Extra?
 

Do you expect - or hope - to get "extra" when you buy fabric?

Example - I ask for 1/2 yard - I hope to get at least 18-1/2 inches.

As long as I get at least what I ask for, I won't complain. I do mind when I am shorted. Which has happened with packaged fat quarters.

I don't want to be short cut or have wonky cuts because the folds aren't straight.

There is always a couple extra inches at my local shop. The owner and staff are generous cutters. Plus the owner frequently has a 30% off or finish the bolt (40%) off. Yes, I finish plenty of blots as I can't see leaving that small portion behind. I figure that extra is a little bit of insurance for my mis-cuts.

There are usually sales too when we attend classes or meetings. It's always a fun place!

I don't mind extra :) but I know most measure to the exact inch when cutting. In the retail fabric shop magazine they tell the owners that giving just a 1/2 extra for each cut will cut in the shop's profits more then they realize. I think it was in the thousands of dollars over a year's time. I expect the fabric to be cut evenly and if I am shorted I ask for a recut before I pay for it.

back in the day they use to give you the extra if it was end of the bolt ,don't remember probably up to about 6 inches so if you wanted 2 yards and and there was 6inches left on the bolt they would give it to you , not today anymore joanns will ask if you want it at half price,sometimes i'll take it depending on my mood LOL!

I never mind 1/2" more on my fabric cuts. You never know when that 1/2" will help you get the strip cut that you need.

well I sure don't expect it.. and I don't think I have gotten extra but a couple of times from Fabric.com. They put a sticker on it "end of bolt special" it was a nice surprise. Now that amazon bought them I bet they don't do that any more :( P.S. I love Amazon... but I used to find Fabric.com a very special place to shop and that's gone now

It has been sooooo long since anyone cut me extra fabric. long ago days.

No, I don't expect extra. I am always purchasing too much, just in case. If I purchase exact, that's a sure sign that I will miscut.

I’ve bought exactly what I need (example: 12 inches) and gotten 11.5 or even less when I come to cut it at home. Grrrr. So I watch carefully now. I have one clerk that gives me 4-5 extra inches all the time. She’ll probably get trouble for it some day but if I was her, I’d do the same. Why not treat a good customer good ?

I don't expect extra either. But I do want what I order. And knowing how fabric will shrink if I need 1/4 yard I now buy 1/3 because too often I was getting shorted. 1/4 yard is 9 inches, but all too often I couldn't get 8 inches after it was washed. Recently I asked a lady for 1/3 yard of 14 different fabrics, she told me they only cut 1/4 as the smallest, luckily as I was getting ready to explain 1/3 was larger than 1/4 another lady said she would cut them for me.

I don't expect extra, but I have no problem speaking up when the fabric is wonky, or obviously cut crooked previously. I usually buy a bit extra to be on the safe side. I've been known to measure once, but had to cut twice!!

I am pleased when the cutter gives a little extra - so many can't cut straight, but I rarely find it when I am purchasing fabric in person. Online, I usually find 1/2" to 1" extra which makes me feel good about that company. Good PR if nothing else.

I just purchased several fabrics from an etsy shop. Every cut was generous, and they even threw in about 1/4 yard because they were unable to give me the 4 yards of one of the fabrics in a single piece. (They also asked if that would be okay before shipping it.) I will be happy to purchase from that shop again.

While I do not expect it, when it happens it is always nice. When a shop person goes to cut fabric for me, I always look carefully at the fabric as it comes off the bolt and if the cut end is not square, I will point it out immediately and suggest that they measure from the shortest point. That being said - there is a place in Maine (Mardens which is a general clearance center with a huge fabric department) that I go to occasionally where I have gotten almost 1/4 yd extra on some cuts and the way they measure it on large yardage pieces sometimes more!!

I don't expect "extra"...but expect that the length I buy is the "usable" size...recently took back a wide backing (108")...when I squared it to put on the long arm...I lost 6 inches off one side and 8 off the other...that's how crooked it was folded on the bolt....that amount meant the backing was too small by several inches...and at the price paid!!!

I don't often get "extra", but it does sometimes happen. As someone has previously posted, I almost always buy extra just to make certain I don't run short on the fabric. I sometimes make the error and miscalculate -- my bad. I do at least want to get what I pay for, and if the extra is a sizeable amount, I will point it out and pay for the extra fabric. I can almost always use the extra fabric for potholders, etc. I always make certain I buy plenty of fabric for backing -- if I'm making a solid back, I don't want to have to piece it. By doing so, I end up having large enough backings that I seldom have to buy backing (white muslin) fabric for baby quilts.

At our LQS, we try to give "at least 1" extra," because none of us are perfect, and we don't want to short anyone -- certainly not on purpose. We also give 20% off retail on all fabric on the bolt, every day. The sad part is, that the store doesn't really make money on the fabric. We make money on sewing machine repair and sales. So... if your LQS isn't diversified, they may need to make every inch count. It's also a gamble to buy a whole line of fabric, because we don't have a crystal ball, and can't foretell which fabric will sell and which doesn't. That's where we loose money. We gamble and loose, and the fabric goes on the clearance rack at cost.

No I don't expect extra. But I expect a discount if I buy what's left on the bolt. So I was not pleased on Saturday when the store didn't give a discount.

Because I am now working scrappy I have bought a lot of small pieces. It seems that more often than not that the fabric is not square. I often get the same saleswoman at my LQS and she is good about measuring from the narrowest section. I have had times when I couldn't cut the size of strip that I had calculated because the fabric was crooked which means I can't use it for what it was intended.

Yes, so many people don’t understand fractions at all! Burger King tried to market a 1/3 pound burger years ago but customers thought they were getting less beef that MacDonald’s quarter-pounder so that ploy failed. I see that misunderstanding of fractions a lot.