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[WILD BILL]

As I start to try and get my name out there to get some jobs, I find my self wondering how you guys that have been doing this a while go about figuring out how much material you need to order for the project.

Take my boat for example. you can see pics in this thread......

New guy from Ohio saying Hi

The colored sections were fairly small so 1 yard of black and 2 yds of the other colors seemed reasonable but when it came to the white, I was way off.

My initial order was for something like 12 yds which I thought should get me close but really didn't. After that, I think I doubled my second guesstimate which means I know have a bunch left over.

I know I need to better plan my layouts and cuts but how do you guys figure out how much material would needed without either ordering to much or having a ton of waste?

IS there some kind of formula or basic rule of thumb you follow or just order a ton and then leave the rest as inventory for later?

[Rhonda]

i just calculate it in my head. . I usually get pretty close without a lot of inventory left over.
you'll get better at it the more you do it.

[BigRig]

I always take a yardstick and a sheer of vinyl that is a yard. Lay it over guess how much waste you will have and calcualte usage.

[TedP]

I go by 'piece' count and judge them as being 'small', 'medium', 'large', or 'X-large'. Then I have approximate yardage usage on each size of piece. Keep in mind that each seat or cushion can be made up of 2 or more 'pieces'. Adding up the yardage numbers usually gets me pretty close, then I double-check the estimate by eye-balling each piece to see if I would change anything based on its size. Sunpads can require more material that my approximations.

Once I have a number of yards for each vinyl (color, etc) then I'll add enough for overage (10 - 20%)

After you do a few boats, you will almost be able to tell just by looking at it.