The Plaid Studio / Free tools / Fabric calculator
Fabric calculator
How much fabric to buy for a set of pieces — curtains, cushion covers, blinds, panels — counting how many fit across the width of the roll and the extra a pattern repeat costs to keep the pattern matched. In metres or yards.
How it is worked out
- Piece sizeEnter the cut size, with hems and seam allowances already added. For curtains, the width is the finished width times the fullness you want (usually 2 to 2.5 times the track).
- Across the widthAs many pieces as fit side by side across the fabric are cut from one length. A piece wider than the fabric is made from several widths ("drops") seamed together.
- Pattern repeatEvery cut is rounded up to a whole number of repeats so the pattern lines up across seams and between pieces, and one extra repeat is allowed to find the starting point. A half-drop match adds half a repeat to every other drop.
- BuyThe total, rounded up to the next 10 cm or eighth of a yard, the way shops cut.
The repeat is the height of one tile of the design — the number printed on the selvedge or the product page as "pattern repeat" or "vertical repeat". If you are designing the fabric yourself, the repeat is the tile size you export; the DPI calculator turns it into pixels.
Questions
How much fabric do I need for curtains?
Multiply the track width by the fullness (about 2 to 2.5), add side hems, and divide by the fabric width to get the number of drops. Each drop is the curtain length plus hems, rounded up to a whole pattern repeat. Multiply drops by cut length and add one repeat.
What does pattern repeat mean on fabric?
The distance after which the design starts again, usually the vertical repeat along the length. Every cut has to start at the same point of the repeat for the pattern to match across seams, which is why patterned fabric needs more than plain.
What is a half-drop match?
A layout where the design on one edge meets the other edge half a repeat lower. Matching it costs about half a repeat extra on every other drop.
How do I convert metres to yards?
One yard is 0.9144 m, so divide metres by 0.9144: 3 m is about 3.28 yards. The calculator shows both.