Firstly, you've to know what you going to make or about the measurement?

All measurement has it LENGTH & WIDTH. Equations as bellow# Body Length + Sleeve Length + 10 (for folding {sleeve & bottom}) * (Chest width + 4 C.M.) * 2 / 10,000 * G.S.M. (Gram per square meter) Range / 1000 * 12 * 10% (wastages) = K.G. per Dozen Firstly, you've to know what you going to make or about the measurement? All measurement has it LENGTH & WIDTH. Equations as bellow# Body Length + Sleeve Length + 10 (for folding {sleeve & bottom}) * (Chest width + 4 C.M.) * 2 / 10,000 * G.S.M. (Gram per square meter) Range / 1000 * 12 * 10% (wastages) = K.G. per Dozen The standard measurement for weight and quality of fabrics is grams per square meter, usually abbreviated as GSM. This is the accepted standard in the United States as well as in foreign countries. Towels and bath robes typically vary from 300 to 800 GSM; other fabrics may have values as low as 100 GSM. The same units are used for toilet paper and other tissues (18 to 22 GSM is typical) as well as paper towels (35 to 50 GSM is typical). Occasionally I receive requests to convert these units to U.S. pounds (usually from U.S. visitors who are not comfortable with metric units). The reason grams per square meter are used even in the U.S. is that they are a more accurate indicator of quality than pounds. Let's compare, for example, two towels both weighing 1.5 pounds (680 grams) but with different dimensions, as follows: Towel A weighs 1.5 pounds (680 grams) and measures 26 by 52 inches (.66 by 1.32 meters). Calculate the surface area by multiplying the length and width in meters: .66 times 1.32 equals .8712 square meter. Divide the weight in grams (680) by .8712 and find that you have a 780 GSM towel-quite plush.

Towel B also weighs 1.5 pounds (680 grams) but is larger, measuring 34 by 68 inches (.864 by 1.727 meters). Multiply .864 by 1.727 to determine the area: 1.4921 square meters. Divide 680 grams by 1.4921 and find that this towel is only 455 GSM-nice but not nearly as plush as Towel A. As you can see from these examples, there is no direct conversion between GSM and pounds; the total weight of the towel is actually the product of the GSM and the towel's dimensions. NOTE: The surface area of a bath robe would be harder to figure because of the various pieces and angles, so the GSM would be equally difficult to figure this way.

Fabric Weight and Conversions

Posted by on Mar 17, 2008 at 10:54 am / Textiles and Inputs, Tutorial / Trackback Today we have a guest entry from Jennifer Ennis. Jennifer is a DE from Winnipeg Canada. She has worked in the garment industry for both an importer and domestic producer. Her educational background is diverse mix of textile science, design and economics (sustainable development) which includes, in her opinion, far too much time in front of a HunterLab colorimeter. Thanks Jenn! Lets talk about fabric weight. If youve been confused with converting weights of fabrics, most often described as grams per square meter or ounces per square yard, this should help you. Technically, both of these refer to fabric mass. I make this distinction only because if you try and look up test methods to determine weight (fabric mass) youll not find it. But okay, I am calling it weight. Previously when I worked for a garment manufacturer, I was often working on fabric testing mostly because I paid attention in textile science class. It came in handy to save few rear ends during my time there so it is useful stuff to know (Id also like mention that I paid attention in design and economics too). I tested fabrics from Asia, the United States and Europe (Italy specifically) and I have run across many ways weight was described. I would hesitate to suggest that fabrics were deliberately mislabeled to mislead people but based on what Ive seen, I cant say they werent either. For example, one mill told us the fabric was 14 oz and everyone assume it was per square yard when in fact it was per liner yard and ended up only weighing 12 oz/yd2. So it is important to understand what unit is being measured and always, if in doubt, clarify and verify.

In my experience, the two most common descriptions of weight were: 1. GSM aka g/m2 = grams per square meter 2. oz/yd2 = ounces per yard squared I have also run across g/m or gram per linear meter oz/yd or ounces per linear yard, g/yd2 or gram per yard squared * oz/m2 or oz per meter squared * * why in heavens name you would mix the two systems (imperial and metric) is beyond me but people do. Gsm is the standard and I am not just saying this because I one of those weird people trained in new math and metric. Here are three reasons: 1. Metric is ISO standard units and used in ASTM D3776-07 Standard Test Methods for Mass Per Unit Area of fabric (that is the test method you be asking a material testing lab to run) 2. Equipment is inexpensive and commonly available for use in measuring these units, even in office situations. 3. It is internationally understood (USA is one of the only countries not using metric system) Conversion formulas: There is an easy way to convert gsm to oz/yd2. Divide the gsm by 33.906 really that is all. To determine gsm from oz/yd2 you do the reverse multiple by 33.906. If it helps, this is what the formulas are based upon:

1 oz = 28.3495231 grams 1 yard = 0.9144 meters 1 yard squared = (.9144 m x .9144 m) =.83612736 meters squared

Therefore 1. 1 oz/yd2 = 28.3495231g/.83612736 m2 = 33.90574744 g/m2 2. Rounded up to three decimal places it is 33.906 If you dont like doing the math I dislike doing calculations repeatedly you may prefer to use tables to look things up. I know I do. To make it easier for you, Ive attached a table I made (pdf 16kb) that shows conversion for the most common weights of 50 gsm to 689 gsm to oz/yd2. I recommend sticking it in a plastic protector sheet, storing it in a binder or attached to a cork board and you are all set. If there is sufficient interest or questions, I can write another part to cover other conversions and perhaps another section on how to do internal approval testing and limitati ons. Im thinking a good post would be about converting GSM to oz/linear yard in order to calculate for dye houses i.e. how many yards to make up x number pounds of fabric.