Buying guide

How Much Fabric Do I Need?

The short answer: about 1 yard for a dining chair seat, 6 to 8 yards for an armchair and 14 to 18 yards for a three-seat sofa, using standard 54-inch-wide upholstery fabric with no large pattern. Below is a chart for the most common pieces, a calculator that adjusts for your fabric, and what changes the amount.

Upholstery fabric yardage chart

For 54-inch-wide plain fabric or a small pattern. Fabric is sold by the whole yard, so amounts are rounded up.

Every fabric page in our shop has this chart worked out for that fabric’s own width and pattern repeat, under How much do I need?

What changes how much you need

Fabric width

Almost all upholstery fabric is 54 inches wide, and the chart assumes it. A narrower fabric needs more length to cover the same furniture; a 48-inch fabric needs roughly an eighth more. Very wide fabrics (110 inches and up) are made for drapery and sheers, and are measured by the window instead.

Pattern repeat

The repeat is the distance before a pattern starts over. To keep the pattern centred on every cushion and lined up across seams, some fabric between repeats is cut away. Allow about 10% extra for a 6 to 12 inch repeat and 20% extra for 13 inches or more. Plain fabrics, textures and small patterns need no extra. The vertical repeat is listed in the specifications on each fabric page.

Railroaded or up the roll

On a railroaded fabric the pattern runs across the roll, so a long piece such as a sofa back or a bench cushion can be cut in one length without a seam, often using a little less fabric. On fabric that runs up the roll, the usual direction, pieces wider than 54 inches need a seam, which can add fabric. Each fabric page shows which way it runs.

Style details

Skirts, welting (piping), tufting, extra loose cushions and channelled backs all use more fabric. A tight-back sofa with an attached seat uses less than one with loose back and seat cushions. If your piece has these, plan toward the top of the range.

Cushions and seats

A standard box cushion up to about 24 by 24 inches takes roughly 1 yard of 54-inch fabric, a little more if it is deep or the pattern has to match. Two dining chair seats can often be cut from one yard of plain fabric. For a bench cushion, measure the top, the bottom and the sides (the boxing), add about an inch all round for seams, and lay the pieces out on a strip 54 inches wide to see how many yards they fill.

Curtains and drapery

Curtains are worked out from the window rather than a chart:

1. Multiply the width of the rod by 2 to 2.5 for fullness.
2. Divide by the fabric width and round up: that is how many widths (drops) you need.
3. Add about 16 inches to the finished length for the header and hem: that is the cut length of each drop.
4. Multiply the number of drops by the cut length and divide by 36 to get yards. Add one pattern repeat per drop for a patterned fabric.

For example, a 60-inch rod at 2× fullness needs 120 inches of fabric: three widths of 54-inch fabric. At an 84-inch finished length, each drop is cut at 100 inches, so 3 × 100 ÷ 36 = 8.3, or 9 yards. Browse our drapery fabrics.

Before you order

• Order a free sample first. Check the colour and texture in your own light; screens show both differently. Browse sample books.
• Order the whole amount at once. Fabric from a later order can come from a different dye lot and not match exactly.
• Ask your upholsterer. They will confirm the exact yardage for your piece and style; this guide gets you close.
• Pick the right durability. For family sofas and dining chairs, look for 30,000 double rubs or more; our heavy-duty fabrics exceed 100,000.

Common questions