Preparing for a Fabric Trip

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One of the pure joys of decorating our homes comes from finding beautiful fabric. We have both added textiles into our homes within the past year (Mae, dining room chairs, sofa & pillows; Elise, wingback & desk chairs, curtains and pillows). There are undoubtedly so many different resources for fabric shopping as there are different manufacturers of fabric.

One of the places we like to frequent is a fabric warehouse nearby. After our first, spur-of-the-moment trip, we determined it was best to come prepared with the exact amount of fabric needed for a certain project before falling in love with a fabric that can’t be used exactly as planned.

We have been given a sheet similar to the one below that gives the exact amounts needed to safely cover you when buying fabrics for different pieces of furniture and window treatments, etc. Print this out, keep it in your home decor folder (you do have one of those... don’t you?) and be sure to bring it with you the next time you go to buy fabric! It would also serve you well to bring the measurements of the items you may be covering or creating with your new fabric.

There are many online resources to help you in estimating your fabric needs such as this upholstery yardage estimator from J&O Fabrics. Once there, you can also find yardage guidelines for drapery, garments, bedding and more.

It is also very important to take into consideration the type of fabric you might purchase. There are different textiles: cotton, silk, synthetics, wool, linen, etc. There is also the pattern to take into consideration. If it is repeating, you will need to buy more fabric to ensure the pattern matches up and looks appropriate and pleasing.

We are all set to take another field trip to the fabric store soon and who knows what we will bring home this time!