Made-Ups and Home Furnishing Products
This domain tests product categories, standard construction and fabric estimation for home textiles.
Product groups
Bed linen includes bed sheets, pillow covers and duvet covers. Table linen includes tablecloths, napkins and runners. Bath products include towels and bathrobes. Kitchen products include aprons and oven mitts. Furnishing products include curtains, cushions and upholstery. Construction features include hems, mitre corners, rod pockets, lining, zip or flap closures and piping.
Sizes and estimation
Work from the finished size. Add seam allowance on every edge, add hem allowance, and add shrinkage and pattern repeat. For a pair, multiply before adding wastage. Directional prints and nap require extra fabric.
Worked example
A 40 cm by 40 cm two-panel cushion cover has 1 cm seam allowance on every edge. Cut size = 40 + 2(1) = 42 cm per side. Area per panel = 0.42 x 0.42 = 0.1764 square metres; two panels = 0.3528 square metres. Add 5% shrinkage: 0.3528 x 1.05 = 0.3704 square metres. Reasoning: seam allowance is added to both sides of each dimension, and area is calculated in metres before wastage.
Traps
Do not use the mattress size as the cut sheet size. Do not forget both sides of a seam allowance. Do not ignore shrinkage or pattern repeat. Do not cut a directional print without matching. Do not confuse a mitre corner with a simple hem.