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The fabric an order needs is the pieces to cut times the consumption per piece, plus waste and a test allowance: total = (pieces + extra) × consumption × (1 + waste) + tests. For 1,000 pieces at 1.2 m with 10 extra pieces, 5% waste and 3 m for tests, the total is 1,275.6 m, so you order 1,276 m.
Written by Hakan Şahin Fact-checked by Gizem Polat
The tool calculates the fabric an order needs when you already know the consumption per piece: the meters or kilograms to buy, with waste and the number of rolls. Take the consumption per piece from your marker plan (pastal in Turkish) or from CAD; this tool does not estimate it.
For the kilogram and meter conversion with a tolerance range, use the fabric meter to kg calculator.
Waste rate f = waste % ÷ 100 (0.05 for 5%).
Without a size breakdown
With a size breakdown
Waste (two definitions)
Result
The calculation runs at full precision and rounds only for display. Sarkar (2020) recommends buying extra fabric for pieces cut over the order, for example 10 extra pieces on a 500-piece order (2%).
The tool's default values are an order of 1,000 pieces, 1.2 m consumption per piece, 10 extra pieces for samples and tests, a 3 m fixed test allowance, 5% waste added to the net need, a fabric width of 180 cm, a GSM of 160 g/m² and 50 m rolls. These are example values, not the consumption of a real style.
If you choose “Share of the fabric bought”, the need with waste in the same example is 1,275.79 m and the total is 1,278.79 m, a difference of 3.19 m.
Size breakdown example. S 200 pieces × 1.10 m, M 400 × 1.18 m, L 300 × 1.25 m, XL 100 × 1.32 m; 10 extra pieces, 5% waste, no fixed allowance (the consumption values are examples). N₀ = 220 + 472 + 375 + 132 = 1,199 m; average consumption 1.199 m; net need 1,199 + 10 × 1.199 = 1,210.99 m; need with waste 1,271.54 m.
Example in kilograms. Knitted fabric is often bought by the kilogram. For 500 pieces at 0.35 kg per piece and 8% waste (no extra pieces, no test allowance), the net need is 175 kg and the total is 189 kg. At a width of 180 cm and a GSM of 220 g/m², 189 kg is 477.27 m.
The same “5% waste” can be read in two ways. Adding 5% of the net need gives a multiplier of 1.05. If 5% of the total fabric bought is to be waste, the net need is divided by 0.95, a multiplier of 1.0526. The tool's default is to add waste to the net need; state in the quote or cost sheet which definition applies.
The table shows both multipliers and the difference for 1,000 m of net need. The difference is small at low rates and grows with the rate: about 2.6 m at 5% waste and about 11.1 m at 10%.
| Waste | Added waste (1 + f) | Waste as a share (1 ÷ (1 − f)) | Difference per 1,000 m net (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | 1.020 | 1.020 | 0.4 |
| 3% | 1.030 | 1.031 | 0.9 |
| 5% | 1.050 | 1.053 | 2.6 |
| 8% | 1.080 | 1.087 | 7.0 |
| 10% | 1.100 | 1.111 | 11.1 |
| 15% | 1.150 | 1.176 | 26.5 |
| 20% | 1.200 | 1.250 | 50.0 |
How much waste? In the sources reviewed there is no fixed rate that fits every factory. CBI's cost-price study suggests adding 3–6% waste for fabric on average and says the rate depends on the efficiency of pattern making, cutting, washing and finishing (CBI, last updated September 26, 2024). Treat this range only as a starting point. Our recommendation is to take the rate from your own cutting-room records. The tool flags waste above 25% with a warning.
What does waste cover? If you calculated the consumption from marker efficiency, the gaps in the marker are already in it, so waste covers the losses outside the marker: end losses, roll ends, fabric defects and cutting errors. Counting both is wrong, and so is adding no waste at all.
The formula is exact; the result is only as accurate as the consumption and waste you enter, and estimating consumption is error-prone. In a master's thesis (Eren, 2016; Ege University, Turkey), pricing-stage estimates, waste included, from two apparel manufacturers in Izmir were compared with the actual consumption from the marker plan. For all ten T-shirt models the estimate was 6–30% above the actual figure; for the shirt models it ranged from 22% below to 108% above. Part of the gap may come from the waste added to the estimate.
So record the actual consumption of each style at the end of an order and use your own data next time. For marker making and cutting, see cutting and pattern making and sample room companies; for fabric, see knitted fabric and woven fabric suppliers in Turkey. If the buyer supplies the fabric, agree the waste and the return of leftover fabric in writing; the contract garment manufacturing guide explains how contract work is organized.
Add the order quantity and the extra pieces for samples, multiply by the consumption per piece, add waste, add the fixed test allowance and round up. Example: (1,000 + 10) × 1.2 m = 1,212 m net; with 5% waste 1,272.6 m; with a 3 m test allowance 1,275.6 m; order 1,276 m. The consumption per piece must come from the marker plan or CAD; the tool does not estimate it.
There is no single rate that fits every factory; waste depends on marker efficiency, fabric defects, roll ends and cutting errors. CBI's cost-price study suggests adding 3–6% waste for fabric on average and says the rate depends on the efficiency of pattern making, cutting, washing and finishing. Treat this range only as a starting point: take your rate from your own cutting-room records and do not count marker waste twice.
Both are used and the results differ. If waste is added to the net need, gross = net × (1 + waste); if it is a share of the total fabric bought, gross = net ÷ (1 − waste). In the example, 5% waste on 1,212 m net gives 1,272.6 m or 1,275.79 m. The difference of 3.19 m grows with the waste rate. State in your quote or cost sheet which definition you use.
Multiply each size's quantity by its own consumption and add the results: N = Σ (quantity × consumption). The average consumption is this total divided by the total number of pieces. In the example, S 200 × 1.10, M 400 × 1.18, L 300 × 1.25 and XL 100 × 1.32 m add up to 1,199 m, an average of 1.199 m per piece. Applying the main size's 1.18 m to all 1,000 pieces would leave the order 19 m short. The figures are examples.
Multiply the meters by the fabric width (m) and the GSM and divide by 1,000: kg = m × width × g/m² ÷ 1,000. For 1,275.6 m at 1.80 m wide and 160 g/m², the result is 367.37 kg. GSM is written into a contract as a tolerance band; a ±5% tolerance means roughly 349–386 kg in this example. For tubular knits, use the open width.
It depends. If the marker was drawn with patterns enlarged for shrinkage, the consumption already includes it, and adding the same allowance to the waste would count it twice. If the patterns are drawn at finished size, shrinkage has to be added separately. Take the shrinkage percentage from a test result and see its effect on the cut size with the shrinkage calculator.
Written by
Garment Production Editor
Hakan Şahin is Tekstil Rehberi's garment production editor. He writes guides on production from the pattern room to shipment, patterns and marker making, quality control (AQL), sampling and costing, and compares process steps and quality criteria with the relevant standards and industry sources.
Content by Hakan ŞahinFact-checked by: Gizem Polat
This content was prepared by the Tekstil Rehberi editorial team. Before publication, our verification editor checked its figures, dates and sources against primary sources.
Spotted an error? Email us at [email protected] How we work →
GSM ranges for T-shirts, hoodies and joggers, what light, mid and heavy weights mean, why one fabric can carry different GSM figures, and how to write GSM into a supplier spec.
The garment manufacturing process stage by stage: tech pack, pattern, sampling, cutting, sewing, pressing, packing and shipment, with each stage's output, control point and who does what at a contract factory.
How contract garment manufacturing works: CMT versus full package (FOB), the tech pack, factory screening and lead-time checks, default contract rules under Turkish law, and acceptance on delivery.
Fabric weight is the mass of one square meter of fabric in grams (g/m²), known as GSM (grams per square meter). It shows how light or heavy a fabric is, but it is not a measure of thickness or quality. Turkish suppliers call it gramaj.
Knitted fabric is made by turning yarn into loops and intermeshing the loops with one another; the loop structure gives the fabric natural stretch. It falls into two main groups, weft knits and warp knits. Single jersey, rib and interlock are weft knits.
Woven fabric is made on a loom by interlacing lengthwise warp yarns with crosswise weft yarns at right angles. It is more stable than knitted fabric: its stretch is limited by yarn properties and weave structure.
Convert Ne, Nm, tex, dtex and denier; find a count from a skein; plied and filament yarn.
GSM from a sample, oz/yd² conversion and weight per linear meter.
Meters, yards, m², kilograms and pounds from width and GSM; tubular fabric and tolerance.
Shrinkage percent from a wash test; cut and marker size for a shrinkage rate.
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