Published on September 30th, 2009
According to Gift Bags Gone Green every year Americans spend more than $5 billion dollars on gift wrap, bags, and tissue paper of which the majority ends up in landfills.
To offer a unique and green approach to the gift wrap industry Gift Bags Gone Green have created fun and funky fabric gift bags that are washable and reusable. The bags are not only green because they are reusable but they are made from upcycled, reused, and vintage fabrics. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on September 29th, 2009
[Female Golden Orb Spider. Creative Commons photo via quintanaroo]
It is in the name of Fab Fabrics and Halloween that I’m trying to put my fear of spiders on the back burner so I can tell you about the spookiest natural fiber I’ve ever heard of: spider silk.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on September 22nd, 2009
Kelly pointed me to these awesome wedding dresses made from pineapple cloth, and my interest was piqued!
It turns out that pineapple fabric, or Piña cloth, is a traditional fiber from the Phillipines dating back from the 1800’s! So here’s the skinny on Piña.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on September 15th, 2009
Melanie O’Brien loves fabric, and I’m already loving her new Etsy shop: Modern Organic Fabrics. Let’s take a peek inside!
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on September 8th, 2009
I’m pretty much in love with these hand-printed fabrics from Canadian crafty duo Repeat!
Roisin Fagan lives in London and her partner Arounna Khounnoraj is from Toronto. The pair met when they were neighbors at a craft show in Toronto almost three years ago, and they hit it off immediately. After running into each other at several other Toronto shows over the years, where folks kept asking them if they sold their fabrics, they decided to do just that and to do it together!
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on September 1st, 2009
Betz White, author of Sewing Green, launched her premiere fabric line this summer: the Family Cottage collection!
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on August 25th, 2009
We talked last year about the pros and cons of bamboo. Like hemp, growing bamboo is easier on the environment than conventional fibers such as cotton. Bamboo is technically a weed, which means it grows fast and requires no pesticides and very little water.
One downside to bamboo comes during the production process. Since the plant itself isn’t fibrous, it’s mashed down into sort of a chemical slurry and then pressed into fabric. The process is similar to making rayon. It’s toxic for workers, and it strips the bamboo of its beneficial antimicrobial properties.
There’s also the trouble that comes with anything that gets popular. Despite its speedy growth, there is still a threat of overharvesting bamboo. According to the U.N., around 600 varieties of bamboo are extinct or threatened.
Wait…that doesn’t sound fab at all! Well, Greenyarn, a new Boston-based company, has a new approach to producing bamboo fabric that’s worth a look!
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on August 22nd, 2009
From the creator of the BOBO wrapping scarf comes the new book The Wrapping Scarf Revolution (Leisure Arts #4833)
.
If you have ever checked out BOBO wraps but were too intimidated to buy one because of the complex wrapping then this book is for you- filled with step by step detailed instructions to help you wrap these beautiful scarves.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on August 20th, 2009
It’s a brilliant marketing idea.
Although I have long been stalking Spoonflower (a fabric-on-demand printing service), checking out their Fabric of the Week, even subscribing to their promotional emails, I have never bought their services.
I have ideas, of course–fabric printed with the comic strip that my husband and I write, fabric printed with the rainbow patchwork pattern that I painstakingly piece together from a number of fabrics to make my crayon rolls, fabric printed with my pattern design for my dinosaur stuffies, etc. But these ideas have, so far, all remained in my head.
Until today, at least. Today I’m making at two of my design dreams reality. For free. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on August 18th, 2009
Betz White and Spoonflower are teaming up, and they want to see how you Sew Green!
To celebrate the release of her book Sewing Green, Betz white designed a special Sewing Green print on organic cotton just for Spoonflower. Not only are they running a deal on the fabric itself, they’re holding a contest where you can win your choice of book from STC Craft, the company that publishes Sewing Green. Here are the deets!
Read the rest of this entry »
According to Gift Bags Gone Green every year Americans spend more than $5 billion dollars on gift wrap, bags, and tissue paper of which the majority ends up in landfills.
