---
title: "Cushion Fabric Calculator: Yards & Meters, Piping Included"
url: "https://cushionguide.com/studio/fabric-yardage-calculator/"
---

*List your cushions, pick the roll width, stripe direction and repeat: see every panel laid on the fabric and how many yards (or meters) to buy, piping included.*

The Studio · Calculator

# Cushion fabric yardage calculator

Before the color, the quantity. List your cushions, tell me the width of the roll and how the stripe should fall, and I will lay every panel on the fabric for you — piping strips included.

Worked out by [Élodie](https://cushionguide.com/masters/elodie/)

The Colorist of New Orleans · April 8, 2026 · Updated May 2, 2026

## The quick answer

A boxed cushion needs two panels (length and depth plus seam allowance), a boxing strip as long as the perimeter and as wide as the thickness plus seam allowance, and — with piping — strips about twice the perimeter long. Stripes, pattern repeats and narrow rolls add more. The calculator lays every piece on your roll and gives the yards and meters to buy.

## The fabric yardage calculator

Every field is live. Change a number and the drawing redraws; copy the link and it opens with your numbers.

Load an example — the ones marked are past projects

Drawing…

Your roll, folded into rows so it fits the screen. Pieces are drawn to scale; ticks mark every half yard (or half meter).

## Buyer questions

## About 4⅜ yards (4 m) for one long bench

A buyer planned a long tufted bench cushion — 21 by 109 inches, 4 inches deep — and asked how much fabric it would take. The workshop's answer was plain: about 4⅜ yards (4 m) would be enough.

Load that cushion above and watch the roll. The top and bottom panels lie side by side, turned so the length runs down the fabric; the boxing strip slips into the ribbon of cloth beside them, and the piping is cut in strips across the width. It comes to about 4 yards (3.6 m) of cutting, and 4⅜ yards leaves a sensible spare.The round number was honest, my friends: it leaves room for squaring the cut end and for the one strip that always goes crooked.

**The lesson:** a cushion's quantity lives in its longest panel. Turn a plain fabric so the length runs down the roll, and a bench takes one length of cloth instead of two.

## How to use it

Let the stripe choose its direction before you choose the quantity. The eye sits down first.

Green-and-cream stripes on a foot-of-bed bench, picking up the sage in a faded vintage rug.

## Questions people ask

### How much fabric do I need for a bench cushion?

For a boxed bench cushion: two panels of (length + 1¼ in) × (depth + 1¼ in), a boxing strip the perimeter long and the thickness + 1¼ in wide, and piping strips about twice the perimeter. A 47 × 18 × 3 in cushion in plain 55 in fabric with self piping and a zipper panel cuts from about 1⅝ yd — buy 1¾ yd.

### What does railroaded fabric mean?

The pattern runs along the length of the roll, so you can cut a long bench panel down the roll instead of across it — no seam in the middle of the seat, and stripes that run along the bench.

### How much extra fabric does a pattern repeat need?

Each panel is rounded up to whole repeats so the motif can be centered, plus one repeat to place the first motif. On small cushions a large repeat can add a surprising amount — the calculator shows exactly how much.

### How much fabric do I need for piping?

About twice the perimeter for a boxed cushion (top and bottom edges), once for a knife-edge cushion, cut in strips about 1½ in (4 cm) wide. Cut on the bias if the piping must follow curves.

### What seam allowance should I use for cushion covers?

⅝ in (1.5 cm) is the usual upholstery allowance; ⅜ in (1 cm) works for fine, stable fabrics.

Élodie Marchand

The Colorist of New Orleans, Louisiana

Grew up above her grandmother's fabric shop on Magazine Street, sorting thread spools by color before she could read.

With color and care — Élodie

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