Calling all mathematicians!!! please help :)

Hopefully I can explain this without confusing you!

Use the pythagorean theorem: a2 plus b2 = c2.

40(2) plus 40(2) = square root of 3200

Square root of 3200 = about 57 feet of tulle.

Sorry if I confused you, I can do the math but the symbols on the computer is a different story . 57 feet of tulle is what you need, for each tulle used.

Ok Marrissa so thats 17 yards right? so to be safe 100yards for all of it?

Yeah, that should work! It's better to have extra than to not have enough

57 ft is 19 yards (3 fr/ 1 yard). You also need to factor in the draping so you want to buy extra tulle. So the 40 ft wall would need about 45-50 ft so it hangs down like the pictures.

If you want the tulle to be stretched taught across the ceiling, you'd need 227 yards of tulle, but I don't think you can accurately account for the extra fabric needed for this loose draping without trying it and measuring or doing some serious trig. If you're looking for a very approximate starting point, I'd double the number I came up with and get around 450 yards.

How wide would you say i need the tulle to be?

Woops, I meant feet.

Mrs. Wise, I think you're going to have to do some work on your own to figure out the width. But I don't agree with Sammie that you can get only 50 feet and expect it to drape so low.

Oops, I didn't consider the draping! My bad. Don't listen to me!

Ok Sandy so 200 yards? or more?

It won't drape low like the first pic, more like the second. Either way, you need to factor in that extra fabric

Ok I am wrong the tent is actually 39x30

Okay, so this might be a bit of an off-the-wall suggestion but it might work for you if you want to make sure you have enough tulle..

If you have enough space somewhere you could try putting tape down on the ground where the corners of the 39x30 tent would be. Then take string and run it on the ground from one corner to the middle. That would give you the length for one "point" of your star, and you could pull the center of the string to curve it as if it were the draping you wanted.

Measure the string, multiply by the number of points you want, and you would have your yardage. N

Based on the way I was doing the figures for our reception room and not being a perfect square...if your doing an asterix pattern (running out from center in 8 directions) you will have varying lengths. The best way we could figure it was to attach each end to ceiling at the wall, letting it drape down to barely touch the floor in the middle. Once we had all 4 lengths attached at all 8 ends we then would thread fishing line down through the center off all four lengths at the center point....then draw it up to the ceiling in the center of the room. To estimate the amount needed, I took the measurements on the floor from corner to corner and wall to wall for all four directions...then added 4 yards to the total of each length. 4 yards was just the estimate I used based on the height of the ceiling and the amount of drop i thought would look best...if you have very low or very high ceilings you may want to adjust that more or less. Ours is 40x50. (****) 80 yds roughly

I would go with each peice (the ones going across the room) to be 60ft, or roughly 15 yards each, that gives you 20ft of wiggle room and to drape it the way that it is, plus it gives you a bit to go down the walls if that's what you're wanting to do with it. the 60 feet will go all the way across the ceiling, with you of course securing it in the middle as the picture above.

If we think of each drape as a half circle we can guesstimate how much you would need. I'm just gonna round the arc off to a half circle, because at worst that way you'll have a little extra rather than not enough. I could figure it out more exactly, but you would need to figure out exactly how low you want the lowest point of the draping to be from the ceiling, and than I'd really have to do some trig, and I'm a little burnt out on math.

Circumference=pi(d)

C=3.14(28)

C=87.92 or rounded to 88 feet

You don't need a full circle but roughly half, that's 44 feet give or take a few feet for one arc. So I would say you would need about 88 for two arcs from one side to the other side of the room. I hope that made sense. Since you said it's a tent.....that's a whole other kettle of fish, since the ceiling is not flat. Assuming a full half circle should give you a little extra to make up for where the poles push the ceiling upwards adding to the amount of tulle you would need.

If you're doing a star shape (8 pieces) you'll actually only need 4 pieces of fabric.

Without calculating the swag, and assuming the room is 39 x 30 as stated

1 piece 39' long,

1 piece 30' long

2 pieces that are the hypotenuse of a right triangle that is 39 x 30.

That will give you 8 "legs" from the center. If you want more pieces, just add for that. The angled pieces will need to be 49.2' long.

Here's where you have to be careful:

1. Allow for swag. Believe it or not, it's not as much as you'd think. For a 30' piece, I'd only add about 3'.

2. Add 5% for mistakes, and for attachment to whatever. Sometimes I'll add 10%.

3. Remember that a bolt of fabric is X yards long, but it may not be in one piece. I've purchased bolts that were 2 pieces, or even 3, and the break is never where you need it to be. You might get stuck with a very long piece that is useless. I always add 10% more than the middle length piece per bolt. So if I'm buying 3 bolts, I

One more thing, if it's a tent, you need to factor in the distance from the peak/center, to the attachment point at the side. While this won't add much, it will add something, depending on the difference. Again, use a right angle calculator easily found on the interwebz.

Tulle comes in many widths, I suggest the wider the better. 120" is pretty easy to order in many styles to include sparkly.

I think ceiling height plays into this also. If you have a 8 ft ceiling your not able to come down as much in the drape. If you have a 12 ft ceiling you could come down more. 1 yd is 3 ft. your room is 40x40, You would need 13.33 yards to stretch from one side to another. That is without having any hang down on the walls. I would add 6 extra yards to each piece giving you 3 yds on each side of center for the drape.

For a close total of 20 yards per piece of fabric x 4. so 80 yards total fabric.

I would take those 4 pieces and fold them in half. hook them in the center on a ring or whatever your going to use. hang that from the ceiling and then pull your 8 tulle streamers to each place on the wall where you want to attach them.

Answer 80 yards cut into 4 20 yd pieces

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