The samples have arrived. I ordered three from Fabric Dreams and five from Croft Mills, here in England. I want to make this coat, with a few adaptations to make it look more trenchy and am really looking for a twill raincoat material that will be a good replacement for my current favourite.

I shall be making view ‘c’ and the first thing I shall do is lengthen it, then I want to add the ‘trench’ flaps at the front right and across the back. Here are the samples I sent for, first up Croft Mills [who do  brilliant cotton fabrics, shirtings and prints, all very affordable, they are friendly and very helpful];

Colours aren’t showing very well, but safe to say they are all shades of neutrals. I am liking the top outside two;

this is a soft moleskin in a greyish neutral. One side is slightly showing twill and the other side [which I take to be the inside] is soft and flannelly.

This sample is clearly a twill type linen canvas, although quite light and is actually quite a nice shade of browny – green. I think I am quite liking this, but wonder how the whole coat would look in this colour.

These samples are from Fabric Dreams co.uk which appears to be the English arm of a German company. They have beautiful fabrics as very reasonable prices and are extremely helpful I found.

These are clearly two difference photos of the same fabrics, but I am hoping one will have better colour definition on your screens.  The sample at bottom left in #1 and top left in #2 is the nearest in fabric to my current raincoat, but has a more pinkish hue, which I don’t particularly like. The darker sample I can only describe as sludge green and the other a boring beige. The darker fabric would make a very good short or three quarter length jacket/coat but would be much too much for me on the length of coat I want.

So there we are. One step nearer beginning the raincoat, I just have to choose, order and decide on lining. I’ll get there, hopefully. All the above samples were absolutely free and is a very good way to see before you buy. Very often disappointment comes when buying fabric on line, especially when it is for a biggish project. It is not always the seller’s fault either so sampling is good. I use the two companies above because I found them to be good and reliable and don’t break the bank. The fabrics are good quality from both of them – and no I don’t get paid to say this, I just believe in giving credit where it’s due.