Skip to content
HobbyHQ
Search

Upholstery

Upholstery fabric estimator

Takes the trade rule of thumb for a shape and applies the three things it assumes away: narrower cloth, a repeat to match, and a fabric that can only be laid one way.

The question this answers: “How much fabric do I need for this chair, and how much more does the pattern repeat cost me?”

Check the bolt. Trade figures assume 137cm.

Zero for a plain cloth. Every panel has to align.

Result

Buy this much fabric
2.5 m
Small bedroom chair at 137cm wide. Rounded up — running short cannot be fixed, because the next bolt is a different dye lot.
Fabric cost
£87.5
At £35 per metre.
Foam, approximately
0.3 m²
At whatever thickness the piece had. Density is a judgement about who sits in it and this tool does not make it.

Worth knowing about this answer

  • These are trade rules of thumb for a named shape, not a measurement of your piece. Measure the largest panel in each direction and count the panels before buying anything expensive.
Show the working
  1. Trade figure for the piece2.5 m × 12.5 m
  2. Adjusted for cloth width2.5 × (137 ÷ 137)2.5 m
  3. Pattern repeat allowancePlain cloth — no allowance0 m
  4. Directional allowanceNot directional0 m
  5. Rounded up to the next 10cm2.5 m2.5 m

Buy this much fabric: 2.5 m. Fabric cost: £87.5. Foam, approximately: 0.3 m²

How it works

The conventional trade figure for the shape, scaled by how much narrower your cloth is than the 137cm those figures assume, plus one repeat per major panel where there is a repeat, plus 15% where the fabric can only be laid one way. Rounded up to the next 10cm.

What it assumes

  • The per-shape figures are trade rules of thumb rather than measurements of your chair, and they are the generous end of the usual range — running short cannot be fixed, because the next bolt is a different dye lot.
  • Four major panels is the conventional repeat allowance and it scales with the number of pieces rather than with their size.
  • Rounding is always upward, for the same dye-lot reason.

Where it stops being reliable

  • It does not estimate the understructure — webbing, springs, hessian, twine and stuffing all depend on the frame rather than on the shape, and a plausible figure would be guessed rather than derived.
  • The foam figure is an area at whatever thickness the piece already had. It says nothing about density, which is a judgement about who sits in it.
  • A large repeat on a piece with a seat and a separate cushion wastes considerably more than the four-panel allowance. The tool warns when the repeat is large rather than pretending to model it.

Runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere. Last reviewed 2026-08-14. More on Upholstery.