Outerwear weight
Cotton hemp fabric for jackets and workwear
Cotton hemp cloth at jacket weight — sturdy enough to hold a collar and a patch pocket, soft enough that you will actually wear it. The fabric for chore coats, unlined jackets, aprons and hard-used bags.
- Jacket and workwear weight
- Softens with wear
- Cut by the yard
Why hemp for outerwear
Hemp fiber is strong and abrasion-resistant, and blended with cotton it keeps that durability while losing the stiffness hemp has on its own. It starts firm, breaks in over a season of wear and holds a pressed edge better than most soft cottons.
Weight and yardage
Around 250 to 320 gsm is the useful range for an unlined jacket or chore coat. Allow roughly two and a half yards at 54 inches for a hip-length jacket, closer to three if it is longer or you are pattern-matching pockets.
Sewing notes
Use a size 90/14 or 100/16 needle and a longer stitch. Press seams hard with steam and a clapper, and grade bulky seam allowances at collars and cuffs. Prewash hot — hemp blends shrink meaningfully on the first wash, and a jacket is not a garment you want to lose an inch from later.
Questions
- Is cotton hemp fabric scratchy?
- It feels firm and dry off the bolt, then softens considerably with washing and wear. It never becomes flannel, and it isn't meant to.
- How much does hemp shrink?
- More than cotton alone. Prewash and dry the way you'll launder the finished piece, and use the shrinkage figure on the listing where we have tested it.