Mehria is making dresses for Aasiyah's dance team. She started with \( 12 \frac{1}{4} \) yards of fabric needs to make 3 dresses. If each dress uses \( 3 \frac{1}{8} \) yards of fabric, how much fabric will Mel have left?

To find out how much fabric Mehria has left after making the dresses, we first need to calculate the total fabric used for the three dresses. Each dress uses \( 3 \frac{1}{8} \) yards, so for three dresses, we multiply: \[ 3 \times 3 \frac{1}{8} = 3 \times \left(3 + \frac{1}{8}\right) = 3 \times 3 + 3 \times \frac{1}{8} = 9 + \frac{3}{8} = 9 \frac{3}{8} \text{ yards} \] Now, we need to subtract the total fabric used from the initial amount of fabric: \[ 12 \frac{1}{4} - 9 \frac{3}{8} \] First, let's convert \( 12 \frac{1}{4} \) into an improper fraction: \[ 12 \frac{1}{4} = 12 + \frac{1}{4} = \frac{48}{4} + \frac{1}{4} = \frac{49}{4} \] Next, we convert \( 9 \frac{3}{8} \): \[ 9 \frac{3}{8} = 9 + \frac{3}{8} = \frac{72}{8} + \frac{3}{8} = \frac{75}{8} \] Now we need to find a common denominator to perform the subtraction. The least common denominator for 4 and 8 is 8. We rewrite \( \frac{49}{4} \): \[ \frac{49}{4} = \frac{49 \times 2}{4 \times 2} = \frac{98}{8} \] Now we can subtract: \[ \frac{98}{8} - \frac{75}{8} = \frac{98 - 75}{8} = \frac{23}{8} \] Finally, \( \frac{23}{8} \) can be converted back to a mixed number: \[ \frac{23}{8} = 2 \frac{7}{8} \] So, Mehria will have \( 2 \frac{7}{8} \) yards of fabric left after making the three dresses.