A knitted or crocheted dress uses 1,800–3,000 m of worsted — the skirt panel alone often exceeds the entire yardage of a sweater.
A dress is essentially a sweater bodice plus a skirt, and skirt geometry makes estimation harder. A fitted A-line skirt starts narrow at the waist and fans out; each added centimetre of length means a wider circumference of fabric, so the skirt grows non-linearly in yardage. An empire-waist dress with a full gathered skirt can use 2–3× the yarn of the fitted bodice. Drop-waist dresses are more forgiving: the skirt hangs straight from the hip, using far less fabric than a flared A-line. Crochet dresses, worked in shell stitch or granny motifs, often use 15–20% less yarn than single-crochet versions of the same design because of the open texture.
Calculated with 8 yarn weights, size M, 15% reserve. Pattern: Knitting → Stockinette · Crochet → Double crochet.
| Yarn weight | Meters per 100 g | Balls needed | Total meters | Approx grams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lace | 600–1200+ m / 100g | 3 | 1794 m | ~224 g |
| Fingering | 350–550 m / 100g | 5 | 2025 m | ~471 g |
| Sport | 250–350 m / 100g | 7 | 1816 m | ~605 g |
| DK | 200–300 m / 100g | 8 | 1906 m | ~762 g |
| Worsted / Aran | 150–220 m / 100g | 9 | 1618 m | ~875 g |
| Bulky | 80–140 m / 100g | 12 | 1283 m | ~1166 g |
| Super Bulky | 40–80 m / 100g | 15 | 888 m | ~1480 g |
| Jumbo | < 40 m / 100g | 18 | 538 m | ~1794 g |
| Yarn weight | Meters per 100 g | Balls needed | Total meters | Approx grams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lace | 600–1200+ m / 100g | 3 | 2153 m | ~269 g |
| Fingering | 350–550 m / 100g | 6 | 2430 m | ~565 g |
| Sport | 250–350 m / 100g | 8 | 2180 m | ~727 g |
| DK | 200–300 m / 100g | 10 | 2287 m | ~915 g |
| Worsted / Aran | 150–220 m / 100g | 11 | 1942 m | ~1049 g |
| Bulky | 80–140 m / 100g | 14 | 1539 m | ~1399 g |
| Super Bulky | 40–80 m / 100g | 18 | 1066 m | ~1776 g |
| Jumbo | < 40 m / 100g | 22 | 646 m | ~2153 g |
The yardage multiplier (×) shows how much more yarn each stitch uses relative to stockinette / double crochet baseline. Sorted by yarn efficiency.
Open mesh saves yarn
Baseline—minimum yardage
Bulkier, +20%
Crossings eat +35%
Two-yarn floats
Minimum draw
Open motifs
Pieced motifs
Airier, lighter
Between sc and dc
Tightest fabric
Fabric area scales from XS to 2XL. Use this to understand why larger sizes need significantly more yarn.
| Size | Area multiplier | Fabric area (m²) |
|---|---|---|
| XS | ×0.78(-22%) | 1.52 m² |
| S | ×0.88(-12%) | 1.72 m² |
| M | ×1.00(baseline) | 1.95 m² |
| L | ×1.14(+14%) | 2.22 m² |
| XL | ×1.28(+28%) | 2.50 m² |
| 2XL | ×1.42(+42%) | 2.77 m² |
They're empirical multipliers measured against stockinette (1.0). Cables and stranded colourwork eat more yarn because of the extra bulk; lace and filet use less. The numbers are averages — if your tension is unusual, drop in a real swatch in advanced mode and we'll override them.
Simple mode falls back to typical gauges for the yarn weight you picked. For wearables we still recommend a 10×10 cm swatch — once you have one, switch to advanced mode and the maths gets sharper.
The base calc is area-based. Tricky shapes (raglan, A-line, hooded) are absorbed by the 10–20% buffer; for full-body cabled sweaters or steeked cardigans we suggest pushing it to 25%.
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