How to Buy Sheets of Leather to Make Couches

Yardage

• 1

  Measure your couch if you are reupholstering. (Skip to the conversion step if you are making a couch anew.) Remove the old fabric, and measure it on all sides with a tape measure. Measure in inches, not feet or yards; it is more difficult to work with fractions of a foot than with whole numbers in inches.

  Square inches is the length x width; thus, a 2x4-foot piece of leather is 24x48 inches, for a total of 1152 square inches.

  Keep a chart of all these sizes starting with the largest piece (likely the back) to the smallest (likely the sides of a cushion).

• 2

  Add all the measurements together for a high number of inches---likely more than 10,000. Divide that figure by 1296, the number of square inches in a yard. The final figure is the number of yards of hide you will require.

• 3

  Convert yardage to square feet. You must add a "fudge factor" of 20 percent to account for the irregular shape of the hide, imperfections and so on. The Tandy Leather Factory offers this formula.

  If a pattern calls for 6 yards of 36-inch fabric.
  Use a conversion factor of 9:
  6 x 9 = 54
  Add 20 percent or 12
  Total = 66 square feet needed.

  The pattern calls for 6 yards of 45-inch fabric.
  Use a conversion factor of 11:
  6 x 11 = 66
  Add 20 percent or 14
  Total = 80 square feet needed.

  The pattern calls for 6 yards of 54-inch fabric.
  Use a conversion factor of 13:
  6 x 13 = 78
  Add 20 percent or 16
  Total = 94 square feet needed.

Leather

• 4

  Shop for upholstery leather, which the major leather retailers offer as a specific category. These are typically top-grain cowhide, in 4- to 5-oz. weight (where 12 oz. leather is extremely thick, 2 ozs. is very thin). Expect to pay anywhere from $4.50 to $15 per square foot (December 2009 prices).

• 5

  Tell your leather retailer when you place your order that you are upholstering a couch. Ask the retailer to handpick the hides to match in color and texture.

  Purchase a combination of hides (which are about 45 square feet) and sides (about half that) to get the right footage.

• 6

  Arrange your pattern (or the pieces from the couch you are reupholstering) carefully, on the leather, avoiding any obvious holes and imperfections.