Soft Shell Fabric

[CoastsideRider]

Hi All,

I have been reading the COTH Forums for many years but never made an account. However, I need help as my Googling skills appear to be failing me. I have wanted a new soft shell dressage coat but cannot really afford one. However, a good friend has offered to make me one (!) in exchange for help with her business. I have been Googling soft shell fabric and not finding what I think we need to make the coat. I have also tried searching for various fabric names from places like Equiline, etc with no help there. Has anyone made a soft shell jacket? If so, what fabric did you use?

Thank you so much for your help!

[red_mares]

I haven’t done a soft shell, but I would try looking for ‘stretch suiting’ fabrics or technical fabrics (don’t think that will work as well).

I’ve had good luck at Fabric Mart Fabrics. The fabrics are good and prices are great. Mood may have something, but when I was there it looked like they had more traditional suitings than anything else. Fabric.com is another one, but some of their stuff has just looked cheap to me. Vogue Fabrics and FashionFabricClub (I hate their website:(, got some neat stuff but hard to find) also come to mind.

Many places offer swatches for a dollar or two. I’ve done that many times.

[Write_amp_Ride]

http://www.rockywoods.com/Fabrics-Kits/Durable-Stretch-Woven-Fabrics Maybe not the colors you are looking for, but that’s the type of fabric most softshell coats are made from. I searched “softshell fabric by yard” and added “riding coat” to another search. Seems like lots of outdoorsy fabric stores in the Northwest and they sell swatches - would absolutely get a sample before ordering $50 worth of fabric. Your friend must be a talented seamstress, I find stretch fabrics very hard to work with. How cool to get a custom coat!

[CoastsideRider]

Thank you both for the replies and help. My friend is amazing at sewing, not so much at computers hence the trade in kind for services. I only have an old heavy wool coat that I dread putting on at shows. It was great when I lived in the frigid north not so much in California. I am hoping we can do this and she does not decide to kill me in the process

Thanks again!

[Foxglove6]

Find a coat you like and look at the fabric content. Tell your friend what it is or send her the links and she should be able to find a similar fabric. I’m going to be honest with you as someone who makes a lot of clothing. If your friend cannot find her own fabric or cannot figure out what kind of fabric to purchase based on some examples you provide, you should just shell out the $100 for a decent consignment coat.