Hide Sizes
Since leather is a natural material and each hide is unique, these dimensions represent average hide sizes and shapes. If specific cut sizes are required, please call your sales rep or contact customer service at 800-356-1177.
Whether you're hoping to newly upholster 30 custom club chairs for a restaurant or reupholster four chair seats for a client's dining set, calculating the amount of leather needed doesn't need to be confusing. Cortina's sales specialists and customer service team can help.
The industry-wide formula for converting fabric yardage to leather square footage is one linear yard of 54" wide fabric equals 18 sq.ft. of leather, based on hides averaging 50 to 55 sq.ft. Due to the irregular shape of the hides, there will always be a certain amount of waste; this formula takes waste into account—there is no need to add additional square footage.
When using hides that average under 50 sq.ft., the furniture manufacturer or upholsterer should be consulted to determine whether more leather is required due to decreased yield from smaller hides and/or whether seams will be necessary to upholster the piece.
AVERAGE HIDE DIAGRAMS
CALFSKIN
Average Size: 25-30 sq.ft.
COWHIDE
Average Size: 50-55 sq.ft.
SUEDE
Chaps
Average Size: 15-18 sq.ft.
HAIR-ON & EMBOSSED
Cavallo (whole hide available in select colors),
Cortina Emboss, Flamingo, Zigrino
Average Size: 25 sq.ft.
CALCULATING Needs
By industry standards, one linear yard of 54” fabric is equal to 18 square feet of leather. To make the conversion, multiply fabric linear yards requested by the installer x 18 to calculate the square feet of leather to purchase.
Fabric linear yards x 18 = square feet of leather to purchase.
Although there are 13.5 sq.ft. in a standard linear yard of 54” wide fabric, the additional 4.5 sq.ft. in the leather conversion formula accounts for irregular shape of hides. When using this conversion calculation, it is NOT necessary to add additional overages.
This applies to 54" wide fabric (13.5 sq.ft. per yard) and hides averaging 50-55 sq.ft.
If your fabric is not 54" wide, you can estimate needs by multiplying the fabric square feet x 1.333 to calculate leather square feet.
Always verify final need with your installer.
VISUAL EXAMPLES OF CUTTING PATTERNS
The following diagram demonstrates why six (6) 24" x 24" seat cushions require 54 sq.ft. of leather rather than 24 sq.ft. (6 cushions x 4 sq.ft.).
In FABRIC the six panels will require 2 linear yards. or 27 sq.ft. total material minimum, depending on pattern repeat, as shown in (Figure A)
In LEATHER the six panels will typically require the cutting plan illustrated in Figure B, and will use a full 50 sq.ft. hide to achieve the 24 net sq.ft. for 6 chair covers. In practice, efficient leather-cutting operations maximize yield by cutting various smaller panels, i.e. piping, arms, cushion sides, etc., from the blank spaces shown in Figure B.
Figure A
6 panels cut from 2 yards of 54” wide fabric
Figure B
6 panels cut from a 50 sq.ft. hide
