How many suits will this cloth make?
The cloth is already bought. Enter what you have and this works out how many complete garments come out of it, how much is left, and what the leftover is still good for.
Fill in the form and press Calculate.
| Item | Needs | Fits? |
|---|
Going the other way — a bulk order
—
Buying estimate, not a cutting plan. Assumes straight-cut garments, standard allowances, and cloth with no direction or print repeat to match. Confirm with your tailor before cutting into a whole thaan.
Why it is not just a division sum
The obvious method is to divide the cloth you have by the cloth one suit needs. That overstates the answer, for one reason: cloth is only ever consumed in whole rows.
If a kameez panel is 23" wide and your cloth is 44", only one panel fits across. The other 20" of that row is not saved for the next suit — it is waste in the same row. So the yield falls in steps, not smoothly, and two suits from a thaan can need more than twice one suit's figure once the rows stop lining up.
This tool lays the pieces out for each set in turn, which is why the answer is a whole number and a real remainder rather than a decimal.
Use the remainder before you buy more
Most leftover cloth is written off because nobody checks what it would still cover. The table in the result panel runs the layout again on just the remainder, for the pieces that most often fit:
| Item | Why it is worth checking |
|---|---|
| Another kameez | Roughly half a suit — the commonest thing a remainder covers |
| Another shalwar or trouser | Legs are shorter than a kameez, so this fits when a kameez will not |
| Kids suit | A 26" chest set is around a third of an adult one |
| Dupatta | Needs no cutting at all — full width, straight length |
Buying a thaan for a family or a wedding
The bulk box works the other way round: give it the number of sets and it lays them out one by one, so the figure already includes the row waste on each set rather than assuming a perfect division.
Two things to add on top before you order:
- A shrinkage allowance if the cloth is untreated and will be washed before stitching.
- A spare margin. The 5% option covers one cutting mistake in a medium order; on a large order for people whose measurements you do not have yet, 10% is safer.
If everyone is a different size, run the calculator once per size and add the results — an average size will not give you the right total, because the largest person sets the panel width and can push every one of their rows down to a single panel.
Questions people ask
How long is a thaan?
There is no single length — it depends on the mill and the cloth. Retail suit pieces are short, while a men's khaddar suit piece is commonly sold at 7 metres on 1 yard width. Measure or ask, then enter the real figure here.
Why did the answer drop when I made the kameez one inch longer?
Because a row is either there or it is not. One extra inch on the kameez adds an inch to every row it appears in, and if that tips the total past what you have, a whole set drops off. This is normal and it is the honest answer.
Can I mix sizes out of one thaan?
Yes, and it is usually more efficient than cutting all the large sizes first. Work out the largest size first, then check what the remainder covers using the leftover table.
Does the dupatta really need no cutting?
Not across the width — a dupatta is normally the full cloth width, so you only cut the length. That is why it is the easiest thing to get out of a remainder.