How Much Fabric Will I Need for Sofa Upholstery?
- Go online to find upholstery charts. How much fabric you use depends on the style of sofa you have. If there are no arms, no skirt, no separate cushions and no matching pillows, you will need much less fabric. Print out several upholstery charts you find; they are likely to have slightly different pictures. Then find the sofa style closest to yours.
Measure your sofa's length, height at the highest spot, and its depth. Compare these measurements to the sofa that looks the most like yours. You're getting closer, but you aren't there yet! - Unless your chosen fabric has no design, you will have to take into consideration the extra amount required to match the pattern. If the fabric is an overall print that has no direction, and is smaller in scale, you won't have to match anything. Whew! But if has a bigger motif, stripes or plaid, then you have to figure in more fabric.
Every pattern has a "repeat;" that is, it is a measurement of the space where the pattern starts and then is repeated again--this is best determined along the selvedge (edge) of the fabric. Calculate roughly how many times the pattern would be repeated on the cushions, for example. Then add the repeat measurement.
Start with the cushions, then figure out the inside back, the outside back and then the sides (arms), both inner and outer. If you calculate it carefully, you can save a lot by using the odd pieces left over for the sides of cushions, and maybe even the insides of arms or pillows. The larger the pattern, the more fabric you will need. Note though, that if the pattern repeat is 3 inches or less, additional fabric is not usually required. - Patterns should match in the following way: Stripes should be lined up all the way from the back, down the cushions and onto the skirt. They should also match where the front meets the back, starting at the center and moving out. The stripes should go sideways on the arms, perpendicular to the main body stripes and match wherever the inside meets the outside.
Plaid is even trickier because it needs to match both horizontally and vertically. Large motifs need to be centered on each cushion first--or the seat and, matching the cushions, to the back. Next, match the arms, then the skirt, and finally the back (matching the front, following the same direction as the front, unless the design can only go in one direction). - If there are separate seat cushions, you can save money on the expensive upholstery fabric by using a cheaper---though sturdy (muslin or denim)---fabric on the "deck," the part of the sofa under the seat cushion, but not visible with the cushion in place.
Tip: To figure yardage for the alternate fabric, measure the widest part--usually across the front--and add 4 inches (2 inches for tacking each side). The fabric should be wide enough so that it doesn't need to be pieced. The amount of the alternate fabric needs to be deducted from the suggested amount for the whole sofa.
