Ripplefold draperies continue to grow in popularity across the country. We still sense a lot of anxiety from our customers about how to specify ripplefold hardware and how to calculate fabric accurately. There are certainly considerations that need to be made, and I hope this information will make calculating fabric for ripplefold treatments a snap!
Figuring Yardage for Ripplefold Draperies
Step 1: Determine the fullness factor you plan to use for your draperies. See chart below.
Some of the factors that you will want to consider in making this decision are:
Stackback – If the amount of stackback is important because of view or available space, you might want to consider the 60% fullness factor because you can cover more window per “ripple”. For example, a 100” window will stack in 27” at 60% fullness as opposed to the 120% fullness which would stack in 36”.
Privacy – When using a sheer fabric you may prefer the 120% fullness factor for privacy. 120% is the commonly recommended fullness for sheers.
Budget – Because the width of coverage shrinks as the fullness factor increases, you may want to specify the lower fullness factors to save on fabric.
Step 2: Determine the width of your rod. This can be handled in two ways:
If there is unlimited space and you want the draperies to stack completely off of the glass, you would take the width of the glass and multiply it by the stackback percentage shown above.
For example, using a 120% fullness factor, 100” of glass would require a 136” rod to allow the finished treatment to stack off of the glass. A one way draw would require 36” on the stack side, right or left, of the treatment. A center split draw would require 18” on either side of the glass for stackback.
If space is limited, you already know what the width of the rod will have to be. As noted above, you may adjust the fullness factor to manage the stackback.
Step 3: Take the width of your rod and multiply it by the Rod Width Multiplier on the chart. For example, a rod width of 120” would be multiplied by 2.2 for 120% fullness. This number is divided by the width of the fabric you are using. You now have the number of widths of fabric you need for your treatment.
120” (Rod Width) X 2.2 (Rod Width Multiplier) = 264” Total width of fabric needed for the treatment.
264” (Total width of fabric needed) ÷ 54” (Width of fabric) = 4.89 Widths of fabric. Round up to 5 widths. This number is also referred to as WOM (Width of Measure).
Important to note:
The number above, 4.89 widths = 216” (4 widths) + 48” of the 5th width. This will leave exactly 6” for 1-1/2” + 1-1/2” side hems. There is no extra fabric width for a complete return to the wall or to play with if you need to pattern match and lose some inches when putting the widths together. Because Ripplefold draperies are snapped into the carrier at exact 4-1/4” intervals, you cannot adjust the necessary width as you can with pleated draperies. There are two ways to handle this.
Adjust the rod width
You can slightly adjust the rod width down to stretch the fabric a little. In order to do this, take the width of your rod and divide it by “spaces.” The size of the space is determined by the fullness factor. As you can see on the chart above, at 120% fullness, our 120” rod will have carriers spaced at 1-7/8”.
120” ÷ 1-7/8” (1.875) = 64 spaces. If I cut 2 spaces, 2 X 1.875 = 3-3/4” of rod.
Then I deduct that amount from the rod width 120” – 3-3/4” = 116.25”.
Then you must re-figure your WOM as we did above. 116.25” X 2.2 = 255.75” of fabric.
This will translate into 216” (4 widths) + 39-1/4” of the 5th width, leaving 14-3/4” of extra fabric for returns and side hems.
Reduce the fullness factor
The second way to handle this is to reduce the fullness factor and re-figure the measurements.
120” rod width X 2.0 fullness factor = 240” of fabric that is needed for the treatment.
240” ÷ 54” = 4.44 Widths of fabric
4.44 WOM = 216” (4 widths) + 24” of 5th Width of fabric – This leaves 30” of fabric for returns etc.
Step 4: Calculate your finished length. Then you need to add 8” for hems and 1” for the header and 1” for “just in case.”
So, a drapery that is 120” in finished length would require 120” + 8” + 2” = 130” of fabric per cut.
5 X 130” = 650” ÷ 36” (1 yard) = 18.06 Yards of fabric
The struggle is real!
Design professionals must wear both technical and creative hats!
I know it is lots of math, but knowing you are calculating your fabric correctly is always a stress reliever!