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Calculating Fabric Needed

What is a Layout?​

A layout is a picture of your fabric. You place your pattern pieces on it the way you would on a real piece of fabric, and PMP shows you how much fabric you need. You can plan your cutting before you touch any real material.

What You Can Do​

  • Set up your fabric. Enter the fabric width and choose a background to show the right side, the wrong side or interfacing.
  • Arrange the pieces. Hover over a pattern piece to highlight it, then click and drag it into place.
  • Change a piece after placing it:
    • Add a label to the piece.
    • Rotate it in 45-degree steps.
    • Flip it left to right. A flipped piece gets the "Wrong Side" background so you can tell it is flipped.
    • Remove it from this layout. The pattern itself is not deleted.
  • See the fabric length. The layout grows or shrinks as you place pieces, so you always see how much fabric you are using.
  • Fold the fabric. Add a fold on the left or right side to plan pieces that are cut on the fold. Drag the fold line and the fabric resizes.
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Everything in a layout is shown at one quarter of its real size. This lets more pieces fit on the screen.

Steps for Making a Layout​

  1. Create your patterns for layout. The pieces you place must first be created from a pattern draft.
  2. Add a layout. Give it a name, the fabric width and the background.
  3. Add patterns to the layout. Place the pattern pieces you prepared on the layout.
  4. Arrange the patterns. Move, rotate, flip and label them.
  5. Edit the layout if needed. You can change its name, background or width, and add or remove folds.
  6. Output the layout. Save a PNG image of the finished layout. It works well in a pattern packet, or as your own reference.