Fabric Calculator
A fabric yardage calculator: work out how much fabric to buy from the size of the pieces you are cutting, how many of them you need, and how wide the fabric is. Fabric is sold by the yard off a bolt of a fixed width, so the width decides how many pieces fit side by side, and that decides how much length you have to buy.
Start from a common job
How much fabric do I need?
Measure the finished piece and add your seam allowance to each side before you start. Then the arithmetic is: how many pieces fit across the usable width, how many rows of pieces that leaves you, and how long those rows are end to end.
Upholstery fabric calculator: six chair seats
Six dining chair seats, each 20 by 20 inches, cut from 54 inch upholstery fabric:
- 54 inch fabric gives 52 usable inches, which fits 2 pieces of 20 inches side by side.
- 6 pieces needs 3 rows of 20 inches, so 60 inches off the bolt.
- 60 inches is 1.67 yards, rounded up to the next quarter yard.
So you buy 1.75 yards.
What the fabric calculator does not account for
- A pattern repeat. If the fabric has a print that has to line up, add one repeat length per row, and ask the shop what the repeat is before you buy.
- Directional fabric, like a nap or a one-way print, which stops you from rotating pieces to fit more across the width.
- Shrinkage, if you are going to prewash. Most shops suggest buying a little over.