Are you a person that loves to look for discounts or coupons? If you currently sew or are thinking about starting you may be hesitant because fabric can be expensive. When I talk to most people about my sewing hobby, I usually get a similar response. "I'd love to sew but I can buy it cheaper already made at XYZ store." You can fill in the blank for any big box location and that will be mostly true. If you truly love something you will find a way. Most of my sewing projects involve using remnants. These are small end pieces or precuts that are too short to go back on a bolt. They are usually rolled up and put in a separate section of the store with some kind of discounted price.
Warning! They are Addictive.......
Warning! They are Addictive.......
As you can see from the picture, this remnant is 44 inches wide and regularly sells for $6.99 a yard. The quantity of this piece is 5/8 of a yard.
Now look at the new price. It is $2.62. You might ask, but is that really on sale or if it is cheaper, exactly how much? The fractions make it hard to work out because of the conversion from inches to yards and price per yard. I can help you figure that out with a new Excel spreadsheet you can download below. I was curious because I buy my fabric when seasons change, holidays are over and also when I find great remnants that I know from my sewing habits I will eventually use. I just store them in my studio until inspiration hits. I keep them in fabric baskets divided by fabric type and color. This way they are always neat and accessible. In my mind I knew I was getting a better deal but to see it in black and white really makes me feel better about purchasing something I don't need but want.
Here is a screenshot of the spreadsheet. It is free to download and use. I'll go through how you fill it out but it also has comments in the cells so it is pretty easy.
Let's see how much cheaper this remnant actually was when I purchased it.
Enter the normal full price first
Enter the discounted price
If the remnant has the yardage written as a fraction, enter the top number here
Enter the bottom here.
The worksheet will calculate the inches for you and round it up just a bit.
Take that number and use the pick list to choose the inch number. Some remnants may just have those inches written on them so you won't need to convert from a fraction first.
Once you hit enter, it will show you how much you are saving with the quantity you are buying to include the percentage.
I saved $1.85 or 41% on that remnant!
Some have even better savings like this sateen. I saved 64%.
This piece was a full yard of fabric that was in the remnant section so a great find! If you want to figure that, just enter a 1 in both places on the yardage calculator since it was a full 36 inches. I saved 64% on this piece also. This spreadsheet is a lot of fun to play with and if you have an Office Excel App on your cell phone, you could download and do some calculations while in the store. I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you have learned and are generous with what you make. Someone will appreciate your hard work! Happy Sewing Savings!
| remnant_discount_worksheet.xlsx |