Most fabric shopping begins with color and ends with a seam nobody wanted. The pattern is right, the price is right, the cloth arrives — and then it turns out to be 54″ wide when the tablecloth needs 80″, so now there is a join running down the middle of the table.
Width, drape and shrinkage are the three properties that decide whether a project works. Here is what each of our home decor fabrics does, and how much of it you actually need.
Width is the number that changes the project
Nearly all printed home decor fabric runs 54″ to 56″ wide. That is ample for cushions, runners and a single curtain panel. It becomes the whole problem the moment your finished piece is wider than the cloth, because the only answer is to seam two widths together and match the pattern across the join.
Which is why our Extra-Wide Cotton Sateen runs a full 116″. On a tablecloth that difference is not cosmetic:
| 60″ round table, 10″ drop | On 54″ cloth | On 116″ sateen |
|---|---|---|
| Finished diameter needed | 80″ | 80″ |
| Widths required | Two, seamed and matched | One, uninterrupted |
| Yardage | 4¾ yd | 2½ yd |
Almost half the cloth, no seam, and no pattern matching. The wide sateen costs more per yard and is the better value on anything broad — tablecloths, duvet covers, or a pair of curtains cut from one length.
Body or drape
The second question is how you want the cloth to behave. A runner should lie flat and stay where it is put. A curtain should fall. A roman shade should hold a crisp fold. Those are different properties, and no single fabric is best at all three.
| Fabric | Fiber | Weight | Width | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extra-Wide Cotton Sateen | 100% cotton | 6.5 oz | 116″ | Curtains, tablecloths, duvet covers — anything seamless |
| Decorator Cotton Canvas | 100% cotton | 10.6 oz | 56″ | Roman shades, floor cushions, headboards, bags |
| Performance Linen | 100% polyester | 7.6 oz | 54″ | Everyday table linens, cushions, sunny windows |
| Linen Cotton Canvas | 45% linen, 55% cotton | 6.4 oz | 54″ | Napkins, runners, cushions, unlined curtains |
A quick way through it. Making curtains? Extra-Wide Cotton Sateen, unless you want more weight, in which case Decorator Cotton Canvas. Making table linens? Linen Cotton Canvas for the natural, lived-in look; Performance Linen if the table sees red wine and small hands. Making something that must hold its shape? Decorator Cotton Canvas.
One note on Performance Linen: it is polyester. "Performance" is trade language for a synthetic engineered to behave like a natural fiber, and we would rather say so than let a care label say it for us. It resists staining and creasing, ignores sunlight and barely shrinks, which is exactly why it belongs on a table that gets used.
Shrinkage, and the mistake it causes
This is the one that undoes finished work. Cotton shrinks when it is first washed, and if you cut before that happens, the napkins come back from their first wash an inch smaller and slightly out of square.
| Fabric | Length | Width |
|---|---|---|
| Extra-Wide Cotton Sateen | 5–6% | 3–4% |
| Decorator Cotton Canvas | 5–7% | 0–1% |
| Linen Cotton Canvas | 3–6% | 0–1% |
| Performance Linen | 1.5–3% | 0–2% |
The rule is a simple one: pre-wash anything that will be laundered later. Table linens, napkins and washable curtains get washed and dried before they are cut. Curtains that will only ever be dry cleaned or vacuumed can be sewn from the cloth as it arrives.
Six percent of a three-yard curtain length is about six inches, which is a persuasive argument for the extra wash cycle.
How much home decor fabric to order
These figures already include an allowance for pattern matching on a large repeat. Blackthorn repeats at 24″ across by 28.2″ vertical; every pattern differs, and the repeat is stated on each listing.
| Project | On 54–56″ cloth | On 116″ Extra-Wide Sateen |
|---|---|---|
| Curtain panel, 96″ long | 3¼ yd per panel | 3¼ yd makes a pair |
| Tablecloth, 60″ round, 10″ drop | 4¾ yd | 2½ yd |
| Tablecloth, 60″ × 84″, 10″ drop | 6½ yd | 3¼ yd |
| Roman shade, average window | 2½ yd | 2½ yd |
| Table runner, 72″ | 2½ yd | 2½ yd |
| Cushion cover, 20″ | ¾ yd | ¾ yd |
| Napkins, set of four | 1¾ yd | 1¼ yd |
Add for shrinkage on top of these if you are pre-washing, and order the whole project in one length — fabric is printed to order in runs, and a second length ordered weeks later may not match the first exactly.
If you would rather have the sewing done, our finished table linens use the same designs, cut and made in the studio.
Working with a large repeat
A generous repeat is what lets a pattern read properly across a curtain panel rather than shrinking into busy texture. It also means every cut piece has to begin at the same point in the design, so cut lengths round up to a whole number of repeats.
For a 28.2″ vertical repeat that runs: one repeat is ¾ yd, two is 1⅝ yd, three is 2⅜ yd, four is 3⅛ yd. A 96″ curtain panel plus hems needs four repeats, not three.
Across the width, a 24″ horizontal repeat gives two full repeats on 54″ and 56″ cloth, and four on the 116″ sateen — another reason the wide cloth earns its price on curtains.
If you are specifying for a client
Ask for fiber content, weight, usable width, shrinkage and pattern repeat before you commit. All five are published on every listing, and we will put them in writing if you need something to forward.
Two habits worth keeping: specify the usable width rather than the printed width, and state the repeat on the workroom order. A workroom quoting against a repeat it was never told about is the most common reason a curtain order comes up short.
Common questions
How wide is home decor fabric?
Most printed home decor fabric is 54″ to 56″. Our Extra-Wide Cotton Sateen is the exception at 116″, which is wide enough to cut most tablecloths and curtain pairs without a seam.
How much fabric do I need for a tablecloth?
For a 60″ round table with a 10″ drop, about 4¾ yards on standard 54″ cloth once the two widths are seamed and matched, or 2½ yards on the 116″ sateen.
Should I pre-wash fabric before sewing?
Yes, for anything that will be laundered afterward. Our cotton bases shrink 3–7% in length; Performance Linen moves 1.5–3%. Curtains destined only for dry cleaning can be sewn as they arrive.
Can I use home decor fabric on furniture?
Lighter pieces, yes. For anything sat on daily, read the abrasion ratings in our upholstery fabric guide, which covers double rubs, fiber content and yardage for frames.
Start with a swatch
Color on a screen is a guess. A monitor emits light and cloth reflects it, and the two never quite agree — particularly on a sateen, where the sheen changes what a color does at different hours of the day.
Every base comes as an 8″ × 8″ swatch, or as a set of all four home decor cloths in one colorway. Tape them to the window you are dressing and live with them for a day.
Browse home decor fabric by the yard · Order swatches · See the full fabric collection
Curious how these patterns came back around? Why William Morris patterns are trending again in modern interior design.