What Is The Best Fabric For Hoodies? (9 Options And Weight)
You are just trying to stay warm. One of the best ways to do that when you want to be comfortable and casual is by wearing a hoodie. These little clothing items keep the cold out and let you protect the back of your neck, something a hat cannot do.
What is the best fabric for hoodies? Cotton and denim are good materials for hoodies and the former is the most often selected fabric. It helps you breathe, keeps you warmer and it is easy to clean. But if you really want to be warm, then choose a good fleece fabric. It outdoes cotton by far.
To learn more about the best fabrics to make a hoodie, just continue to read our article. It analyzes the different materials and points you in the right direction. Even a good cotton-poly blend is an ideal fabric to use for a hoodie.
Fabric for Hoodies 101
What Kind of Fabric is Used for Hoodies?
There are several choices available for you to choose from. One is the most used cotton or cotton-poly blend. Both are outstanding fabrics that bring the benefits of cotton to your lifestyle.
If you live in a colder region of the nation, then you may want to go with a wool fabric or a wool fleece blend with both materials being thick and heavy. Of course, cotton is probably the most comfortable but even thick cotton fabrics are not as good against the cold as fleece or wool.
Then you can try nylon or a nylon blend. This material helps keep the moisture away without removing any of the comfort you want in a hoodie. The selection you make will also depend on your skin type as some fabrics are not great with sensitive skin or allergies.
Your lifestyle will also influence your decision as one fabric is better for more physical activities than others.
Types of Fabric for Hoodies
There are a lot of good choices here and to be honest, you can use a variety of fabrics for your hoodie. It will all depend if you want to be seen as a traditionalist or as someone who thinks outside the ox.
Plus, it will depend on the weather conditions around your home or if you do a lot of hiking or mountain climbing. For the latter two activities, you should go with a nylon or a fleece fabric. You want to stay warm and have the moisture wicked away as quickly as possible.
If you are going to the mall or just hanging out with friends, then a good cotton fabric or cotton-poly blend will suffice. But if the weather is cooler, go with fleece or wool. There is almost an unlimited amount of options you can go with. Your sense of fashion style should be your guiding influence.
Fleece Fabric for Hoodies
This is a good choice of fabrics as the material, if not tightly woven, should have little air pockets that trap your body heat and keep you nice and comfortable. Also, the fabric is soft, nice to the touch, and can withstand some light rain so you do not have to change if it gets a little wet.
Then fleece is made from plastic turned into polyester so you are helping the environment by purchasing that hoodie made from those products. Or if you want to go natural, you can find fleece made from natural fibers that are comfortable as well as durable.
Fleece can be worn all year round depending on the quality of the material and the weave style. A looser weave is warmer and better for breathing while a tight weave lets you stay cool when the temperature gets a little high.
In the end, it just may be the color of the fleece that gets you to purchase it for your next hoodie.
Jersey Fabric for Hoodies
If you are doing a lot of physical activity in your hoodie, then you would want to work with one that is made from a cotton jersey material. This material brings you all the benefits of cotton and more.
Plus it stretches up to 25% in some cases making sure you have the movement needed to successfully do your activities. It is a great fabric to use in gardening as it will keep you warm as well as let you trim those dead leaves, or dig that hole for your next plant.
Then being made from cotton, the hoodie should clean up nice and easily. Just wash it like you would any cotton jersey knit and it will be ready when you are. Cotton jersey is also an easy fabric to find and may not be all that costly. Lots of fabric outlets should have this material and other jersey fabrics on hand for you to purchase.
Stretchy Fabric for Hoodies
This is a good option in some cases. It may not meet your lifestyle needs so you can pass on using this material if you want. But for those who do a lot of physical activities that require a lot of stretching, then you will want the hoodie to stretch with you.
Either a good 2 way or 4-way stretch fabric will work or you can use bamboo jersey or one of the following fabrics to make your hoodie nice and stretchy-- Doubleknit Rayon Blend, Interlock twist jersey, Double knit, Silk Mesh Knits, Silk Jersey.
These materials should be strong and durable helping them last you for years. The key is to make sure the material will stretch in the direction you need it to. Make sure to follow the cleaning instructions for the different materials. The right care keeps these fabrics in top shape.
Is 100% Cotton Good for Hoodies?
Even though it is a good fabric for hoodies, you may have a difficult time finding it in the stores. The brand names make almost all of their hoodies and other clothing out of a cotton-poly blend and not 100% cotton.
That fabric is okay except that it cuts down on the benefits that cotton brings to your active lifestyle. Also, some people are allergic to polyester and they are out of luck unless they make their own hoodies from scratch.
It is not just hoodies that have this problem. 100% cotton sweat pants and shirts are also disappearing fast. You can still get 100% cotton t-shirts so the best thing to do is find a good hoodie pattern and make your own. Or go to your local thrift store to see if they have a nice selection of 100% cotton hoodies.
Is Polyester Good for Hoodies?
If you are on a budget then polyester is the way to go. That material costs less than cotton does and it shows on the retail price when you are doing comparison shopping. But polyester may not be the best material when you are making a hoodie.
It is becoming a more common material when you go out to the malls searching for a nice pre-made hoodie. Or you may find lots of cotton-poly blends for the same article of clothing. But that poses a problem when you have an allergy to polyester.
You may be relegated to making your own hoodie out of cotton or some other non-polyester fiber material. This fabric is durable but it doesn’t breathe as well as cotton or other natural fibers do so you may want to avoid using this material whenever possible.
Your budget may say otherwise though. It is up to you but we wouldn’t recommend it.
What is The Best Fabric for Hoodies?
There are lots of good fabrics to make hoodies out of. Of course, your selection will depend on your allergies or personal preferences. There are people who will only use natural fibers in their clothing including when they make hoodies.
Polyester is made fro petroleum products, recycled plastic, and other chemicals that may not be that healthy for you. It should be low on the list of fabrics to use and maybe the last stop.
Cotton, wool, and other natural fibers are great for hoodies as well as some synthetic fibers like fleece. Some fabric names are drug rug, Baja, Mexican, jerga, and more. These may all be good but you really can’t beat 100% natural fibers for warmth, comfort, and health. The fabric you choose will be up to your personal preference and being good to the environment may have you selecting polyester or fleece over the other choices.
Hoodie Fabric Weight
The average hoodie fabric weight ranges between 6 1/2 to 10 ounces with polyester being on the lighter side of the scale and most kinds of cotton being on the heavier side. This range gives you a lot of leeway in finding your perfect comfort zone.
Of course, you are free to use fabric that is on the lighter or heavier side of those boundaries. Your personal preference is not limited to just wearing that weight of fabric and you can experiment to see which weight is the best for you and your active lifestyle.
Take your time figuring out which weight is the best for you. Make sure to get the color and design you want as well. Those aspects are important when you are wearing this clothing item. After all, everyone will see you in that clothing item and you need to make a great impression.
How Many Yards of Fabric do I Need to Make a Hoodie?
As you well know, the number of yards needed to make any clothing item will depend on the size of the person wearing it. The same holds true for the hoodie as you do not need as man yards of fabric if you are making one for a child.
Also, the amount of the yardage needed depends on the width of the fabric you are buying. For a medium-sized hoodie, using 45-inch width material you are looking at needing 2 7/8 yards. For 60 inch wide fabric you need about 2 yards.
Don’t forget to add n extra for allowances, seams pockets, and for any errors you may make. For children sizes, you can get away with less than 2 yards. Don’t forget you want to use a strong thread that will hold up to sweat, rain, and physical activities.
Fabric Consumption for Hoodies
There is an equation you can use to help you figure out the fabric consumption. Unfortunately, the only ones we saw were ones that dealt with a high number of units to be made. If you are making just one hoodie then you would have to modify the following equation to get to the fabric consumption total.
Here is the equation-- (Body Length + Sleeve Length + Seam Allowance) x (½ Chest + Seam Allowance) x 2 x GSM / 1550 x1000 + 10% (Wastage and extra cutting) x Doz. + TF (Trim Fabric) -- and it comes from this website.
If you scroll down, you will find the calculations for different parts of the hoodie in inches and yards. If you like sewing in metric, you will find the metric calculations first then the ones done in inches.
Just remember those calculations are covering about a dozen hoodies being made at the same time. Your fabric consumption will differ depending on how many you are making.
Some Final Words
Making a good hoodie is a nice sewing project as they are wonderful gifts to you and your family. The different fabrics available make sure that you can have one for all seasons. That is the great thing about making your own. You can make a different one for cold weather or hot weather and be creative at the same time.
If you choose a polyester fabric, make sure you or a loved one is not allergic to that material.
