In estimating the amount of material necessary for a skirt, one must first decide on the width of the bottom of the skirt.

Fig. 64. - Method of shortening a shirt-waist pattern. To shorten the pattern a fold may be taken about 2 inches above the waist-line. To shorten the sleeve a fold may be taken about 2 inches above or below the line of the elbow depending on the proportion of the arm.

In plain material, as many full lengths of the material will be required as the number of times the measure of the width of the cloth is contained in the measure of the width of the bottom of the skirt. This is a very generous allowance, because often in placing gores, especially on plain material with no up or down, they may be fitted in so that much less material need be used. It is often helpful in estimating the amount of material needed, to place the pattern on a table in the position for cutting material of a definite width.

For A Waist

In general, once the length of the front, measured from the point of the shoulder nearest the base of the neck, to the waistline, and once the length of the back from the same point on the shoulder to the waist-line, plus once or twice the outside length of the sleeve, will give an idea of the amount of material required.