Fabric size calculations: meters, yards, inches and Fat Quarters

The yard (abbreviation: yd) is an English unit of length. It was legally defined to be exactly 0.9144 meter in 1959 under an agreement in 1959 between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.

1 yd = 0.9144 m

The inch (abbreviation: in or ″) is a unit of length in the (British) imperial and United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to ​1⁄36 yard.

1 yd = 36 inches

1 inches = 2.54 cm

Textiles and fat quarters

The yard, subdivided into eighths, is used for the purchase of fabrics in the United States and United Kingdom and was previously used elsewhere. In the United States the term "fat quarter" is used for a piece of fabric which is half a yard in length cut from a roll and then cut again along the width so that it is only half the width of the roll, thus the same area as a piece of one quarter yard cut from the full width of the roll; these pieces are popular for patchwork and quilting.

The term "fat eighth", for a piece of one quarter yard from half the roll width, the same area as one eighth cut from the roll.

Now "fat quarter" term is used by all countries.

1 Fat Quarter of fabric

in metric system:

~50cm x 55cm * also in our shop.

In imperial system

½ yard(18 inch) x 44 inch

45cm x 55cm

Fat Quarter and quarter meter of fabric

From time to time we are importing precut fabrics from countries using imperial system (UK, USA, etc.), and in that case we are serving smaller Fat Quarters.