M1565 88% Cotton 12% Linen Twill Fabric 135 GSM 148cm Width – for Shirts, Dresses and Casual Wear

Item M1565 is a woven 88% cotton / 12% linen twill at 135 GSM and 148 cm wide, supplied in yarn-dyed solids and stripes. It is a summer-weight shirting and dress cloth: soft against the skin, breathable, washable in a normal machine cycle, and it does not need ironing to look presentable. Because both cotton and flax are natural cellulose fibres, it is also fully biodegradable.

The proportion is the specification, and it is worth understanding what it means in use. At 88% cotton and 12% linen the cloth behaves as a cotton — soft, smooth, highly absorbent, and with good wrinkle tolerance, which is the single reason most linen programmes lose returns. What the flax contributes is surface and hand: a fine slub, a matte finish, a slightly crisper touch and a cooler feel against the skin. At 135 GSM the cloth sits in the band apparel manufacturers treat as the most reliable for a cotton-linen construction — light enough to be a summer shirt, heavy enough to be a dress, and stable enough to sew cleanly, hold a seam and be laundered at 60°C without distorting. The 148 cm width gives efficient marker making across long panels, so one specification can cover shirts, dresses, skirts and trousers.

Five properties decide how this cloth behaves in wear. Because this is a cotton-led construction, the useful questions are what the ratio means in use, why this weight, and how the two fibres handle heat and moisture together — with the honest limits stated, because a linen-look cloth should not be sold as a linen cloth.

Where this weight sits. In the middle of the range, and the middle is where most linen apparel actually lives. Heavier than the 60–100 GSM cloths used for sheers and summer shirting, lighter than the 200+ GSM linens used for upholstery and heavy tailoring. That makes it the natural choice for shirting that stands away from the body, dresses and skirts that hold a shape, unlined jackets — and the honest trade-off is that the linen content is only 12%, so this is a linen-look cotton rather than a true linen cloth, and at 12% the flax cannot carry a structural role.

Item M1565 is a woven cotton-linen blend with a 88% cotton / 12% linen composition, woven as a twill at 135 GSM and 148 cm wide, supplied in yarn-dyed solids and stripes. In practical terms: it is a summer-weight shirting and dress cloth. It is soft against the skin, it breathes, it washes in a normal machine cycle, it does not need ironing to look presentable, and it reads as a natural linen-look fabric in the hand and in the photograph. It is also fully biodegradable, because both cotton and flax are natural cellulose fibres.

The proportion matters more than the blend name. At 88% cotton and 12% linen this behaves as a cotton: soft, smooth, highly absorbent, and with good wrinkle tolerance — it stays presentable through a working day and a wash cycle without pressing. Pure linen, by contrast, creases freely and hard, and that is the single reason most linen programmes lose returns. What the 12% flax contributes is surface and hand: a fine slub texture, a matte finish, a slightly crisper touch and a cooler feel against the skin. In the trade this ratio is the standard construction for a linen-look shirting — it delivers the appearance of flax with the ease of care of cotton, and it can be sold, labelled and washed as cotton.

At 135 GSM this sits in the weight band that apparel manufacturers treat as the most reliable for a cotton-linen construction: below roughly 120 GSM the cloth is light enough to distort in the cut, and above about 180 GSM the handle stiffens. This weight is light enough to be a summer shirt, heavy enough to be a dress, and stable enough to sew cleanly and hold a seam. For a factory this means a cloth that can be cut, stitched and laundered at 60°C without distortion; for a buyer it means one specification covering shirts, dresses, skirts and trousers instead of a specialty fabric for one garment type. The 148 cm width also gives efficient marker making across long panels.

These are the properties that put cotton-linen in the shirting category, and the mechanism is worth stating. Flax fibre has a hollow internal structure that promotes airflow and moves moisture away from the skin quickly, which is why linen feels cool in heat; cotton adds high absorbency and a soft surface. Combined, the two create a micro-porous breathable network that spreads perspiration and lets it evaporate rather than holding it against the skin. Neither fibre carries a free charge, so the cloth does not build static, and flax retains its natural antibacterial property, which means a shirt or a dress cut from it stays fresher over a long day. The fibre pH is slightly acidic, which is part of why the cloth is comfortable against sensitive skin.

Three practical points, stated plainly. First, this is a linen-look cotton, not a linen cloth. At 12% the flax cannot carry a structural role, and the label must say 88% cotton — it should not be presented as a linen fabric. Second, cotton-dominant blends are easier to control than linen-rich ones: first-wash shrinkage can be held to around 3% with pre-shrinking, but the cloth should still be washed before cutting, and high heat avoided, because heat sets the wrinkles into the cotton component. Third, flax is stiffer than cotton, so a new, unwashed bolt of this cloth can feel slightly firm against the skin; it softens with every wash and does not need a chemical softener to get there. Linen also takes dye less evenly than cotton, so solid shades are more consistent than deep or reactive ones — worth knowing before a color is approved. What this cloth is: the easiest natural fabric in the range to wear, wash, cut and sell.

At 135 GSM and 148 cm this is a shirting-weight cloth that works across several garment types rather than one. The 148 cm width is the detail that matters commercially here — it gives efficient marker making for long panels in both dresses and trousers, and it is wide enough to cut a dress panel without a seam.

This is the core use and the reason for the weight. At 135 GSM the cloth is light enough for a summer shirt, and the cotton content means it is soft, smooth and absorbent against the skin without needing a wash compromise. The 12% flax adds a fine slub and a matte finish so the shirt reads as a natural linen-look fabric rather than a plain synthetic. The wrinkle tolerance of a cotton-led cloth is the practical advantage: it survives a working day, a bag and a wash cycle without pressing, which is exactly what a shirt needs to do.

The same construction works for a dress or a skirt, and here the combination of absorbency and airflow is what carries it. Flax moves moisture away from the skin quickly and cotton holds it, so the two together create a breathable network that keeps a wearer dry in heat rather than clammy. The 148 cm width allows a full dress panel to be cut in one piece, and the cloth is light enough to be comfortable through a warm day without holding the body.

A stock range of solids and stripes is held for immediate dispatch, covering naturals and creams through mid tones, pastels and deeper shades. The cloth is yarn dyed, which means the color is in the yarn rather than on the surface, so it holds its depth and its crispness through washing far better than a piece-dyed print on the same base. Custom solid dyeing to Pantone TCX is available for development orders — and for a cotton-linen blend it is worth approving the shade on a washed sample, because flax takes dye less evenly than cotton and the solid shades are the most consistent.

Hand samples and cutting samples are supplied before bulk production, either from stock greige or from a lab dip matched to your shade. For a cotton-linen cloth we recommend washing the sample before approval: this is a fabric that changes in the hand, and the finished feel after a wash is the one the customer will judge. Cut samples are supplied so the drape and the handle can be checked on the body.

Development runs around three points: the fibre ratio and yarn count, the shade matched to Pantone TCX, and the weight confirmed against the end use. On this construction we also confirm shrinkage on a washed sample before bulk is scheduled — a cotton-dominant blend holds it more easily than a linen-rich one, to around 3% with pre-shrinking, but the cloth should still be washed before cutting. We specify a 30°C wash and shade dry, because heat sets the wrinkles into the cotton component. Full-width greige and finished samples, small trial orders and custom development are supported for new customers.

The answers below state the specification directly, so that the construction can be identified quickly and quoted accurately.