No, it's not a mistake the way they have you construct it. I get 5.04 yards of brown using their cutting list. There are two reasons why it's so much...1) is all the seams in the brown pieces...and 2) is because they cut off half the little squares that form the edges around each block. Look at diagram 7 and 8 on page 64 and you'll see what I mean. There's a lot of waste. But overall, it's not a mistake...although 5.25 yards ought to be just fine. :D