Мне нравится эта ткань: она мягкая и приятная на ощупь.

Because the verb нравиться works differently from English to like.

In Russian, нравиться literally works more like to be pleasing to someone.

• мне = to me / for me (dative case)
• нравится = is pleasing
• эта ткань = this fabric

So Мне нравится эта ткань is structurally closer to:

This fabric is pleasing to me.

That is why Russian uses мне instead of я here.

Because the thing doing the “pleasing” is эта ткань, which is singular.

Compare:

• Мне нравится эта ткань. = I like this fabric.
  (ткань = singular)
• Мне нравятся эти ткани. = I like these fabrics.
  (ткани = plural)

So the verb agrees with эта ткань, not with мне.

Because эта ткань is the subject of the sentence, so it stays in the nominative case.

With нравиться, the person who likes something is in the dative:

• мне = to me

And the thing liked is the grammatical subject:

• эта ткань = this fabric

So:

• Мне нравится эта ткань. = This fabric is pleasing to me.

If you used эту ткань, that would be accusative, which would not fit this structure.

In Russian, some feminine nouns end in -ь instead of -а / -я.

Ткань is one of those nouns. It is feminine even though it ends in a soft sign.

You can tell it is feminine because:

• the demonstrative is эта
• the pronoun is она
• the adjectives are мягкая and приятная

All of those are feminine singular forms.

Other feminine nouns like this include:

• ночь = night
• дверь = door
• мышь = mouse

So the soft sign does not automatically mean masculine.

They are feminine singular because they describe она, referring back to ткань.

• ткань = feminine singular
• therefore:
  • мягкая = soft
  • приятная = pleasant

Russian adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.

Compare:

• мягкая ткань = soft fabric
• мягкий материал = soft material
• мягкое одеяло = soft blanket
• мягкие ткани = soft fabrics

Here the adjectives are predicate adjectives after она, but they still match the noun in gender and number.

Она refers back to эта ткань.

The sentence is:

Мне нравится эта ткань: она мягкая и приятная на ощупь.

This is very natural because the second part explains why the speaker likes the fabric.

Could it be omitted? Sometimes Russian can leave out pronouns when the meaning is obvious, but here она helps make the second clause complete and natural.

Without it, Мне нравится эта ткань: мягкая и приятная на ощупь sounds more like an abbreviated or stylistically compressed phrase, not the most neutral full sentence.

So in standard, natural speech and writing, она is a good choice.

It means pleasant to the touch.

• приятная = pleasant
• на ощупь = to the touch / when touched

So this phrase describes how something feels physically in your hand or against your skin.

It is a very common Russian expression for texture and tactile quality.

Examples:

• Этот свитер приятный на ощупь. = This sweater feels nice to the touch.
• Поверхность гладкая и приятная на ощупь. = The surface is smooth and pleasant to the touch.

It is more idiomatic than trying to translate word-for-word as something like pleasant for touching.

Literally, it is something like by touch or to the touch.

• на is a preposition
• ощупь is used in this fixed expression

As a whole, на ощупь is an idiomatic phrase meaning when judged by touch.

You will often see it in sentences about texture:

• мягкий на ощупь = soft to the touch
• холодный на ощупь = cold to the touch
• шершавый на ощупь = rough to the touch

It is best learned as one chunk: на ощупь.

Because these are the normal full-form adjectives used in a predicate after an implied is.

Russian often omits the present tense of to be:

• Она мягкая и приятная на ощупь.
• literally: She/it soft and pleasant to the touch
• natural English: It is soft and pleasant to the touch

Russian also has short-form adjectives, but they are used in more specific situations and often sound different in style or meaning. In this sentence, the full forms мягкая and приятная are the normal choice.

The colon shows that the second part explains or gives the reason for the first part.

So:

• Мне нравится эта ткань = I like this fabric.
• она мягкая и приятная на ощупь = it is soft and pleasant to the touch.

The second clause explains why the speaker likes the fabric, so a colon is very natural here.

In English, this is similar to writing:

I like this fabric: it’s soft and pleasant to the touch.

A comma would be less appropriate in standard writing because these are two full clauses.

The word order is flexible, though the original version is very natural.

Original:

Мне нравится эта ткань: она мягкая и приятная на ощупь.

You could also say:

• Эта ткань мне нравится: она мягкая и приятная на ощупь.
• Мне эта ткань нравится: она мягкая и приятная на ощупь.

These versions are all grammatical, but the emphasis shifts slightly:

• Мне нравится эта ткань is a neutral way to say it.
• Эта ткань мне нравится puts more focus on this fabric.
• Мне эта ткань нравится can sound contrastive in the right context, like I do like this fabric.

So the original sentence is a good default pattern to learn.

It can often mean fabric or cloth, depending on context.

In this sentence, fabric is a very natural translation because the speaker is describing its texture:

• мягкая
• приятная на ощупь

So they are talking about the material itself.

In different contexts, ткань can also refer to:

• textile fabric
• cloth
• tissue, in biology or medicine

For example:

• хлопковая ткань = cotton fabric
• мышечная ткань = muscle tissue

So context matters, but here it clearly means a textile material.

Yes. This is a very useful pattern:

Мне нравится X: он/она/оно ...

Examples:

• Мне нравится этот свитер: он мягкий и тёплый.
  I like this sweater: it’s soft and warm.

• Мне нравится эта рубашка: она лёгкая и приятная на ощупь.
  I like this shirt: it’s light and pleasant to the touch.

• Мне нравится это одеяло: оно очень мягкое.
  I like this blanket: it’s very soft.

This helps you talk naturally about things you like and then give a reason.