Cold Weather Specialty Fabrics - the Rain Shed, Albany OR

I recently sewed up the Seamly Moto Sweatshirt, which I had bought back in the spring and have been waiting for a hint of fall to move it to the front of my sewing queue.  I sew a lot with color and prints, so I went with a basic black so I could throw it on with almost anything.  I spent some time trying to find the right fabric for this pattern, and even though it looks basic it features a really fantastic sweatshirting. It came from The Rain Shed (or from www.therainshed.com) which is a small specialty fabric store in Albany OR that I discovered during our brief stay in Corvallis.  It has some really amazing outdoor fabrics that I haven't seen anywhere else.

This isn't a sponsored post, I've paid for all of my fabrics, I just happen to think it has some great stuff and is a great resource for sewists!

My Seamly moto is made up of their Performance Sweatshirt Fleece.  It's a 17 oz. poly/lycra with nice 4-way stretch and some nice body to it.  I didn't want saggy sweatshirting for this since it's a sweatshirt/jacket hybrid, I wanted something with a little bit of structure and this was excellent (only $9.50/yard). When I opened up the box and pulled it out I was thrilled, it was just as described and just what I wanted.

Smooth face and fleecy insides.

This sweatshirt fleece did curl to the right side like a bastard, though, which you can kind of see in the photo. More of a pain for small pattern pieces.

One of the other fabric finalists for this was the Wind Pro Curly Fleece.  It's made by Polartec, and the Rain Shed carries a wide variety of Polartec fleece.  This is a 19 oz. wind resistant fabric that runs $20/yard, and I only decided against it because I wanted a little more sweatshirt and a little less coat, and this doesn't have stretch.

I also gave a long hard look at this P200 Boundary fleece in green plaid (my need for black won out in the end). On sale for $10/yard, it's a 14 oz. polyester fleece.

They also have a beautiful selection of Polartec Power Stretch fabrics, which are poly/nylon/spandex and great for thermal tights. This is on my wish list for cold-weather camping and would be great for hardcore outdoor runners. In the meantime I grabbed something called  Technostretch from the clearance section (it's fleecy on the inside and stretchy!)

Speaking of runners, they have a nice selection of wicking fabrics, like this Supplex.   Or for cyclists, reflective fabrics and trims. I just ordered some of this reflective sweatshirt fabric from their closeout section:

Regular light

In the dark, under a flashlight!

If you're looking to make a raincoat, there are a ton of different breathable waterproof and water-resistant options, depending on your project and price point. I've used some of these to make gaiters for my husband and have some more in my stash to make some bicycle saddle bags as well as a raincoat for myself.

The Rain Shed is also a good source for merino, which can be really difficult to find outside of The Fabric Store in NZ.  I'm a big fan of their Merino Wool Blend, which is wool/nylon. They usually carry it in a few different weights, and they are great for different kinds of active wear. I've made some tops that I wear hiking/camping and I've used the lighter weight variety for t-shirts for Tim to wear when he runs. He sweats a ton, and the merino and merino blends are so much better than the cotton tees he used to run in. When you sweat in a cotton tee it's like carrying around 5 extra pounds of water, and cotton also holds the stink more than merino.

One of the heavier merino-nylon blends. Red is the front with a gray back side.

This hoodie is made with a merino/nylon/spandex blend that is really cool

Pretty much any outdoor/activewear/cold weather/wet weather fabric needs you have, there is something for it at the Rain Shed. Hardware! Ribbing! Fire resistant Nomex! Make a tent! Your own umbrella!

The sales staff are very knowledgeable, and could probably point you in the right direction via phone/email if you are overwhelmed by your options online. They also sell inexpensive swatch sets for almost any fabric category (the wool swatch set below was only $1)!

I hope this was helpful if you're looking for some US based sources for merino or specialty outdoor fabrics.  Happy Sewing and good luck with all of your cold weather projects this season!