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 56 feet. The cut budget reserves 180 square feet, including 20 square feet in overlapping layers and 0 square feet trimmed from the footprint. The purchased 2 rolls provide 300 square feet; 120 square feet remain as uncut stock.
Read each panel's cuts before buying
Panel 1 runs 20 feet along the strips and 8 feet across them, using the lengthwise direction. The 3 strips cover 8 feet after side overlaps. Each strip uses 1 piece(s): 0 full-length pieces plus a 20-foot tail. One roll supplies 2 complete tails; the panel requires 0 full-piece rolls plus 2 tail-piece rolls. Total full-width cut length is 60 feet. Panels do not share remnants.
What changes with a wider overlap?
Changing this exact footprint to twelve-inch overlap produces 2 rolls and 240 square feet of cut fabric, including 60 square feet in overlap. Its trimming allowance becomes 20 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 98 pins: 56 around the outside and 42 on seams. With the original spacing and overlap but a forced lengthwise direction, it requires 2 rolls, 180 square feet of cut fabric, and 50 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 path4 × 100 ft rolls · 1 rolls · 53 pins
- 20 × 8 ft bed or path6 × 100 ft rolls · 1 rolls · 43 pins
- 35 × 10 ft bed or path3 × 50 ft rolls · 3 rolls · 123 pins