Lesson 3 · Fabric basics
Fabric consumption from the marker
7 min
In a real company
Merchandiser, CAD / pattern master, cutting in-charge
Fabric is 50–60% of a garment's cost. Consumption decides how much fabric you book — book too little and production stops, book too much and the profit sits in the store.
Key ideas
- The CAD team makes a marker: several garments' patterns laid on the fabric width.
- Consumption per garment = marker length ÷ garments in the marker.
- Add cutting wastage (end losses, splicing) and an extra allowance (shrinkage, shortage).
- Total fabric = final consumption × order quantity.
Formula
- Base consumption
- = Marker length ÷ Garments per marker
- With wastage
- = Base × (1 + Wastage%)
- Final
- = With wastage × (1 + Allowance%)
- Total fabric
- = Final × Order quantity
Worked example
Men's Oxford shirt, 10,000 pcs. The marker is 9.6 m long and holds 6 shirts. Wastage 3%, allowance 2%.
- 1Base = 9.6 ÷ 6 = 1.600 m per shirt
- 2With 3% wastage = 1.600 × 1.03 = 1.648 m
- 3With 2% allowance = 1.648 × 1.02 = 1.681 m
- 4Total = 1.681 × 10,000 = 16,810 m (18,383 yd)
✅ Book about 16,810 m of fabric.
Try it live in the calculatorCommon mistakes
- Forgetting the allowance — the order runs short at the end.
- Using the sample marker for bulk; bulk markers are more efficient.
- Mixing yards and metres (1 yd = 0.9144 m).
Quick quiz
Answer 2 of 3 correctly to complete the lesson.
1. A 12 m marker holds 8 garments. Base consumption?
2. Why add wastage to consumption?
3. 16,000 m in yards is about…