MINIMAL WASTE PANEL PRINTING
How our Custom Panel Printing Program can Cut Fabric Waste by 30% and More!
TRADITIONAL CUTTING
"Waste not, want not."
When fabric cut patterns are laid out on a print, the designs often have to be centered and sometimes matched. This can lead to multiple yards of fabric waste on a traditional all-over print, especially if the pattern has a large repeat. The fabric shown here has a 45.5" horizontal repeat and a 30" vertical repeat. To get a centered image for the chair above, large portions of the print are wasted in the cutting process. The white spaces in this photo represent the image that was cut out for the inside and outside back of one dining chair. The project was actually for eight chairs.  Abbey's innovative panel printing technology avoids almost all waste and allows our clients to avoid paying for fabric that would be thrown out.
MINIMAL WASTE PANELS
The Golden Rectangle
Almost every fabric component of the typical upholstered piece is a square or a rectangle. When we print only those patterns, they can be nested together, thereby eliminating fabric waste. Our graphic design team does all the centering and matching for each panel, and that's all we print. No more accounting for a 30" half-drop repeat, or worse yet, having to cut a design from the middle of the bolt just so a specific pattern can be centered. Our custom fabrics are printed with your centering or matching specifications as our guide. If you require a matching solid, our graphics team can match perfectly the colors in your print. This photo shows the layout for one chair, including the print for the inside and outside back and the solid for the seat and welt, totaling just 2.25 yards. A traditional layout, including the solid, would require 5 yards of fabric.
DO THE MATH
Time to Relax--you've got minimal waste!
Just look at the fabric you save by allowing us to develop your project into panels. For 8 dining chairs, a traditional layout of the large print in our example and a coordinating solid would require a total of 40 yards of fabric. For the same dining chairs using our custom panel printing technology, you would need only 18 yards. You've just saved 12 yards of fabric by allowing Abbey to develop your panels and print your fabric! Please see our Custom Panel Pricing page for panel development fees and fabric prices.