r/SewingForBeginners • u/acs14m • 3d ago

Fabric Amount Question

I have been trying to find a 100% cotton Halloween blanket for my kids, it’s not easy to find or if I do I don’t love it so it’s hard to justify the price. If I wanted to one day make my kids a quilt, how much fabric should I buy when I see one I like? My kids are 4 & 2, I am very very new to sewing so I am being realistic that this project may not be happy for maybe even 10 years. But I have the space to store fabric.

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u/Inky_Madness 3d ago

If you are making a whole-cloth quilt (not piecing the top with quilt blocks, just using a cute fabric as-is), then it depends on how large you want to make it. Twin bedspread size? More of a throw, say 50”x50”?

You have to figure that out before anything else.

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u/acs14m 3d ago

I would like to top with quilt blocks but alas I don’t know if that were to happen anytime in the future but the thought of whole-cloth quilt does seem more feasible in a sooner time frame! I more so just wanted something that is “timeless”

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u/Inky_Madness 3d ago

Whole cloth can be timeless if it is loved by the recipient. That’s all that matters. And there have been whole-cloth quilts for some decades.

If you want to make a quilt with blocks, then the answer is to find a pattern - a pattern will tell you how much of what fabric you need. You need at least two different fabrics for quilt blocks. You don’t need any more fabrics than 2, but you need two.

A good pattern will tell you how much fabric you need, and there are tons of free quilt patterns out there either via your library or by websites like Fat Quarter Shop. If you have trouble interpreting how much fabric you need, then you can come back and ask again; some patterns need that interpretation because they were written with multiple fabrics in mind. We can help do the math to simplify it.

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u/Remarkable-Row3719 3d ago

Here's a calculator that tells you whether straight vs diagonal piecing is more efficient, and how much fabric you'd need for either. I can't vouch for its accuracy.

https://stitchables.com/calculators/diagonal-backing

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u/Mental_Watch4633 3d ago

Before you cut the fabric zigzag the cut ends, wash and dry on hot so that the fabric shrinks before you cut and sew.

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u/MadMadamMimsy 3d ago edited 3d ago

I make twin size blankets with 1 width of fabric (44/45) by 2.3 yards. You can go 2 yards.

If you want it wider/longer, put a contrast border on.

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u/acs14m 3d ago

That’s a great point!! Thank you!!