Sewing Fabric Cost Calculator
Calculate the full cost of a sewing project.
Enter fabric yardage, price per yard, lining, notions and sales tax to get a shopping budget.
Why Fabric Math Trips People Up
Most fabric is sold by the yard, but patterns give requirements in decimal yards (1.5 yd) or fractions (1-1/2 yd). At the cutting counter, stores usually cut to the nearest 1/8 yard, so round up to the next 1/8 when in doubt. An extra quarter yard costs a quarter of the per-yard price and saves a second trip across town if you cut short, which makes it the cheapest insurance in the shop.
Pre-Washing and Shrinkage
Cotton and linen shrink. A fabric rated at 1.5 yards may measure noticeably less after a hot wash. The standard advice is to add 10% to your yardage requirement for pre-washed natural fibers. This calculator does not auto-add for shrinkage, so factor it in when you enter your yardage.
Lining Fabric
Lined garments require a separate yardage calculation. Lining fabric follows the same pattern pieces as the main fabric, but typically uses fewer or simplified pieces (no facings, no pockets). Many people use a different, less expensive fabric for lining. Enter both separately to get a full budget.
Notions Are Not A Rounding Error
The pattern, the thread, a separating zip, interfacing, buttons and a set of bias binding will happily add half again to a cheap-fabric project. On a shirt made from an inexpensive cotton the notions can outrun the cloth. Add them up on the receipt from your last project and use that figure, because it is nearly always higher than you would guess.
Tax and Final Cost
Sales tax on fabric varies by state and country. Some US states exempt fabric from sales tax as a crafting supply; others treat it the same as any goods. Enter your local rate if applicable.
Comparing Shops
This calculator is also useful for comparing cost across fabric stores or online suppliers. Run it twice with different price-per-yard values to see how much you save (or spend) choosing one source over another.
Practical Tip
Before buying, photograph the bolt label. It contains fabric content, width (usually 44/45 in or 58/60 in), care instructions, and the bolt number if you need to reorder the same dye lot later.
How we build and check this calculator
This calculator runs entirely in your browser, so the numbers you enter stay on your device. The math behind it is written by hand and tested against worked examples and standard references before the page goes live.
SuperGlobalCalculator is independently built and maintained. See how we build and verify our calculators.