Check the footprint and cutting budget
This rectangle uses full-width strips. The final strip can be trimmed, but its unused side is not credited against another cut. The finished perimeter is 272 feet. The cut budget reserves 2304 square feet, including 376 square feet in overlapping layers and 8 square feet trimmed from the footprint. The purchased 16 rolls provide 2400 square feet; 96 square feet remain as uncut stock.
Read each panel's cuts before buying
Panel 1 runs 16 feet along the strips and 120 feet across them, using the crosswise direction. The 48 strips cover 120.50 feet after side overlaps. Each strip uses 1 piece(s): 0 full-length pieces plus a 16-foot tail. One roll supplies 3 complete tails; the panel requires 0 full-piece rolls plus 16 tail-piece rolls. Total full-width cut length is 768 feet. Panels do not share remnants.
What changes with a wider overlap?
Changing this exact footprint to twelve-inch overlap produces 20 rolls and 2880 square feet of cut fabric, including 944 square feet in overlap. Its trimming allowance becomes 16 square feet. A changed overlap may alter the preferred direction; the program recomputes both rectangular choices.
What changes with closer pins or a fixed direction?
At twelve-inch spacing instead of twenty-four inches, this six-inch-overlap layout reserves 1071 pins: 272 around the outside and 799 on seams. With the original spacing and overlap but a forced lengthwise direction, it requires 18 rolls, 2541 square feet of cut fabric, and 542 pins. These alternatives keep the same ground dimensions; they change the layout or fastening budget.
Before using this estimate on site
Confirm the actual package dimensions and include any border extensions. Pin counts treat each open seam's endpoints independently, and do not add anchors for plant holes or interior field positions. The roll-size table compares complete cutting plans rather than dividing ground area by package area. Automatic direction checks two directions per panel and does not search every possible patchwork arrangement. Any reduction through offcut reuse requires a separate drawn cut list.
Read the full formulas, assumptions, common mistakes, and FAQs.
Other worked footprints
- 12 × 5 ft bed or path3 × 50 ft rolls · 1 rolls · 24 pins
- 12 × 5 ft bed or path4 × 100 ft rolls · 1 rolls · 29 pins
- 12 × 5 ft bed or path6 × 100 ft rolls · 1 rolls · 17 pins
- 20 × 8 ft bed or path3 × 50 ft rolls · 2 rolls · 50 pins
- 20 × 8 ft bed or path4 × 100 ft rolls · 1 rolls · 53 pins
- 20 × 8 ft bed or path6 × 100 ft rolls · 1 rolls · 43 pins