COM Fabric Explained: What Shipping Your Own Fabric to a Factory Actually Involves
Most explanations of COM stop at the definition. The definition is the easy part. What causes problems is the sequence, the liability, and the yardage math, so this article covers those.
What COM means, in one sentence
COM stands for Customer's Own Material: fabric that you buy from a mill of your choosing and ship to the furniture manufacturer, who then upholsters your pieces in it.
The manufacturer quotes the piece without fabric, you buy the fabric separately, and the two meet at the factory.
COM, COL and in-house fabric
COM is customer supplied fabric. Woven textiles, coated fabrics and vinyls.
COL is Customer's Own Leather. Leather is quoted differently because it is bought by the hide and estimated in usable square feet rather than yards, and hide size, shape, yield, scars and natural grain variation all affect how much usable material you get. A leather that works beautifully on an accent chair may not give consistent yield across a long sectional.
In-house fabric means selecting from the manufacturer's own graded fabric library. Simpler, usually faster, and the manufacturer carries the material liability. Less design control.
Most hospitality projects of any size use COM, because the designer wants one textile language across furniture, drapery and sometimes wallcovering, and no single manufacturer's library will deliver that.
The COM workflow, step by step
- Specify. The designer selects the fabric and assigns it to pieces.
- Technical review. Send the fabric details and the piece list to the manufacturer before you buy anything. This is the step people skip and it is the one that prevents the most damage.
- Yardage confirmation. The manufacturer calculates yardage against the actual shop drawings, accounting for repeat, width, direction and railroading.
- Reserve the goods. Ask the mill to reserve the yardage from a single dye lot. Reserves are typically held for a short window, often around a week, so time this against your purchase order.
- Request a CFA. A Cutting For Approval is a swatch cut from the actual roll that will ship, sent for sign-off before anything is cut. It catches dye lot shifts, the difference between a screen color and a real one, and flaws in the goods.
- Order and ship. Fabric ships to the factory, usually drop-shipped direct from the mill.
- Receipt and inspection. The factory logs it against the order, confirms yardage received, and inspects for flaws and correctness of pattern and color.
- Cut and upholster. Production proceeds.
Steps 2 and 5 are where the value is. A technical review takes a phone call. A CFA takes a few days. Together they prevent the majority of expensive COM problems.
Who is liable for what
This is the part worth getting in writing before you order, because the default position surprises people.
The fabric is your material. You bought it, you own it, and in most manufacturer terms the manufacturer is not responsible for the performance, suitability, colorfastness or defects of material you supplied.
Mill terms are restrictive once fabric is cut. Fabric generally cannot be returned for credit after it has been cut, or after it has been processed in any way. Yardage has to be inspected for flaws and correctness of pattern, color, quantity and quality on arrival. Dye lot variation between lots is typically not credited, which is exactly why a reserve and a CFA matter.
Shortfall is your problem, and it is expensive. If insufficient yardage arrives, production stops while more is requested. Some manufacturers charge a handling fee to run special procedures determining whether the order can be completed with what arrived. More importantly, if the additional yardage comes from a different dye lot, you now have a visible mismatch across a set.
What a good manufacturer should do anyway. Flag a fabric that looks unsuitable for the piece it has been assigned to. Confirm yardage against shop drawings before you buy. Inspect on receipt and tell you promptly if something is wrong. None of that is a liability transfer, but it prevents most of the failures.
Railroading, repeats and why yardage varies
Yardage is not surface area. It accounts for cutting layouts, repeat matching, usable fabric width, seams, welts, cushions and production allowance.
Railroaded versus up the roll. Standard plain goods are usually 54 inches wide and can be applied railroaded, meaning the fabric runs sideways across the piece. Railroading can eliminate seams on wide pieces like a sofa back or a long banquette run, which is why it is one of the first things a workroom checks.
Whether a fabric can be railroaded depends on the pattern. A vertical stripe applied railroaded becomes a horizontal stripe. Some fabrics are woven or printed specifically to be applied railroaded, with the top of the design toward the selvage.
Directional fabrics. Velvets and many textured fabrics have a nap, which makes them directional. These have to be applied up the roll rather than railroaded, and that commonly requires around ten percent more yardage than a standard railroaded requirement.
Pattern repeat. This is the big one. Matching a repeat across a piece costs yardage, and large repeats can add twenty percent or more. Manufacturers usually publish COM figures based on 54 inch plain non-directional railroaded goods, so any deviation from that baseline changes the number.
Narrow fabric. A 52 inch fabric against a 54 inch baseline changes the cut layout, sometimes significantly.
A warning about yardage charts. Most yardage charts on the open web are residential slipcover charts, and they run considerably high against commercial seating. Contract pieces are built differently. Use a contract chart or, better, ask the manufacturer to calculate against your actual drawings.
Six mistakes that delay COM orders
1. Ordering yardage from a rough estimate. The most common and the most avoidable. Get the manufacturer's number against your drawings.
2. Skipping the CFA. Discovering a dye lot shift after panels are sewn is a remake, in time and material.
3. Assuming a fabric can be railroaded. Check before specifying, especially on long banquette runs where railroading is doing real work.
4. Missing a large repeat. Patterns that do not align across a set of pieces are immediately visible and are a remake.
5. Changing fabric after production is scheduled. A substitution can change yardage, lead time, suitability and visual placement. Treat it as a new approval point, not an administrative update.
6. Leaving quality expectations unspoken. If you need exact pattern centering, matched cushions, railroaded application or specific leather panel selection, put it in writing before cutting begins. Some of those are straightforward, some involve extra material or labor, and all of them are cheaper to agree in advance than to argue about afterward.
Ordering overage
Always order more than the calculated minimum.
Overage covers cutting variance, a flaw in the goods, a piece damaged in production, and the piece somebody discovers was left off the schedule. It also gives you attic stock, so a chair damaged in year three can be repaired in the original fabric rather than an approximate match from a different dye lot.
Discuss the overage figure with your manufacturer rather than applying a flat percentage, because the right number depends on repeat size and piece count.
How COM affects your schedule
The fabric clock and the production clock run separately and the slower one governs.
A fabric with a twelve week mill lead time on a program with a six week production window means a twelve week program, not a six week one. Confirm mill availability and lead time before you commit to a fabric, not after.
This matters most on deadline driven work. If you are running to a PIP completion date, fabric lead time is one of the most common reasons the whole program slips.
What to send us
To get a yardage confirmation and a technical review, send:
- Fabric name, pattern number, color and mill
- Fabric width
- Vertical and horizontal repeat
- Whether the goods are railroaded, up the roll or non-directional
- Content and any performance data you have
- The piece list with quantities
- Shop drawings or the model numbers
We will come back with confirmed yardage, flag anything that looks likely to cause a problem in that application, and tell you if the fabric is not suited to the piece it has been assigned to. That is a better conversation to have before the purchase order than after the fabric arrives.
Frequently asked questions
What does COM mean in furniture?
COM stands for Customer's Own Material. It means fabric you purchase from a mill of your choosing and ship to the furniture manufacturer, who upholsters your pieces in it. The manufacturer quotes the piece without fabric and the two meet at the factory.
What is the difference between COM and COL?
COM is Customer's Own Material, which is fabric. COL is Customer's Own Leather. Leather is quoted differently because it is bought by the hide and estimated in usable square feet rather than yards, and hide size, yield, scars and grain variation affect how much usable material you actually get.
What is a CFA?
A Cutting For Approval, a swatch cut from the actual roll that will ship to the factory, sent for sign-off before anything is cut. It catches dye lot shifts, differences between a screen color and the real one, and flaws in the goods. On any significant project it is cheap insurance against a remake.
Who is responsible if COM fabric is defective?
In most manufacturer terms, material supplied by the customer remains the customer's responsibility for performance, suitability and defects. A good manufacturer will inspect on receipt and flag problems promptly, but that is not the same as accepting liability. Confirm the position in writing before you order.
How much extra COM fabric should I order?
More than the calculated minimum. Overage covers cutting variance, flaws, production damage and attic stock for later repairs in the original dye lot. Agree the figure with your manufacturer rather than applying a flat percentage, because it depends on repeat size and piece count.
Does pattern repeat change how much fabric I need?
Yes, significantly. Matching a repeat across a piece costs yardage and large repeats can add twenty percent or more. Published COM figures are usually based on 54 inch plain non-directional railroaded goods, so any deviation changes the number.
What does railroaded mean?
Applying fabric sideways across a piece rather than up the roll. It can eliminate seams on wide pieces like sofa backs and long banquette runs. Whether a fabric can be railroaded depends on the pattern, and directional fabrics like velvets generally cannot be, which typically adds around ten percent to yardage.
What happens if not enough COM fabric arrives?
Production stops while additional yardage is requested, which delays the order. If the additional fabric comes from a different dye lot you may end up with a visible mismatch across the set. Some manufacturers also charge a handling fee for the special procedures involved.
Specifying COM on a project?
Send the fabric details and the piece list before you place the order with the mill. We will confirm yardage against your drawings and flag anything that will not work on the piece it has been assigned to.
