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How can I get fabric cut to do this project? Or how many yards?

  • I'm clueless when it comes to fabric. It might sound silly, but this is what I want to do. I am trying to section off an area of my garage for an area with a couch and TV so that it looks a little more inviting (it is used often for the smokers in the house bc there's no smoking in the house). I want to section it off just by getting a plain color fabric and using it like curtains to corner off the area. It's all gonna end up looking nice --I know it sounds funny. haha. The dimensions are about 100 inches tall and I figure I will need about 300 inches across. I have it all planned out but I don't know how to order the fabric? Is there a way to just get a huge piece 100 inches long or do I have to get a yard/36 inches? Should I order it online? I don't want to look silly if I go to a Joann's. Common sense tells me that a sq yard of fabric is 3ft by 3ft. If I get 2 yards is it 6ft by 3ft, and if I get 3 yards is it 9ft by 3ft, etc? If so how can I get a piece of fabric that's more than a yard across? Also, do you have a suggestion on what type of fabric I should use that might insulate the area a little? Fleece? Cotton? Thanks in advance guys!!

  • Answer:

    You do not measure fabric by the square yard because it comes in specific widths which is measured and cut in specific lengths (yards and fractions of a yard) according to what the customer wants. Muslin would be the most economical choice as it comes in wide widths. Check your local fabric stores - don't forget Hobby Lobby also has fabric. The muslin will be off on its own display and comes in either bleached or unbleached (light beige/tan). 100 inches long would be 2 3/4 yards (round up to 3). Three yard cuts. 300 inches wide (this will depend on the width of the muslin). For example, 60" wide, would be 5 widths. 5 x 3 yards = 15 yards. 45" muslin would increase the yardage to 21 yards (rounded up to 7 widths x 3 yard cut lengths). Cut away the selvage edges unless you do not care if the seams pucker. Sew the seams at 1/2" and you should have plenty of fabric if you have rounded up the measurements. Fabric for making quilt backs also comes in wide widths, but is more expensive than muslin. Bed sheets are too short, even a California King flat is less than 90".

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I agree with much of the answer before me but also wanted to add a few things: You don't have to use "fabric"...you could use other things like bedspreads, sheets, blankets, moving blankets, canvas-type cloth, table cloths, and other large fabric-items...or you could even use non-cloth sheetings like huge plastic tarps, and more. You wouldn't necessarily need to sew the pieces together if you need to join them. You could use glues of various kinds (fabric glues, other permanent white glues, even hot glue...or use fusible webbing like the kind that comes in strips if your "fabric" can take the heat of an iron). You could also just let the fabrics overlap a bit or bunch up where they'd come together. For the best insulation though, you'll want thickness in the material you use, and/or some materials are more insulating that others. So you could use thick or dense or non-porous materials, or quilted items (with a layer of batting already inside). Or you could put something behind the layer of fabric, or between two sheets of fabric, like other clothlike sheetings/materials, or even things like plastic tarps or shower curtains or newspaper, or corrugated cardboard, or sheets of polyester batting from a roll or package (fabric store), etc. If those "showed," you could perhaps paint or otherwise decorate them, or even spray paint them all the same color, etc. Instead of hanging like a curtain, you could also stretch some of those things to make more of a "screen" divider using long pieces of PVA pipe plus a few PVA connectors, or stretch them over basic wood frames you could make. You could either make a stand for that kind of thing, or make it stand up in other ways, or you could hang the whole thing from the ceiling, etc....or you could make a hinged one that would stand on it's own. Here are some ideas for all of those possibilities: http://www.google.com/images?q=how+to+make+room+divider+fabric http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+make+room+divider http://www.google.com/images?q=how+to+make+room+divider http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+make+room+divider+screen http://www.google.com/images?q=how+to+make+room+divider+screen http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+make+room+divider+in+garage http://www.google.com/images?q=how+to+make+room+divider+in+garage You can also use words in those searches like "privacy screen" or "partition," etc, as well as "room divider". (Btw, I wouldn't worry about looking silly at a fabric store. People use fabrics of all kinds for all kinds of things. Good luck on getting anyone to wait on you though in many places unless it's not busy, and good luck too on getting accurate info or creative ideas for thinking out of the box. )

Diane B.

Fabric is normally sold by the length, not by area. If you buy 2 yards of a fabric, you get a piece 6 ft long by whatever the fabric width is -- typically about 44/45" or 60", occasionally as wide as 120". You can buy fabric in any length you want up to about 15 yards (the usual amount on a bolt), in a fabric store. Fabric is normally sold by the yard or meter length, so 100" would be 2.77 yards, or about 2 7/8 yards. However, I'm betting you haven't considered you need quite a bit more for the hems at the top and bottom so the curtain will hang well and you can attach it to a curtain rod. You'd have to seam fabric lengths together to make something 300"/25 ft wide. This is a big job, and not one I'd suggest for someone who doesn't sew. Actually, you'll need 1.5x - 3x the width of the area for the fabric to have any shirring -- so let's say you're using 60" wide fabric, and you want 1.5x fullness, so you'll need 7 60" widths of fabric sewn together, each about 3,5 yards long, and then hem the top and bottom. I've sewn for years and there's no way you could talk me into trying to seam that much fabric. I don't have the tables to cut on, I don't have the machines to seam it properly, and it won't look good when I'm done -- despite the fact that I sew clothes at a very high level of skill. About the only thing with much in the way of insulation value will be insulated drapery material. My best suggestion is to buy readymades or build a temporary interior wall. I'd go with an interior wall, myself. Sheetrock is cheaper than fabric, and easier to insulate.

kay

I would buy curtains that can you can run through a pole to hang. Fabric comes 45" wide. NOT 3feet wide. the length is what you want. You don't have to buy a full yard of fabric. There isn't any fabric that is going to be 100 inches wide. You are going to have to sew panels together. This is not easy if you are not a sewer. Handling a lot of fabric like that is hard. You must get your measurement right-sounds easy, but isn't. And you are going to find that buying this much fabric is expensive. And you can't just get enough material for 300 inches across. you need some room for it to gather-even if it is just a bit. You can't have a piece of fabric pulled taunt. You can get a piece of fabric 100 inches long-that would be almost 3 yards-you need to add in extra for your hem and a pocket at the top. So maybe 3 1/4 yards. Your width is 45"- you need to hem both sides. You will need 3 panels across. So about 9 3/4 yards of fabric. Home decor fabric can be 56" =60" across. but can cost a lot more money. DO NOT USE FLEECE. hanging fleece like a curtain-you will find it will start to stretch as it hangs there. Cotton is going to run about $6 a yard and it is going to be very sheer when you hang it. Hold a piece of cotton up to a window to see for yourself. I am an experience sewer. I was going to make curtains for my guest room. I found it cheaper to go buy curtains.

drip

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