret parenting rationale! I could probably get 2 short sleeve Ts out of 1.5 yards too. But I find it hard to order the good T fabric (online) cuz they only let you get it by the yard! Maybe we are thinking of the same vendor!
DeleteIs the fabric light enough to make some undies?
ReplyDeleteGood question. Yes, it might have been (in the instance of the blue fabric) but its recovery wasn't optimal and it turns out it's pretty flimsy (from the 3 instances I had the chance to work with it - more on this to follow). Thing is, I only wear matching sets.
DeleteI throw out my scraps. Sometimes immediately, sometimes eventually. So shoot me.
ReplyDeleteHahaha, this one made me laugh! I usually do this too. But my colleague just informed me that her daughter's daycare absolutely loooooves fabric scraps... so I guess mine now have a more deserving destination!
DeleteMae: I throw out a lot of scraps that others would keep because I know they will never get used. The only scraps I keep are the kind that are a regular size and more than 1/4 yard. No shooting here!
DeleteAnd Kat: I never thought of daycare as a recipient. My kid's out of that world but maybe her home ec teacher would like some scraps. Hmmm...
The fabric quantity thing drives me crazy, which is why I'm stopping buying fabric unless I know which pattern I'm going to use. I'd invariably have too much, with not enough for another garment, or not enough for the garment of choice. I'm lucky I've got a small girl for such occasions! ;-) Love this collection...the colours are fabulous.
ReplyDeleteI know! I try to do that too and then I can't find the right weight of fabric for the right project at the right moment and I'm back where I began.
DeleteI'm guessing a meter must be slightly more than a yard, because I couldn't make anything to fit my top half with less than about 1.5 yards, 1.75 if I want long sleeves. Of course, then I generally have enough left over to make a couple of pairs of panties, so I don't let it go to waste (unless I think it will make terrible panties, and then I hold my breath, close my eyes, and chuck it into the trash.) The exception is if I think it would make a good accent piece on something else, like a pocket bag or some piping or whatever, and then I hoard it. For me, fabric is a luxury (even if it's super cheap stuff), so I try very hard not to be wasteful.
ReplyDeleteIt is slightly more than a yard (the same, for all intents and purposes). I totally hear you about not being wasteful. I hate waste on principle. You know you can take the smaller scraps and give them away on Craigslist for crazy people, I mean, quilters :-)
DeleteI need 2 yards, and definitely throw out scraps. I guess I shouldn't do that :(. I'm still not sure whether I love or hate T shirts. I wear a few RTW versions because I don't have enough woven alternatives and have been too lazy/busy to sew my own. One thing that has to change around here is getting more time in the sewing room. Martin is either in there or if not nothing is where it was before and the room is a mess. But that isn't really an excuse. I'm also losing weight, which decreases my desire to buy/sew, and we've been extremely busy getting the pattern ready for release. My kingdom for more time!
ReplyDeleteSusan, you seem like a small person (from your pics). I'm surprised you can't get away with a yard to 1.5. Do you double fold your fabric to maximize your seam free lines?
DeleteAnd it's SO irritating when the sewing room is not all set to go (or when it is and there's no time). But I guess you can't kick Martin out :-)
Just remembered to check back here. So, it's the wide back adjustment that widens the back piece significantly. That's needed to make sure the side seams are where they belong and not pulling to the back. I'm not sure what you mean about double folding. I'll search the blog to see if you explained that.
DeleteThe sewing room situation is driving me nuts but after we release the pattern we'll have a come-to-jesus talk about sharing the space better. It's not that Martin isn't willing, it's just that we have a really different tolerance level for messy work areas so we have to agree on some rules.
I am so fussy about my space. I do not think I could share without there being some challenges :-)
DeleteI love sewing factory style! I usually buy one yard for tees. I try very hard to cut front, back and sleeves across one line. So that means I fold and cut the back, fold again and cut the front, and then see where I can squeeze the sleeves. I'm always hoping to have enough left for underwear which I've done quite a bit now, as I'm really bad at throwing out scraps!
ReplyDeleteOh, when you can actually get underwear out of the scraps you are doing very well!
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