SOURCING TOOL · FREE

Fabric consumption calculator.

Estimate meters for simple woven garments or kilograms from knit panel area and GSM. Check the method, enter your own allowances and see how each assumption changes the order total.

For rough budgeting and quote checks only. Final fabric consumption must come from approved pattern-making data and the actual cutting marker. This tool does not generate a marker, verify pattern fit or replace a production costing sheet.

1. Choose your starting point

Calculation method

Target garment quantityOne style and size, or a properly weighted size-mix average.Usable fabric width (cm)Use the cutting width after relaxation. Woven shortcuts support 90–110 or 140–150 cm only.

Garment

Finished body length (cm)Sleeve length (cm)

The dimensional rule already includes its fixed 5 or 10 cm addition. It cannot confirm whether pieces fit across the width. Oversized, lined, flared, patterned and complex garments need a marker.

2. Add only missing allowances

All allowances start at zero so the tool does not invent an appropriate loss rate for your order.

Length shrinkage (%)Use measured dimensional change. Set to zero if already compensated in the pattern or input.Extra layout allowance (%)Only an additional, otherwise uncounted one-way or matching-layout allowance.Cutting / production allowance (%)Do not include losses already counted in the starting consumption or layout allowance.

How is the cutting percentage defined?Extra sampling / reserve (m)Added once to the entire order, after percentage allowances.

For meter estimates, width shrinkage is not solved by adding length. Confirm the marker fits the post-shrink usable width; revise the input or marker if it does not.

3. Optional fabric cost

Quoted price per m (optional)Use one currency throughout. No live prices or currency conversion; only fabric is costed.

Inputs stay in this browser and are not submitted.

ROUGH PLANNING ESTIMATE

Estimated fabric requirement

138 m

For 100 garments. Not a purchase quantity.

Base per garment: 1.38 m
Base order requirement: 138 m
Shrinkage compensation: 0 m
Additional layout allowance: 0 m
Cutting / production allowance: 0 m
One-time reserve: 0 m
Gross per garment, excluding reserve: 1.38 m

For a planning sheet rounded upward to 0.1 m: 138 m. This does not round to supplier rolls, dye lots or MOQ.

Show calculation basis

Base: (body length + sleeve length + 10 cm) ÷ 100.

Adjusted per piece = base ÷ (1 − length shrinkage) × (1 + extra layout rate) × (1 + cutting allowance rate).

Order total = adjusted per piece × quantity + one-time reserve. Calculations use unrounded values.

Rough estimate only. Actual consumption must be calculated from approved pattern data and the cutting marker, with the real size ratio, usable width, measured shrinkage and production conditions. Different fabrics, linings and trims must be calculated separately.

Read the full calculation guide →

How this fabric calculator works

For simple tops at 140–150 cm usable width, the article’s shortcut is body length + sleeve length + 10 cm; at 90–110 cm it is three body lengths. Pants use length + 5 cm at the wider width or twice the length + 10 cm at the narrower width. All lengths are converted from centimeters to meters. Other widths require a consumption input from your pattern maker or marker.

For knits, kilograms per garment = total pattern-piece area in m² × measured GSM ÷ 1,000. Include every piece in the same fabric. For example, 1 m² at 240 GSM is 0.24 kg before allowances. A single hoodie body is not a complete hoodie.

Why allowance definitions matter

Ten percent added to 100 meters is 110 meters. A ten percent loss measured against gross fabric issued requires 100 ÷ 0.90 = 111.111… meters. The tool supports both definitions. Ten percent length shrinkage also needs division by 0.90, not a simple ten percent addition. For area-based weight estimates, length and width shrinkage are compounded, rather than added together.

Do not add a blanket loss again if the input already includes it. Enter a size-mix weighted consumption or calculate different sizes separately. The tool cannot infer marker efficiency, plaid matching, usable-width feasibility, defect locations, rib requirements, roll minimums or garment rejection rates.

Read the sourcing and costing guide

How to Calculate Fabric Consumption for Garments →

Use this tool to develop your starting consumption, then enter the approved figure into the garment cost calculator. Avoid applying the same allowances twice.