What Fabric Is Used For Coats? (Best For Trench, Duffle)
When you are completing your fashion outfit, you cannot ignore your coat. Any ensemble will not be complete if you use the wrong fabric or the wrong style in creating your next coat. Using the right material ensures that your overall fashion style will be fashion-forward.
What fabric is used for coats? The list is long for the many fabrics you can use to make coats. But for trench coats, you need a tightly woven material to keep the rain away. A good cotton twill fabric or gabardine wool is ideal. Put a removable liner in so you can wear it all year round.
To learn more about what fabrics to use in making a good trench or other coat, just continue to read our article. Inside it has the information that you need to find the right fabric for your next coat project.
Fabric for Coats 101
What Fabric Are Coats Made From?
To start off mohair, fur, faux fur, tweed are just the beginning fabrics you can choose from when making a coat. But the list does not stop there as there are many different styles of coats you can make.
For lightweight ones, you have jacquard, tweed, boucle, thin wool, velvet, and so on. You can also use some cotton materials, polyester, microfibers, polar fleece, and more. Then for medium weight coats, there are cashmere, heavier wools, wool blends, and more.
Finally, for the heavier weight coats, you can use mohair, tweed, wool, fur, faux fur, and just about any reasonable heavyweight fabric. The choice is so large that we cannot put all the fabrics here.
The best thing to do is go with a material you like and pick one that matches the season you are going to wear it in. Being stylish doesn’t mean you have to wear a fabric you do not like. (read also blazer material)
What Fabric To Use For Coat Lining
There are three basic criteria you have to meet to find the best fabric for a coat. The first is color. The lining should not clash with the exterior color on the coat material. Second, you need to know the purpose of the coat.
Third, the lining should be compatible with the exterior material. Usually, the lining needs to be the same weight or just lighter than the material used for the coat. Also, the lining should be a bit slippery so the coat slips on a doff without any trouble.
As with exterior fabrics, you have a good list of lining material to use. Rayon is one choice and that is followed by Viscose, Cupro but then there is still cotton and silk which really bring a nice look and feel to your outerwear. A final fabric will be polyester which lends its own unique style to your coat.
What is the Best Fabric for Winter Coats?
The list is a bit shorter here as you can make a great coat out of the following four fabrics. Mohair is made from the fleece of the Angora goat and its natural fibers are durable and very cozy. It's a good fabric to use whether it is 100% or blended with wool.
Wool is the second choice as that is a very warm fabric and good for winter. The air pockets in wool materials help trap body heat keeping the cold from getting to your skin. Fur or faux fur, depending on which side of the environmental debate you are on, are two more good choices
Fur has been used for thousands of years because it is waterproof and it can withstand below-freezing temperatures. Then finally, tweed needs to be on this list. It is also durable and comes in medium and heavyweight options to make sure you can meet the cooler temperatures as they come throughout the season.
What is the Warmest Fabric for a Winter Coat?
This may upset animal lovers but fur is the best fabric and the warmest one for a winter coat. Along with linen and cotton and other natural fibers, fur has been used in winter coats when the world was young.
There is a good for that popularity and use. It withstands really cold temperatures and repels water. If you are an animal lover you can go to wool as that is made from a renewable source and does not harm the animals when they are sheared.
Mohair and tweed are also two more warm choices and again animals are not harmed when their hair is removed from their bodies. Also, you can try synthetic materials as long as they are heavyweight and can insulate you from the cold weather or rain.
Just pick the fabric you like and forget what other people think.
Best Fabric for Raincoat
In this category, three requirements need to be met. First, the material should be waterproof, water-resistant, or water-absorbing. Second, the material should provide proper ventilation and third, the material needs to be compatible with water-resistant accessories like zippers and so on.
Some of the materials that meet those requirements are polyester, nylon, and what are called proprietary blends. Other choices are laminated cotton, vinyl, and other waterproof fabrics. They may not meet all of the requirements but they do a good job of keeping the rain off of you.
Like most coat projects you are given a lot of choice in what to use as the main material in raincoats. Pick the fabric that appeals to you color-wise as well as versatility.
You also may want to consider PUL, TPU, and a blend of nylon and polyester or other fabrics to remain stylish while trying to keep dry.
What Fabric is Used for Trench Coats
Trench coats are another clothing item that lets you explore your creative and innovative nature. There are dozens of fabrics you can use to make yours unique as well as remaining stylish.
For classical looks, you can go with tweed, cotton, or wool. These fabrics may make you look like a private detective but they certainly do their job well. If you want to be seen as thinking outside the box, you can go with metallic fabric. Copper and silver are just two of the metals used to make unique trench coats.
Do not forget about the many polyester fabrics that will work as well. The good thing about this fabric and cotton is that you get more options than you can count. The myriad of colors, designs, and thicknesses make sure you can have a trench coat for all seasons and activities.
Fabric Used for Doctors Coat
Cotton is the go-to fabric for this option. A poplin or twill weave makes the best fabrics to make these coats stand up to what a doctor has to go through each day. Plus, they help him or her remain comfortable as they work.
Or you might want to go with a cotton-poly blend or 100% polyester. The choice of fabric is up to you and your budget. For polyester, you can choose rayon, nylon, and modacrylic as these materials help protect the wearer from chemical or other lab spills.
A medium weight fabric is all you need here. There is no need to go heavy as that may just e too uncomfortable to move in. Doctors need a lot of freedom of movement as their duties require them to assume different positions so the fabric should have some flexibility to it.
Best Fabric for a Duffle Coat
Originally, this coat was made from duffel fabric. The name for the fabric came from the town in Belgium where the material was first created, Duffel. In Canada, the last two letters are changed around and the word looks like this- duffle, but the pronunciation remains the same.
Duffle bags were made from the same material, hence their name. Today, more modern duffle coats are made from Melton cloth. This is supposed to be a softer fabric than duffel and should still stand up to heavy treatment.
One reason these coats were made from duffel material is that it was waterproof and resisted the wind so the wearer remained warm even when the temperatures dropped. The main drawback is that the fabric is quite heavy and may be a little hard to move when wearing the coat.
But to stay healthy and warm, a loss of movement is a small price to pay.
Fabric for a Waterproof Coat
In this case, you would want to go to the waterproof fabric section of your fabric supply store. There is no sense buying a fabric that doesn’t resist the rain or snow when you want to stay warm and dry when outside.
There are many choices in this category as well. To start you can go with PUL, TPU, nylon, and polyester. These are colorful choices that help make sure the rain doesn’t penetrate your clothing.
Then you can use laminated cotton, oil cloth, polyester fleece, microfiber, and wool. These are very stylish fabrics to some extent. But the list is not over yet. Vinyl is always going to be on this list as well pleather and plastic.
To round out the list you should look at tightly woven wool if you do not like your choices in the other materials. Of course, your selection will depend on your desire to be fashionable or dry.
Where to Buy Fabric for Coats
When it comes to fabrics, you are never going to be short of source options. To keep the local economy going, you should check your local fabric outlets first. They should carry a wide selection of coat material or have the capability to order some in for you. Customer service at these outlets is hard to beat.
Next up will be your big box stores, department stores and national chains like Hobby Lobby, etc. Their business is to bring you the best material at the lowest cost. They may be easier to find in your hometown but the customer service may not always be that great.
Next up will be your online outlets like Amazon and the many fabric only internet outlets that keep their prices low so you can get the material you want at the price you want to pay.
A quick search on your computer will turn up dozens of leads for you and may even bring to your attention a good store you have never heard of. Also, you may be able to find some good fabric at those going out of business sales that never seem to go out of business.
Best Material for Coat Hooks
Like coat fabric, this necessity has a variety of materials for you to choose between. Your selection will depend on the weight of the coat, the room’s decor, and the location of the coat hooks. Also, if you want to attach them to the wall or have the hooks free standing.
The best material is wrought iron but it may be very expensive. It is a tough material that should hold the heaviest of coats. Next, you can go to steel or aluminum, brass, and wood. All of these work well if you get the right quality of the material.
Wood pegs are decorative and bring that old fashioned feel to any home they are placed. It would be best to stay away from plastic coat hooks. They may be cheap and look good but they are only good for lightweight materials.
Some Final Words
Finding material for your coat project is not going to be a problem. As you can see, there are more than enough fabrics available to make any coat you want. The hardest part will be deciding which one, which color and which design to use.
Another concern will be if you have the sewing machine to handle the project. If so, then you can make a lot of coats for your family keeping them warm and stylish throughout the year.
