A denim mill makes the cloth, dyeing the yarn, weaving it and finishing it. Cut-and-sew denim manufacturers turn that cloth into jeans for brands that own no factory: they cut and sew it, have the garments washed, then check, pack and ship them. Between the two sits a decision that is easy to make by default: who buys the denim.
Whoever buys the denim carries most of its risk, so settle the sourcing model and the fabric-handling terms in writing before anything is cut. Denim raises the stakes, because shade, shrinkage and skew all move in the wash, and a fault missed on the roll repeats in every pair cut from it.
This guide is sponsored by Urgan Textile, a denim garment manufacturer in Turkey that appears later as the worked example. Dexitex does not rank manufacturers, and the comparison below is vendor-neutral.
The habits in sourcing fabric with confidence still hold (a written spec, a sealed sample, agreed tolerances). What changes is that another company now holds the fabric, and the contract must say what it does with it.
Three ways to buy cut-and-sew denim production
- CMT (cut, make and trim): you buy the denim, and usually the trims, and deliver them; the manufacturer charges for cutting, sewing and finishing.
- Nominated fabric: you choose the mill and the fabric article (the mill's reference for one construction, weight and finish) and approve a fabric standard; the manufacturer orders and pays for it.
- Full package, in this guide's narrow sense: the manufacturer buys the fabric and trims to your spec. Some use the term more broadly (pattern work, shipping), so agree what it covers.
| CMT | Nominated fabric | Full package | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who buys the denim | You | The manufacturer, from your chosen mill | The manufacturer |
| Who signs off shrinkage and wash allowances before bulk | You, on tests run at the laundry | You, on the manufacturer's tests | The manufacturer; you approve the PP (pre-production) sample |
| Who carries shade and dye-lot risk | You: you bought the lots | Disputed unless the contract assigns it | The manufacturer, against the approved standard |
| Which minimum binds | The mill's, in metres per article and colour, and the factory's per style | Both, with the mill's passed on to you | The factory's per style, with the mill's behind it |
| Who pays when fabric fails | You, claiming from the mill | Whoever the contract names | The manufacturer |
| Suits | Brands with mill relationships and staff to run purchasing, freight and claims | Brands wanting control of the cloth without buying and shipping it | Small teams wanting one accountable party |
Read the table as a map, not a ranking, and choose by how much fabric work your team can take on. CMT gives the most control and the most paperwork; full package, the least of each. Nominated fabric is where liability is easiest to dispute, because three parties had a hand in the cloth: you chose it, the mill made it and the manufacturer bought it.
Where fabric risk sits in a cut-and-sew denim run
Whichever model you choose, these steps decide whether the fabric becomes consistent jeans. You need not know how to do them, only what paper each leaves behind; the checklist below asks for it.
Inspection on arrival
Rolls should be inspected before they are accepted, usually with the 4-point system in ASTM D5430: each defect is scored by its length, and the total is expressed as points per 100 square yards, so rolls of different sizes compare. The standard leaves the acceptance level to buyer and supplier, so write it into the contract, with the share of rolls inspected and what happens when the first ones fail.
The same check covers width, weight and shade against the approved standard, plus bow (weft yarns curving across the width) and skew (weft yarns running straight but at an angle to the selvedge). In denim, skew outside the spec is one cause of leg twist after washing.
Dye lots, shade bands and bundle tickets
Denim comes in dye lots (fabric from one dyeing run), and even rolls from one lot can differ in shade. Each roll should keep its lot and roll number from the warehouse to the cutting table. Because the shade that matters is the one after washing, a cutting from each roll is usually sewn into a blanket and put through the production wash, then rolls are grouped into shade bands (rolls close enough to cut together). Each spread, the stack of fabric layers laid out for cutting, should come from one band, and bundles are ticketed so every garment's panels come from the same ply (layer). That stops one leg looking lighter than the other.
Shrinkage tested per lot
Sanforising, a mechanical pre-shrinking step at the mill, reduces how much denim moves in the wash but does not stop it, and length and width rarely shrink equally. Each lot should be shrink-tested by washing a panel at the laundry, with the production recipe, before bulk cutting; the shade blanket often serves both checks. The result sets the allowance built into the pattern, and a named person signs it off.
Relaxing stretch denim
Stretch denim is wound onto the roll under tension. Cut it before it relaxes and the panels shrink afterwards, so the jeans come out short or tight. It should be unrolled and rested for the time the mill recommends for that article before spreading, and that time belongs in the written spec.
Cutting method
An automatic, computer-controlled cutter follows the marker (the plan of pattern pieces) through the whole spread, so panels stay consistent from top ply to bottom and from order to order. It cannot fix what was decided before it started: an unrelaxed spread, two shade bands in one lay, or the wrong shrinkage allowance.
Lab tests to request
Name the method, not just the test:
- colour fastness to rubbing (crocking, as indigo rubs off): ISO 105-X12 or AATCC TM8;
- dimensional change after washing: ISO 5077 or AATCC TM135;
- skew change and garment twist after laundering: AATCC TM179;
- bow and skew: ASTM D3882;
- stretch and recovery of stretch denim: ASTM D3107;
- restricted substances, tested against your RSL (restricted substances list).
Agree methods and pass levels with your lab, and verify the spec sheet against the results.
The liability clause, model by model
The clause has the same parts in every model; what changes is who signs each one.
- Fabric standard: the approved fabric sample and spec sheet, plus a lab dip (a small sample dyed to your target colour) for any piece-dyed colour.
- Tolerances for weight, width, shrinkage and shade, taken from the spec sheet; how to read a fabric spec sheet covers each line.
- A deadline for reporting faults before cutting. Mills commonly refuse claims on cut fabric.
- Who pays for replacement fabric, re-cuts and delay, including faster freight.
- Wash failures at a subcontracted laundry: who answers to you for them.
Under CMT, you claim from the mill; the manufacturer must inspect, report inside the deadline and pay for its own cutting errors. Under nominated fabric, name who claims from the mill and whether choosing it makes you liable for its failures. Under full package, the manufacturer answers for the fabric, so make the standard physical and signed.
How to vet cut-and-sew denim manufacturers on fabric handling
Ask every candidate the same questions, and ask for a document rather than a yes:
- Do you accept buyer-supplied or nominated fabric, or full package only?
- Which inspection system, on what share of rolls, at what acceptance level, and how fast are faults reported? Show a recent report.
- How are rolls tracked by dye lot until cutting? Show a roll ticket.
- Do you shade-sort on washed swatches? Show a shade-band card.
- Is shrinkage tested per lot, at the bulk laundry with the bulk recipe? Show a signed shrinkage sheet.
- How long does stretch denim relax before spreading, and where is that written?
- Is cutting automatic or manual, and how are first-cut panels checked against the pattern?
- Where does your production lead time start, and which fabric sign-offs must close before it?
- Which lab tests do you run or commission, and to which methods?
- If a partner laundry does the washing, who answers to me for a wash failure?
Reading a manufacturer's published chain for fabric risk
Urgan Textile (Urgan Tekstil) has made denim garments since 1995 and says it serves global brands, with an HQ in Istanbul and a production facility in Kastamonu; it lists private-label and OEM (made to the brand's specification) jeans production among its areas of expertise. Its published org chart has the parts of the full-package route as defined here: it sources fabrics and trims and keeps its own fabrics and trims warehouse, and it has a cutting department with automatic cutting machines, its own sewing department, quality control (QC) and finishing, packing and forwarding. Washing, embroidery and print are handled through outsourced partners. It samples in 7–10 days and describes itself as flexible with MOQ (minimum order quantity).
Its site does not say whether it takes buyer-supplied or nominated fabric, or how it inspects, relaxes, shade-sorts or shrink-tests denim. It lists inline and final QC but nothing about checking incoming fabric. So its published facts answer three checklist questions, and each answer raises another:
- Storage (question 3): a fabrics and trims warehouse. Ask how rolls are tracked by dye lot inside it.
- Cutting (question 7): automatic cutting machines. Ask how spreads are relaxed and shade-banded first.
- Lead time (question 8): production takes 4 weeks after PP sample approval. Close the fabric, shade and shrinkage sign-offs before approving that sample, and ask whether that window assumes the fabric is already in the warehouse.
Why it is a useful example: its published chain keeps sourcing, storage, cutting and sewing inside one company, the shape that suits a team wanting one accountable party, though its site does not say who pays when fabric fails. With washing outsourced, the partner laundry is the hand-off to settle in the contract, so questions 5 and 10 matter most. Its private label and OEM jeans production page describes its own fabric sourcing and warehouse, where the liability questions above begin.
FAQ
What does CMT stand for in fashion?
Cut, make and trim. It means the brand supplies the fabric, and usually the trims, and pays the manufacturer for the labour of cutting, sewing and finishing. So when people ask what CMT means in fashion, they usually mean that sourcing model, not the three steps. In denim CMT, the brand owns the fabric risk.
Who pays if the denim shrinks more than the spec sheet said?
Whoever bought it, unless the contract says otherwise: usually you under CMT, the manufacturer under full package. The real risk is timing. Caught in a per-lot test before cutting, excess shrinkage is a fabric claim or an allowance change. Caught after cutting, it is a fit problem in every pair, and a claim on cut fabric is usually refused.
How do I verify a manufacturer's fabric handling?
Not from its website, including the example here. Ask for the documents a real order leaves behind (an inspection report, a shade-band card, a signed shrinkage sheet) and check that their dates and lot numbers agree. On a first order, an independent inspector or a visit to the cutting room is worth the cost if the volume justifies it.
Before you send a brief
When you contact Urgan Textile, as with any manufacturer, name the sourcing model you want. Urgan's site does not say whether it accepts CMT or nominated fabric, so if you need either, make that the first question, then send the rest of the checklist. Judge the documents that come back, not the adjectives. For the cloth itself, the denim entry on Dexitex sets out the weave, how weight is quoted and how raw and sanforised denim differ in shrinkage; verify the spec sheet against the fabric you receive.