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If you’re the kind of person that likes to spend a lot of time outdoors, outdoor fabrics can be a good way to make the areas around your house more pleasant to spend time in. Outdoor fabric is used to make awnings to protect from the elements – the harsh UV rays of the sun, the driving rain, the blowing wind, as well as plain old dirt.

You can buy outdoor fabric by the yard and sew your own coverings, including upholstery for outdoor furniture (and even cushions, too). That way, you may be able to take advantage of discount outdoor fabric prices and even make backpacks, tote bags, duffel bags, etc. from the leftover material.
A solid all-around choice that works for most environments is Sunbrella, a woven acrylic outdoor fabric that holds up well to the elements and also resists mildew, which can be a problem in humid areas like the Southern U.S. Mildew will severely shorten the life of all fabrics, even the toughest of outdoor fabrics, and you definitely want to avoid mildew wherever possible.
If you life in an area that doesn’t get very humid and is cold for much of the year, outdoor canvas fabrics can be a great choice. Such canvas is usually treated to be water resistant and flame retardant, and canvas is the most natural looking material as well as the one that has been in use the longest. Most canvas is either cotton, synthetic, or a blend of the two, and may be treated with an acrylic or marine finish to make it waterproof and durable.
Vinyl is a material which is often used by itself or with conjunction with other fabrics (like Sunbrella, yielding a product called Seamark). Vinyl is durable and waterproof, but not very attractive as it looks more like plastic than fabric. For that reason, most of what you will find will be a combination to bring out the nicer qualities of each material. Be careful with outdoor fabrics containing vinyl, as vinyl usually contains phtalates which are toxic.

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