Extra?
#11
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 2,523
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!!
#12
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 2,867
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.
#13
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.
#14
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!!
#15
Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 11
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!!!
#16
Super Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,585
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.
#17
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Utah
Posts: 2,093
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.
#19
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Vancouver Island / Arizona
Posts: 458
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.
#20
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Ranger, Texas
Posts: 788
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.
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