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Free workroom calculators

Find the right tool for the next step at your worktable. Start with drapery yardage, then take a clear cutting list into production.

Drapery

12 tools available

Roman shades

2 tools available

Cushions & pillows

6 tools available

Cutting & materials

3 tools available

Working out your first estimate?

Our guide walks through coverage, fullness, hems and straight-repeat rounding using one complete drapery pair.

Read the yardage guide

More tools will join the worktable.

Yardage, pleat layout, grommet spacing, straight-repeat planning and piece labels are available. Multi-window cutting plans and flat Roman shade fabric calculations are also available; each tool explains its construction limits.

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Choose by the decision you need to make

Use these free workroom calculators when you have a treatment specification and need to turn it into material quantities. Start with the drapery tool above if you are ordering face fabric, checking a lining estimate, or preparing individual cuts for a rectangular panel or equal pair. The output gives you the arithmetic behind the order, so you can compare it with your work order before buying cloth.

Choose a reading guide first if the measurements are still uncertain. A calculator cannot decide where a rod belongs, how far a treatment should extend beyond the opening, or which finished length suits the installation. Resolve those choices, record the intended finished coverage and drop, and then calculate. This keeps design decisions separate from allowances used during construction.

Have the work order and fabric details beside you

Gather total finished coverage, finished drop, panel arrangement and the fullness chosen for the heading. Record flat returns and overlap separately. Then check the usable fabric width and, for patterned cloth, the vertical repeat. The calculator uses the width available after unusable selvages are removed; a nominal product width may not be the width you can actually sew.

Write down the total cloth consumed by your top, bottom and side hems, together with the allowance at each joining edge. For double folds, count both turns. These are editable inputs because different workrooms finish panels differently. Keep your original measurements with the project so that a later change to a hem does not get mistaken for a new finished dimension.

Read the cuts as well as the purchase total

A purchase total answers how much length to order. The cut list answers how that length is used. Review the number of fabric widths assigned to each panel, the length of each cut and any joined width that remains for trimming. A panel and a cut are different things: one finished panel can contain several full-width pieces joined at their sides.

For a solid fabric, cut length starts with finished drop plus the entered length allowances. With straight-repeat matching, the tool rounds that length upward to complete repeats. Start allowance and purchase reserve are added separately. If an estimate looks unexpectedly high, inspect the widths and repeat adjustment before changing the final total. Each step points to a specific construction decision you can review.

Check lining and patterned fabric independently

Enable lining within the drapery calculator when the project needs a second material. Its fabric width, side treatment, seam allowance, top and bottom allowances, shortening and reserve have their own fields. A wider lining can produce a different cut count even when it serves the same pair of panels. Keep the two order quantities separate when preparing your supplier order.

The current pattern option supports straight vertical repeats on face fabric. It does not place a particular flower at the heading or align a horizontal motif across seams. Inspect the actual roll before choosing a pattern start allowance. Half-drop matches, railroaded layouts and patterned lining require a different plan; they are not covered by selecting a larger reserve in this tool.

Carry a reviewed plan to the worktable

Give the project a recognizable name, check the units and export a project file after reviewing the result. That file contains the inputs needed to open the job again. Save on this device keeps one project in the current browser, which is useful for returning to an unfinished estimate. It is not a folder of all your previous orders.

Use the CSV when you need a list of individual cuts in another document. Use the print command for a paper cutting list or your browser’s PDF option. Reserve is an order allowance, so it is not an extra manufactured piece in the cut list. Before replacing a local save or clearing browser data, keep an exported backup with the rest of the job records.

Compare two estimates on the same basis

If another worksheet produces a different number, compare the assumptions in order: finished coverage, panel count, fullness, flat edge zones, usable width, seams, hems and pattern treatment. Some methods share a partial fabric width between panels. This tool gives each panel enough whole widths, and shows the surplus to trim. Those methods can produce different orders without a unit conversion being wrong.

Next compare start allowance, reserve and purchasing increments. Rounding each material upward to a quarter yard is a different choice from rounding to a whole yard. Keep the full calculation until the final ordering step; repeatedly rounding intermediate dimensions makes differences harder to explain. Follow the linked worked example if you want one complete set of values to compare against your own worksheet.

See the numbers in our step-by-step drapery yardage example, or open the calculator with your own measurements.

Choosing and using a tool

Which calculator should I use to work out curtain fabric?

Open the drapery yardage calculator. It works with rectangular curtains or drapery panels when their construction matches the stated method. Use finished coverage and drop, choose a single panel or equal pair, and enter the fabric width and allowances. You do not need a separate account or subscription to calculate the result.

Is there a separate curtain lining calculator?

Lining is included in the same tool. Turn on Include lining and enter the lining material’s own dimensions and construction allowances. The result shows its quantity independently from face fabric. The lining method uses the same target body fullness and flat edge zones; check that this matches the way your lining is made.

Can I calculate pleat spacing or grommet spacing here?

Yes. Open the drapery pleat calculator for sewn pinch-pleat intake, gaps and cumulative marks, or the curtain grommet spacing calculator for eyelet centers and printable positioning strips. Each has its own construction scope. The fullness input in the yardage tool still estimates fabric quantity; it does not replace a heading layout.

Can I combine several windows into one fabric order?

Use the multi-window cutting planner for one continuous fabric roll, shared construction settings and straight-repeat or plain cloth. It retains window IDs, compares alignment references and lists matching gaps in your chosen cutting order. It does not reuse side scraps or search for an optimal order. Different materials or roll sections need separate plans.