Last updated: Jul 28, 2024

Fabric Calculator

Q: How many yards are there in a bolt of fabric?

A bolt of fabric may range from 30 to 100 yards. A bolt is not a typical unit of measurement. While we talk about a bolt of fabric as though it has some specified dimensions, it varies. The bolt size is more dependent on the thickness of the material than the length.

Q: How big is a yard of fabric?

A yard of fabric is 36 inches or 3 feet. Once you know the amount of material you have in inches, you should divide that by 36 to find the number of yards.

Created by Adena Benn

Adena Benn

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Adena Benn is an Information Technology teacher with a degree in Computer Science. She has been teaching high schoolers since 1996 and loves everything computers. She loves problem-solving, so creating calculators to solve real-world problems is her idea of fun. She writes children's stories, is a seamstress, and is an avid reader. In her spare time, she travels and enjoys nature. See full profile

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Reviewed by Rijk de Wet

Rijk de Wet

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Holds a Master's degree in Data Science / Industrial Engineering, obtained at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. His research investigates using swarm intelligence to solve data clustering and other optimization problems. Will never refuse an offer to play some board games. See full profile

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Table of contents

How our fabric yardage calculator works Our yards of fabric calculator's formulas FAQs

Are you looking for that perfect fabric calculator to help calculate the yards of fabric needed for your projects? Good news — your search is over! Our fabric yardage calculator will help you figure out the smallest amount of material you need to buy for your project. It will help you avoid wastage and prevent you from buying too little since popular materials can sell out quickly.

Keep reading to learn:

How our fabric amount calculator works;
The formulas used by our fabric yardage calculator;
How many yards are there in a bolt of fabric; and
How big a yard of fabric is.

How our fabric yardage calculator works

Our fabric calculator allows you to enter the width of the fabric you are working with, the length, width, and the number of pieces you need for your project, and in return it:

Gives you the smallest amount of fabric you can buy for your project; and
The number of pieces you should cater for across and lengthwise.

This type of calculator is best used for home improvement projects that use geometric shapes rather than clothes. You may consider using it as a table cloth or quilt fabric calculator where you wish to produce multiple pieces of these items using a standard measurement.

If you are interested in these types of projects, our tablecloth size calculator, curtain panel calculator, and quilt calculator may interest you too.

Our yards of fabric calculator's formulas

In calculating the total yards of fabric, you will need for your project, our yards of fabric calculator takes the width of the material you enter and divide it by the width of the fabric you wish to cut. This gives us the number of pieces you will have across.

\text{pieces across} = \text{fabric width}/\text{width to cut}

Next, we round down because there can be leftover fabric when we calculate the total number of pieces across, and we do not wish to use any halves or quarter pieces.

To figure out the number of rows down, we divide the total number of pieces you wish to cut by the number of pieces across.

\text{rows down} = \text{pieces to cut}/\text{pieces across}

Lastly, we calculate the yards of material needed by multiplying the length of the piece you wish to cut by the number of rows down.

\text{material needed} = \text{length to cut} \times \text{rows down}

FAQs

How do I calculate the amount of fabric needed for 120 napkins?

To calculate the amount of fabric you will need for 120 napkins, complete the following steps:

Divide the width of the fabric you are using by the width of the napkins;
Round down to the nearest integer number;
Divide 120 by your answer from step 2; and
Multiply the answer you got in step 3 by the length of the fabric for each napkin.

The answer you got in step 4 is the smallest amount of fabric you can buy for your project.

How many yards are there in a bolt of fabric?

A bolt of fabric may range from 30 to 100 yards.

A bolt is not a typical unit of measurement. While we talk about a bolt of fabric as though it has some specified dimensions, it varies. The bolt size is more dependent on the thickness of the material than the length.

How many square feet are in a yard of fabric?

A piece of fabric that is 60 inches (5 feet) wide and 1 yard (3 feet) long will have 15 square feet.

However, the width of fabric varies, so not all materials will have 15 square feet in a yard.

How big is a yard of fabric?

A yard of fabric is 36 inches or 3 feet.

Once you know the amount of material you have in inches, you should divide that by 36 to find the number of yards.

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