Can someone help me figure out how much yardage I need?

[blessedwithboys]

I can't sew to save my life, but I'm a whiz with stich witch and clip-on curtain rings, so I am planning to make curtains for the sliding doors in my bedroom, and a matching shower curtain for my en suite.

Here is the fabric.

My shower pan opening is 60" top to bottom and 72" across from one side to the other. (Here's a thought...can I cut a 2 yard piece and rotate it 90* and then stich it to my existing curtain, leaving a border of a few inches all around the perimeter? Otherwise, if I use two strips that are 1.67 yards, I will have a width of 108", which is 1.5x the 72" opening. But then what about seam allowances?! ACK!!! LOL)

My sliding glass doors are about 80" top to bottom, but I need to put the rod over the rod already there holding vertical blinds, so I'm thinking I shoudl call it 84", and it's an even 72" across. (Yeah, I have no freaking idea how to figure this one out. LOL)

I know that I've heard it recommended to double the width of the fabric to allow pretty folds when pulled closed, but I don't want it so pleated that you lose sight of the gorgeous flower pattern. Can I do it 1.5x the width and have it look ok?

I'm not real adept with math and I don't know the first thing about handling fabric, so I'd be so grateful if someone could help me figure out how many yards to order! Thanks a million.

[sunnysandiegan]

I use graph paper to draw up my own pattern design and then flip it over to draw up my own cutting diagram, which ends up providing me with the yardage requirements.

[blessedwithboys]

Sorry, you might as well have written that in Greek! haha I don't understand what you mean at all. Math is just so not my forte. I am embarrassed to admint that I just need someone to tell me a number of yards to buy. Once I have the fabric in my hands, I can visualize how to cut what where, but in the abstract I am clueless.

[pear-shaped]

For the sliding glass doors, I would just get five yards. If the window opening is 72", I think two panels 54" wide will be fine. If the panel length does turn out to be 84" as you estimate, you'll have a little bit left over, as 84" is 2 1/3 yards. But I think it's a good idea to have a little extra...

The shower curtain is a bit more complicated I guess. You could do it either way, sewing two panels together or reusing part of your current curtain. If you do the latter, you'll need a piece longer than two yards, though, because the width of the opening itself is 72". So if you want to continue with the idea of 1.5x the length of the opening, you'd want 3 yards. But is your existing curtain that wide? If you really do want to use some of it as a border, just measure how long it is and get the same length of the new fabric plus a couple of inches for finishing the edges on either side.

If you decide to sew two panels together, I think you'll need at the very least 3 1/2 yards. That would give you three inches of length on each panel for finishing the top and bottom and maybe an extra inch if you like your shower curtain longer than the opening. But I think that's cutting it too close. I guess you'd have another few inches left over from the other curtains, but I don't know. I would round it up to four yards.

Does that help?

[sunnysandiegan]

Sorry, I am precise with my sewing and use the graph paper to draw my designs to scale. The yardage comes naturally from that. Looks like you got your answer above and I was hoping by posting something, it would bring attention to your request.

[blessedwithboys]

Thank to you both. sunnysandiegan, I appreciated your reply, I just just ragging on myself for my pathetic lack of spatial/mathmatic skills. Thanks again, I'm off to order the fabric!