Crafting a Green World

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.

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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 »

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!
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Fairfield, the makes of Poly-fil have gone green adding a whole new line of eco-friendly products to help green your fiber arts and crafts.

You can now quilt green, stuffyour little critters in an eco-friendly way and have bamboo pillows.

Nature-Fil batting, fiberfill and pillow forms now come in bamboo options and natural fiberfill is made out of both bamboo and PLA corn materials. Read the rest of this entry »

A clothesline in a shady spot can air dry your laundry without the expense of energy resources, keep your clothes in better condition without subjecting them to the wear and tear of a clothes dryer cycle, and return them to you smelling fresh and sweet without the chemicals contained in a dryer sheet.

A clothesline in a sunny spot can do all that and bleach out soil and stains, to boot, again without the worry of harsh chemicals.

This factor, combined with a very gentle handwashing and some pre-treatments, can restore even very stained and very valuable vintage fabrics. It can also get your kids’ grape juice stains out of your beloved childhood Snoopy sheet set. Here’s how: Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a way to tie a pretty bow or add a little something extra to your project while being eco-friendly.

Cream City Ribbon has a nice selection of biodegradable cotton ribbons made from cotton grown and processed in the US. The ribbon is made without using chlorine bleach and uses water based soy dyes making the ribbon very, very eco.

Even the packaging and ribbon spools are made from biodegradable materials.

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If you sew your own (or others) cloth diapers, does that make you a crafter or an eco-conscious Mama?  Of course, it makes you both.

Here are directions to make super cute diapers out of t-shirts.  How’s that for a reclaiming project?  The best part is you can put the fun saying or cute part of the shirt right onto babies bum!

Need some liners for inside the diapers, here’s a tutorial for that.

How about making your own felted wool covers out of second hand sweaters?

Need to know where to find diaper making fabrics and kits, here’s a link.  (Stay with us after the jump to find out more about the adorable diaper in the photo.) Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that 95 percent of fabric shoppers make their purchases at chain stores?
That’s where Project 95 comes into the picture. One goal of Project 95 is to unite fabric shoppers with local independent quilt and fabric shops.  

Project 95 is brought to you by The Fabric Shop Network, Inc, the trade association for independent quilt and fabric retailers.  They have recently launched a beta version of a searchable map to help you find independents in your area.  I plugged in my zip code and was delighted to see this densely packed map fraught with new (at least new-to-me) shops to check out in my area. Read the rest of this entry »

I cannot believe we haven’t covered LIVE Textiles yet in our Fab Fabric series. I found them a while ago, but my interest was reignited when I saw some of their new prints for sale at Near Sea Naturals. Read the rest of this entry »

There is a newly stocked eco fabric shop on Etsy called Naturally Modern.  Specializing in eco friendly, hand printed fabrics, Naturally Modern carries a variety of limited edition and out of print fabrics.  The selection includes prints from the original Mod Green Pod collection, from Lara Cameron formerly of Kirin & Co. (now Ink & Spindle), and Tenfold Organics. Read the rest of this entry »