Fabric and leather yardage, COM and COL

At a glance

Metres of plain cloth, or one with a repeat up to about 4 cm (the basis of our fabrics page), before contingency. Typical practice, not figures from a standard: the partner upholsterer confirms each from your drawings. Leather is quoted by hides or square metres from a cutting plan, not by the metre.

COM and COL: what the terms commit you to

COM is customer's own material and COL is customer's own leather. The designer or client chooses and buys the cloth or the hides and has them delivered to the workshop, which upholsters them. Our fabrics page says the quotation states the metreage each piece needs, so that you can order the right quantity from your chosen supplier. Ordering it is then your job, and a shortfall or a wrong batch is a delay you carry, which is why the quantity needs to be confirmed from the approved drawings before you order.

What the workshop needs from you, and what to agree before ordering:

• A confirmed quantity. The workshop states the metres or hides required from the approved shop drawings, with the cloth width, repeat and direction rules it used.
• One batch. Order the whole quantity in one go from one dye lot or batch, with a margin, because a later batch may not match. Keep a small piece of the delivered batch as the benchmark.
• Delivery. To the workshop's address by an agreed date, with the paperwork. Late cloth is a delay to the programme.
• Evidence with the cloth. Performance test reports (see fabric performance tests) and, for contract seating, the fire evidence for the composite of cover, interliner and filling: a COM cloth does not come with its own, so see BS 7176 hazard categories and the fire documentation matrix.
• What happens to faults. Who inspects the cloth on arrival, how long you have to report a fault, and who pays for more if the cloth is short or rejected. Put it in writing.
• For COL, the same with hides: hide size and area, finish, colour and batch, with the hides inspected before cutting and any rejected hide replaced by you.

How a quantity is built up

1. List every piece from the approved drawing: seat, inside back, outside back, arms, borders, cushions, skirt, piping, welt, with finished sizes.
2. Add allowances on every edge for wrapping, tucking and fixing. The example below uses [6] cm each side; the workshop sets its own.
3. Find the usable width. Cloth is quoted by its overall width (our fabrics page uses a standard 137 cm), but selvedges and any printed edge take some. The example uses [130] cm usable.
4. Lay the pieces across the width. Pieces whose widths add up to no more than the usable width sit side by side; the row is as long as its longest piece. Pair like with like. If the cloth has a direction (a pattern, a stripe or a pile) no piece may be turned.
5. Allow for the pattern repeat. Round each piece's length up to a whole number of repeats so that every piece starts at the same point in the pattern. That is one convention; the workshop's rule may differ.
6. Add a contingency for faults, re-cuts and shading, [10] per cent in the example, and round up.

In short: metres = the sum of the row lengths, with repeat, times (1 + contingency). UK workshops quote metres; US guides quote yards of 54-inch cloth (1 yard is 0.9144 m, and 137 cm is about 54 inches).

Pattern repeat, railroading and pile direction

• Repeat. A straight-match pattern repeats level across the cloth; a half-drop steps every other column down by half a repeat, so it is matched along a longer length. The repeat is measured along the cloth and is on the sample or the supplier's data sheet. A repeat that divides the length of the pieces costs little; one that does not costs a lot (see the example).
• Large repeats. The motif has to be placed on each piece, centred on the seat and back and matched across cushions and arms. Our fabrics page notes that repeats larger than 4 cm may need a larger sample for placement.
• Railroading. Turning the cloth through 90 degrees so that its width runs along a long piece, such as a banquette back, avoids seams on a plain cloth. A pattern, stripe or pile then runs sideways, so it is for plain cloths and weaves made for it, and the approved drawing should say so.
• Pile direction. Velvets and other directional cloths are cut with the pile running one way on every piece, because a piece cut the other way looks a different shade. The workshop sets the rule, and no piece may be turned to save cloth.
• Cloth width. A wider or narrower cloth changes what fits side by side, and so the whole quantity: a 5 cm change in usable width moves the example by more than a third.

Worked example: six dining chairs and a banquette

Six dining chairs, each with a seat, an inside back and an outside back, in plain cloth 137 cm wide with [130] cm usable. All inputs are examples; the workshop supplies its own.

Layout. Two seats side by side take 64 + 64 = 128 cm, within 130. Two inside backs take 62 + 62 = 124 cm, and two outside backs 124 cm. So six of each piece make three rows of each: 3 x 60 + 3 x 54 + 3 x 58 = 180 + 162 + 174 = 516 cm, or 5.16 m. With 10 per cent contingency, 5.676 m, rounded up to 5.7 m. Now the same chairs with other cloths:

A repeat of 4 cm costs almost nothing, because it divides the piece lengths. A repeat of 32 cm makes every row 64 cm, and 45 cm makes every row 90 cm. And the width matters: at 125 cm usable the seats can no longer sit two across (64 + 64 = 128, and 64 + 62 = 126), so the cloth needed rises by more than a third.

A banquette 3.6 m long, seat 48 cm deep with a 10 cm front drop, back 46 cm high, same allowance. The seat piece is 48 + 10 + 12 = 70 cm across and the back 46 + 12 = 58 cm across, both 360 + 12 = 372 cm long. Turned through 90 degrees, 70 + 58 = 128 cm fits across the width, so one piece of 372 cm does it. Upright, each piece must be joined from drops of cloth 130 cm wide: 372 / 130 = 2.86, so 3 drops, each carrying 70 + 58 = 128 cm of length, 384 cm in all with 2 seams.

Both come to about a metre of cloth for each metre of run, which is why the planning range in the table at the top is 1.0 to 1.3. Buttoning, channelling and pleating take more, because the cloth is taken up in the folds: ask the workshop for its factor.

Leather: hides, area and yield

Leather is sold by the hide and measured by area (BS EN ISO 11646 is the method for measuring the area of a piece of leather), in square feet or square metres: ask which. Our leather page gives a standard hide as 50 to 55 sq ft, which is about 4.6 to 5.1 m². Each hide is irregular, with marks, thin flanks and edges that cannot be used, so the usable share is well below the whole. That is why leather is quoted per frame from a cutting plan rather than by the metre, as our leather article says.

The arithmetic: hides = total area of the pieces, divided by (hide area times usable share), rounded up. For the six chairs above, using the same cut sizes: one chair is 64 x 60 + 62 x 54 + 62 x 58 = 3,840 + 3,348 + 3,596 = 10,784 cm², so six chairs are 6.47 m². A hide of 52 sq ft is 4.83 m². At a usable share of 75 per cent, that is 3.62 m², and 6.47 / 3.62 = 1.79, so 2 hides. At 65 per cent it is 3.14 m², 6.47 / 3.14 = 2.06, so 3 hides. Ten points of yield changed the order by a hide, so the usable share should come from the cutting plan and the real hides, not from an assumption.

• Leather has a grain and marks. Pieces cannot be turned freely, and the marks decide where each piece can sit.
• Hides vary in tone. Order from one batch, and ask for hides to be matched across the pieces of one item.
• COL is inspected before cutting. Agree what happens to a hide that is rejected on inspection.

Cloth [name, colourway, batch] supplied by the client (COM) to [workshop address] by [date], in one batch, with [test reports and fire evidence]. The workshop is to confirm the quantity from the approved shop drawings, stating width, usable width, repeat and direction rules, within [ ] working days of receiving them. The client is to supply the confirmed quantity plus [10]%.

The workshop is to inspect the cloth within [ ] working days of delivery and report any fault or shortfall in writing. Rejected or short cloth is replaced by the client from the same batch where possible; programme effect [to be agreed in writing]. [Wording to be checked by the client's contract adviser.]

Leather [name, finish, colourway, batch] supplied by the client (COL): [ ] hides of [ ] m² each (area to BS EN ISO 11646), delivered to [workshop address] by [date]. The workshop is to confirm the hides needed from a cutting plan, stating the usable share, and to inspect hides before cutting; rejected hides are replaced by the client.

Pattern [name], [straight match / half-drop], vertical repeat [ ] cm, centred on [ ]. Pile or nap direction [as on the approved drawing], the same on every piece. Not to be railroaded unless shown on the approved drawing.

Standards and sources

• No standard sets yardage: quantities are trade practice; every figure is an example or typical, to confirm with the workshop.
• BS EN ISO 11646:2014: Leather, measurement of area. BSI listing: current; scope read, the standard not read.
• Make Bespoke Studio: Upholstery fabrics: COM quoted on a standard 137 cm cloth, repeat up to 4 cm.
• Make Bespoke Studio: Leather for furniture and upholstery: standard hide 50 to 55 sq ft; COL accepted.

Questions we are asked

How much fabric does a dining chair need?

As a planning figure, about 0.5 to 0.7 m for a loose seat pad and 1.1 to 1.6 m for a chair with a seat, inside back and outside back, in plain 137 cm cloth. These are typical figures, not rules: the workshop confirms the quantity from your drawing, and a set of chairs cut together needs less per chair.

What is COM?

Customer's own material: cloth that the designer or client chooses and buys and has delivered to the workshop, which upholsters it. The workshop's quotation states the quantity each piece needs so you can order the right amount, and you agree the delivery, the batch and who carries a shortfall before ordering.

What is COL?

Customer's own leather: the same arrangement with hides. The extra points are hide size and area, the usable share after marks and edges, the finish and colour batch, and inspection of the hides before cutting.

How much extra does a pattern repeat add?

It depends on the repeat and the pieces. In the worked example, six dining chairs needed 5.16 m of plain cloth, 5.28 m with a 4 cm repeat, 5.76 m with a 32 cm repeat and 8.10 m with a 45 cm repeat, before contingency. A repeat that divides the length of the pieces costs little; one that does not costs a lot.

What does railroaded mean?

The cloth is turned through 90 degrees so that its width runs along the length of the piece, avoiding seams on a long back or banquette. It suits plain cloths and weaves made for it, because a pattern, stripe or pile would then run sideways.

How many hides do I need?

There is no fixed number. It is the total area of the pieces divided by the hide area times the usable share, rounded up, and the usable share depends on the hide. The worked example needs 2 hides at 75 per cent usable and 3 at 65 per cent. Ask the workshop for a cutting plan.

Who pays if the cloth runs short?

That is for you to agree in writing before ordering. The usual safeguard is that the workshop confirms the quantity from approved drawings and you order that quantity plus a margin in one batch. This is guidance, not legal advice: have a contract adviser check the wording.

Does the studio accept cloth from any supplier?

Our upholstered furniture article says COM is accepted from any supplier, with advice on suitability before cutting begins. Ask the studio about your cloth and your project.