Posts
I don't sew with plaid very often - mostly just to make flannel shirts for my Grandmother. But I know that you're supposed to buy extra fabric to allow for matching the stripes in assorted locations - across the front of the shirt, etc.
I don't really have a good sense of how much extra to buy - I imagine that it would depend on things like the size of the stripe.
How about you? Do you sew very often with plaids and other fabric designs that need to be carefully aligned? If so, how do you decide how much extra fabric to buy?
Photo credit: GLAMCHIC
9 comments:
I almost always buy extra fabric, no matter what I'm sewing. When sewing with a plaid, it does depend on the size of the pattern. If it is a large plaid, I'd probably buy an extra yard. You can always use the extra for something else. It's better to be safe than sorry, as they say.
There really is no accurate rule of thumb for how much extra to buy with plaids, like Julia says, it depends on the size of the repeat, and how wide the fabric is. I'd guess an extra repeat for every length of fabric you need (By 'fabric length', I mean for every piece you need to place end-to-end instead of side-by-side). That way you can move each piece through an entire repeat to get the match point. Hope that makes sense!
i don't sew with plaid often, but if i want to match a pattern, i usually buy an extra 1/2 yard if it's on the small side, and an extra yard if it's on the big side. i don't mind having extra fabric leftover, better than not having enough!
I run screaming from plaid :) I've read the instruction on matching plaids and decided I really didn't need it.
I rarely work with plaids. Like Julia anytime I buy fabric I usually buy extra.
I agree with Lisa Laree that there's really no accurate gauge on how much to buy. There are too many variables. The size of the repeat and the number of pattern pieces being the biggest factor.
I did make a couple of plaid shirts a year or so ago. I think I ended up buying an extra half-yard. I didn't have too much leftover from the long-sleeved one, so that worked pretty well! (I did for the short-sleeved one, but I originally bought the fabric with a different pattern in mind than the one I actually ended up using.)
I don't mind plaids at all but haven't sewn with them for a while. I buy 1/2 to 1 yard extra depending on the size of the plaid. It is important to consider the length of the garment and the width also. For example, even though I am still 5'2", I am no longer a size 8.
Oh, I love plaids! Stripes, too. I usually get about 1/2 yard extra of so. While they can be a challenge to lay out and stitch perfectly, there are a lot of very cool things you can do with plaid.
I know that they come and go in fashion, but I don't actually like plaids all that much.
I also find stripes a little challenging, being pear shaped. They never seem to be particularly flattering, whether they are horizontal or vertically striped.
All this means that I don't have to worry about matching stripes very often at all! I have read a few tips though. I did try a tip about using a walking foot to match stripes as you are sewing (because they do seem to slip, no matter whether you pin them or not...those darn feed dogs again!). I did have success with the walking foot.
I usually buy fabric without much consideration for the pattern to be used, and never have enough (thrifty personality!) so I almost always have to get creative with pattern layout...lucky I don't like plaid.
Post a Comment