Denim fabric guide
Denim Coat Design with AI
A denim coat is a specialist order: ask for rigid denim at 340 to 470 g/m², and expect fewer mills to take it on.
Of the 13 cloths this guide lists for this cut, it sits between double knit jersey and wool tweed in weight.
Next to double knit jersey, it is heavier, firmer and less stretchy.
Denim Coat at a glance
- Cloth to ask your mill for
- Rigid denim
- Typical weight
- 340 to 470 g/m²
- Drape
- Structured, holds its own shape
- Stretch
- Slight
- Breathability
- Medium
- Warmth
- Neutral
- Care
- Machine wash cold, inside out
- How common
- Niche, usually a specialist order
- Typical cloth price
- $8-30/yard
Typical trade ranges, not one mill's figures: confirm them with your mill.
The coat, in numbers
- Typical length
- 95 to 115 cm, from the high point of the shoulder
- Defining details
- Lapel or stand collar, single- or double-breasted front, back vent, full lining
- Cloth needed
- about 2.8 to 3.6 m of 150 cm cloth, roughly $24 to $120 of cloth at typical prices
Typical figures for an adult size M. The pattern tier is set from the real piece count when you order.
How denim behaves on a coat
In a coat it holds a strong shoulder and a straight front almost without help from the canvas.
Cut long, a structured cloth is heavy and stiff, so it suits a straight, coat-like line more than a flowing one.
It is neither warm nor cool, so it works across most of the year.
Wash it cold and inside out to keep the color.
It fades where the body creases, and rigid denim shrinks unless it is sanforised, so the mill's shrinkage figure belongs on the spec sheet.
About denim
Denim is a cotton twill woven with indigo-dyed warp yarns and an undyed weft, which is why it is blue on the face and pale on the back. Its weight, in ounces per square yard, decides how it wears.
Selvedge denim from narrow shuttle looms is a specialist product, made notably in Japan, Italy and the United States; most denim comes from wide looms in Turkey, Pakistan, India and China.
It is almost never lined; seams are flat-felled or bound so the inside looks finished.
Cutting, sewing and color
A 100/16 or 110/18 jeans needle and a heavier thread; flat-felled seams and bar tacks at the stress points.
Indigo is the classic dye, and washes from rinse to bleach change the shade after the garment is sewn.
Its surface is matte, so it photographs evenly under flat light.
A description to start from
A coat in rigid denim, 340 to 470 g/m², with a structured drape and a matte surface, for most of the year.
If denim is not quite right
- Lighter: Jersey, in double knit jersey
- Heavier: Tweed, in wool tweed
- Warmer: Wool, in wool melton
Also: how the studio works, prices and questions and answers.
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