Jacket Shell Material

I am trying to make a 2 layer soft shell rain jacket. Outer shell made of nylon, inner lining made out of recycled polyester. I think it would be pretty interesting to make a jacket out of 100% sustainable materials. Does anyone have any suggestions, resources or contacts for getting the right material for the bulk of the jacket (outer shell and inner liner)?

Any help, advice or information would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry, bcn no advice, just a question. I've always wondered what the reasoning was behind putting a lining in a rain jacket. It seems like it'd be cooler/more flexible without one. What's was your motivation for including one?

No worries. Putting a lining (specifically, a blend of polyester) helps wick off moisture and sweat. The properties of polyester draw water from the inside surface to the outer surface. The lining wouldn't be very thick and would not prevent any flexibility.

When I say flexibility, what I mean is how many different conditions it's appropriate for. Hot and cold. It makes sense about the wicking though, because even if you're wearing a separate wicking shirt under the rain jacket, the liner makes much better contact with the outer shell than your base layer. I suppose if you got too hot, you could strip off your base layer and just use the jacket by itself. No one wants to change in the rain though, and there may be modesty concerns depending on where you are, who you are, and who you're with.

I was envisioning having armpit zippers on the jacket to allow air if you get too hot. I had a jacket a while back with this feature and it was really great. As far as being flexible I think the liner actually helps in multiple weather conditions. The fact that it wicks moisture means that in cool conditions when you stop moving you will remain dry and not suffer coldness from the breeze and with the armpit zippers you will have the option to cool off if things are getting too warm. Could be a personal preference, but with my experience the lining has been great in the past and something I would like to incorporate into the jacket I'll be making.

Having a liner is definitively personal preference I really like them for my around town gear. As far as a good way to get a solid shell material you could go to a good will and find a jacket there. Then modify it reapply the dwr if need be, best way to be good to the earth is by using things that already exist. Good luck with the project I would love to see some pics of the finished project!