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Hi
Just wondering if any of you awesome artists out there have any tips for working out how much fabric a new pattern will use? I know I can probably do trial and error, but there could be someone who goes 'oh you just multiply this by that, double it and add a bit for seam allowance' or something genius like that! Thanks.
Caroline
Chaska, MinnesotaA thought would be to have an existing piece of fur or material that you already know the yardage. Lay out your pieces and estimate how much material it takes. So if you have a yard of fur or fabric, lay out your pieces to see how much room it takes and estimate how much you will need to order.
Hi Michelle
Thanks for your reply. I did think about this one, but it supposes that I have a piece of pattern for every piece I want to cut out, and I usually only make say, 1 leg piece and trace round it 4 times, 1 head piece and trace around it twice etc. But I guess it would be the easiest way, and probably more efficient in terms of laying out the pieces, as I could shuffle them about on the fabric and get the tightest possible layout.
Caroline
Chaska, MinnesotaHi Caroline: what I do it flip my pieces and use my finger to keep my place to see how much space I take up in the fabric. You could use a marker that sewers use that disappears after a time period. Use the marker /pen to mark the fabric with notches as you move your pattern pieces. maybe that could help?
Why don't you draw your pattern onto a piece of newspaper and measure the size?
Great ideas ladies, thank you, I shall experiment with these and see which works best for me 
Caroline
i usually use paint (gimp) to work out the size ... usually i know how big the fur pieces are cut by whatever Company
so i make a file the size of the fur, just use Pixel instead of mm or mm/10 to Keep it reasonable sized.
place in a new layer the pattern pieces, arranging the pieces till the shape is fit, and then degreese or increase, till the whole fur is covered.
uses just Little skills, gimp is free, works with layers, and got fantastic online documentation
