🧵Fabric Yardage Calculator

About this tool

List each piece you'll cut with its width, length and quantity, including seam allowances. Then choose the fabric width (44/45", 54", 60" or 108" wide backing, or metric equivalents), any pattern repeat and an allowance for shrinkage. The tool lays the pieces out in rows across the width and tells you how much to buy, rounded up to the nearest ⅛ yard or 10 cm.

Calculating fabric for a sewing project

Fabric is sold by length off a roll of fixed width, so the question is how much length your pieces use once they're laid side by side across that width. For each piece, the tool fits as many as possible across the fabric, stacks the rows down the length, and adds every piece type together. Four cushion covers need eight 19" squares. On 54" home-décor fabric, two fit across, so the eight squares take four rows of 19", which is 76". Adding 10% for pre-wash shrinkage and straightening the grain gives 83.6", or 2⅜ yards. Turning pieces sideways can sometimes fit more across. Leave that option off for fabrics with a nap or pile (velvet, corduroy, faux fur), one-way prints and stripes that must run one way. For patterned fabric, each row is rounded up to whole pattern repeats so motifs line up. Common widths are 44/45" quilting cotton, 54" upholstery and home décor, 58–60" apparel knits and fleece, and 108" wide-back for quilt backings. Honest limits: this is a simple row layout, not a professional marker. Curved pattern pieces nest better than rectangles, while matching plaids across seams, cutting bias strips or fussy-cutting motifs need extra. Pre-wash natural fibres before cutting. The curtain size calculator and the unit converter are related.

Frequently asked questions