I was reminded of an important step when cutting out your garment pieces and the more expensive your fabric is the more important the step.
Before you cut any piece out of your fabric, lay out the pattern pieces on your fabric according to the pattern’s plan to be sure they fit. You don’t have to pin anything, you’re just double checking you have the right amount of fabric.
I did and discovered with horror that I did not have the right amount of wool. I put down the sleeve piece followed by the front and front facing which laid side by side, then after that the back and side front pieces which also lay side by side. Well my wool was a half of yard too short. What?! I measured; 3 yards. I measured again; still 3 yards. I checked the yardage requirements on the pattern envelope; size 42, 55” wide fabric; 3.5 yards needed. Did I read it wrong at the store and tell the cutter 3 yards? Uh…. Panic…. Wait, no size on this envelope says 3 yards so I didn’t misread it.
I found the receipt (thank goodness) and I was charged for 3.5 yards. I once again measured the wool, just in case I was measuring the wrong way earlier and once again 3 yards. After getting mad and calming back down (it was a mistake and I’ve certainly made many of those) I concluded that I had indeed asked for 3.5 yards and was charged for 3.5 yards but because of a momentary distraction the fabric was cut at 3 yards.
In the end (the next day) Watcher’s Fine Fabrics took care of me. They gave me the last scrap of that wool, just big enough for my sleeve piece. Had I cut the sleeves out first (it was the first piece I had laid on the wool to cut, as per Burda’s layout) before checking that all the pieces would fit, I would have been in trouble since the coat body pieces were too long for the remnant. Whew, I was sweating that one out.
So here is the Lesson, Cliff Note style: Lay out all your pieces before cutting the fabric and if there is a problem, take your pattern pieces back to the store with you and check that they will be able to fit on the remaining fabric the store has left.
This is a very good lesson and I’m very thankful I didn’t have to learn it the hard way.