Quick answer
What is fabric consumption?
Fabric consumption is the quantity of fabric needed to make one garment, normally expressed in metres or yards per piece (woven) or kilograms per dozen (knits). It is the base number for fabric booking and costing.
Base consumption = Marker length ÷ Garments per marker
How it works
Fabric Consumption Calculator
Calculate fabric consumption per garment from your marker, add cutting wastage and allowances, and get the total fabric to book for the order — in metres, yards and kilograms.
A marker holds a fixed number of garments, so dividing the marker length by the garments in it gives the base consumption per garment. Cutting never uses 100% of the fabric, so a wastage percentage is added, followed by any extra allowance for shrinkage or shade variation. Multiply by the order quantity to get the fabric to book.
Formula
The formula, in full
- Base consumption
- Marker length ÷ Garments per marker
- With wastage
- Base × (1 + Wastage% ÷ 100)
- Final consumption
- With wastage × (1 + Allowance% ÷ 100)
- Total fabric
- Final consumption × Order quantity
- Yards
- Metres ÷ 0.9144
- Weight (kg)
- Total m × Width (m) × GSM ÷ 1000
Example
Shirt order of 10,000 pcs
- 01Base = 9.6 m ÷ 6 = 1.600 m per shirt
- 02With 3% wastage = 1.600 × 1.03 = 1.648 m
- 03With 2% allowance = 1.648 × 1.02 = 1.681 m
- 04Total = 1.681 × 10,000 = 16,810 m (18,383 yd)
Use “Load Example” above to run this example in the calculator.
Industry tip
Industry tip
“Always calculate consumption from the marker made on the actual cuttable width of the bulk fabric — a 2-inch width difference can move consumption by 3–4%.”
Assumptions
What this calculator assumes
- Marker length already includes the garments' full pattern set (all sizes in the ratio).
- Wastage and allowance are applied one after the other (compounded).
- Weight is an estimate based on GSM and the cuttable width entered.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is fabric consumption?
Fabric consumption is the quantity of fabric needed to make one garment, normally expressed in metres or yards per piece (woven) or kilograms per dozen (knits). It is the base number for fabric booking and costing.
What is the fabric consumption formula?
Consumption per garment = Marker length ÷ Garments per marker. Then add wastage: Consumption × (1 + Wastage% ÷ 100). Multiply by order quantity for total fabric.
How much wastage should I add?
Most woven programmes use 2–5% cutting wastage. Stripes, checks and engineered prints need more because of matching. Use your factory's actual history whenever possible.
Should I book fabric in metres or yards?
Book in the unit your mill invoices in. This calculator shows both so you can cross-check supplier quotations.