Calculate how much fabric you need for sewing projects. Covers garments, quilts, curtains, and upholstery with waste allowance.
Buying too little fabric means a trip back to the store (and the dye lot might not match). Buying too much wastes money. This fabric yardage calculator estimates exact requirements for garments, quilts, curtains, upholstery, and custom projects — accounting for fabric width, pattern repeat, shrinkage, and waste. It helps you translate a sewing plan into the amount of fabric you actually need to buy.
The calculation depends heavily on fabric width: 45-inch wide quilting cotton requires significantly more yardage than 60-inch wide apparel fabric for the same project. Pattern direction matters too — one-way prints, nap fabrics (velvet, corduroy), and large-repeat patterns require extra fabric for matching.
This calculator handles the math for common project types with built-in presets: dresses, shirts, pants, quilts (baby through king), curtains, cushion covers, and tablecloths. For custom projects, enter your piece dimensions and quantity, and the tool calculates optimal layout with waste percentages.
Fabric is often the biggest sewing expense. This calculator helps you avoid the two common failure modes: buying too little and stalling a project, or buying too much and wasting money.
It is useful because width, shrinkage, repeats, and waste all change the final yardage. Putting those inputs in one place makes fabric planning more reliable than estimating by feel.
Base yardage = (piece length × quantity) ÷ (pieces that fit across fabric width). Adjusted yardage = base × (1 + pattern repeat allowance) × (1 + shrinkage%) × (1 + waste%). For curtains: fabric = (finished length + hem + header) × fullness × panels ÷ fabric width.
Result: 3.75 yards of 45" fabric
A medium-length dress needs about 3.25 yards base at 45" width. Adding 3% shrinkage and 10% waste: 3.25 × 1.03 × 1.10 ≈ 3.68, rounded up to 3.75 yards.
The difference between 45" and 60" wide fabric can be 25-35% less yardage needed. For a dress requiring 3.5 yards at 45" width, you might need only 2.5 yards at 60" width. Always check the bolt width before calculating — it's the single biggest variable in the equation.
Fabric patterns repeat at regular intervals. A 6" repeat means the pattern motifs repeat every 6 inches vertically. When cutting multiple pieces, each piece must start at the same point in the repeat — this wastes the difference fabric. Larger repeats mean more waste. Grain lines (parallel to the selvage) must be straight or the garment will hang unevenly.
Dress (fitted, sleeveless): 2.5-3 yards. Dress (full skirt, sleeves): 3.5-5 yards. Pants: 2-3 yards. Blouse/top: 1.5-2.5 yards. Baby quilt: 1.25-1.5 yards. Twin quilt: 4-5 yards. Queen quilt: 8-9 yards. Standard curtain panel: 2-3 yards. These assume 45" wide fabric.
Quilting cotton is typically 44-45" wide. Apparel fabric comes in 45" or 60". Home décor fabric is usually 54". Upholstery fabric is 54-60". Knits are commonly 58-60". Always check the bolt before buying.
For a small repeat (under 6"), add 1/4 yard per yard. For large repeats (6-12"+), add one full repeat per cut length. For plaids and stripes, add 15-25% extra. One-way prints (directional) can increase yardage by 15-20%.
Yes, for garments. Cotton shrinks 3-5%, linen up to 10%, rayon up to 5%. Pre-wash in the same method you'll use for the finished item. For quilts, some quilters prefer not pre-washing for a crinkled look after washing the finished quilt.
Multiply the window width by your fullness factor (1.5× for flat, 2-2.5× for gathered, 3× for pinch pleat). Add 6-8" per panel for side hems, plus 6-12" for top/bottom hems and headers. Always round up.
Quilt backing should be 4-6" wider and longer than the quilt top on all sides. For quilts wider than fabric width, you'll need to piece the backing: 2 widths for queen, 3 for king. Add extra for piecing seam allowances.
10% is standard for simple projects. 15% is more comfortable for beginners or complex layouts. 20% is common for heavy pattern matching, plaids, or uncertain cutting plans. It is safer to round up than to discover you are short halfway through cutting.