Home & DIY
How much yarn or fabric do you need for a project?
Skeins of yarn or meters of fabric to buy from your pattern, with cost — knitting, crochet and sewing.
Quick answer
Patterns give you the number that matters — metres of yarn or fabric — and the shopping mistakes happen when you guess units instead of doing the division.
Skeins to buy
4
- Yarn cost
- $20.00
Yarn: use the meterage on your pattern or Ravelry project page — divide by the length on the ball band (e.g. 210 m for 50 g DK). Fabric: add 10–15% for shrinkage, pattern matching and cutting waste; buy the same bolt width your pattern assumes (often 140–150 cm for apparel).
How it works
| Yarn, a sweater | Fabric, a dress | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern calls for | 800 m | 2.5 m on a 145 cm bolt |
| Unit on the shelf | 210 m per ball | sold by the metre |
| Waste to add | one spare ball | 10% |
| Buy | 4 skeins | 2.75 m |
| At | €6 each → €24 | €12/m → €33 |
The spare ball is not waste: it is the only way to repair an elbow in two years with yarn that still matches, because the dye lot you used will no longer be on sale.
The formulas are simple: skeins = ceil(meters needed ÷ meters per skein); fabric meters = length needed × (1 + waste%). Match the ball band or bolt width to what the pattern assumes — a pattern drafted for 140 cm fabric will not fit on 110 cm without re-layout. Buy one extra skein only when the pattern is close to a whole number; for fabric, 10–15% waste covers pattern matching and shrinkage.
The quantity in a pattern is tied to a tension, not just to a size. Patterns state a gauge — so many stitches and rows to ten centimetres — and if you knit tighter or looser than that, the same garment consumes a different amount of yarn, easily ten to twenty per cent either way. Work a tension square before buying, not after. The other rule is the dye lot: skeins dyed in different batches of the same colour differ enough to show as a band across a finished piece, so buy the whole quantity at once from one lot, plus one spare, because matching later is usually impossible.
Frequently asked questions
How many skeins for 800 meters of yarn?+
Divide 800 by the meters on the ball band and round up: 210 m balls → 4 skeins (840 m total). With 200 m balls you need 4 as well; with 400 m cakes, only 2. Always check the dye lot — buy all skeins at once for the same lot number.
How much extra fabric should I buy?+
10% is the minimum for simple cuts; 15% for stripes, plaids or directional prints that need pattern matching; 20% for beginners or slippery fabrics. Shrinkage before cutting can eat another 5% on cotton — pre-wash if the bolt label says to.
Where do I find meters needed for knitting?+
On the pattern header, Ravelry project page, or designer website — usually listed per size (S/M/L). Pick your size row, not the average. If only grams are given, convert using the yarn’s meters-per-50g on the band.
Does fabric width matter for the cost?+
Width affects how pattern pieces fit, not the price formula directly — you pay per running meter along the bolt. A wider bolt may let you use less length for the same garment, which is why patterns specify width. This calculator uses the length your layout requires plus waste.
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