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Upholstery Fabric Calculator (Drop-In Seat)
For a drop-in or slip seat (the kind that lifts out of a dining chair frame), the fabric needs to wrap fully around the padded seat board and pull under to be stapled — it isn't just the seat's finished size. This calculator adds a wrap allowance on every side and multiplies by how many chairs you're doing.
Cutting list
| Piece | Qty | Size |
|---|
Cutting layout
Typical sizes
Dining chair drop-in seats are typically 16–18 in (41–46 cm) square with 2–3 in (5–8 cm) of foam. A wrap allowance of 3 in (7.6 cm) per side is enough for most seat depths; go to 4 in (10 cm) if the foam is thick or the seat board is deep.
Where this goes wrong
Buy for the whole set before cutting a single seat — dye lots vary between bolts, and railroaded or striped fabric needs every seat oriented the same way, which uses more yardage than laying seats out randomly. Centre a directional motif on the seat, not on the fabric roll.
Seam allowance
No sewn seam here — the wrap allowance is stapled under the seat board, not sewn, so there is no separate seam-allowance field.