100% Organic Cotton Fabrics
For home sewers, businesses, retailers, and anyone who gives a scrap!
When I attended my first All Things Organic conference and trade show back in 2004, I rode the bus back to our hotel with a buyer from China. We got to talking, he owned a natural foods store in China. I asked him why he came all the way to Chicago to source products for his store. Couldn't you get anything you needed in China? I have never forgotten his response: "They'll lie to you and tell you it is organic but it isn't." Oh my. That answer from a Chinese man about his own country's organics convinced me to steer clear of Chinese produced organic fabrics. I have been approached by many "organic" fabric producers from overseas in the last 6 years. It only takes 2 questions: "What is your organic cotton fabric certified to?" and "Who is your certifier?" If they can't answer those basic questions I know they are clueless at best and potential frauds at worst. Then I met Laurie and Tony from Sapphire International Ltd.. (Our meeting was one of those incredible small world experiences -- too long to go into here -- but if you are interested post a comment and I will post that story later.) As we ate lunch at the Timber Cove Inn there was an instant connection. Not only were they also members of the OTA, they knew about GOTS. They had been to the same Organic Exchange (now the Textile Exchange) conference I had. These were not phonies. They knew their stuff. We commiserated and collaborated, brainstormed and shared stories. They showed me videos of their weaving facility (in China) and explained the process. When they asked me to create an Australian animal theme towel collection for their Breganwood label of course I said YES. Now, I must admit, I am a print designer by trade....NOT a woven designer so this was uncharted territory for me. Add to the complexity that they were experimenting with a NEW 4 color Jacquard weaving technique and it was an uphill battle getting the design figured out. The learning curve on this project was exceptionally steep but many emails and skype conversations later.... you can see the finished product above and below. I think we both learned a lot. From the moment we met, I was impressed with Laurie and Tony. I am confident in their ethics and their commitment to true organic production. Yep, an Australian themed organic towel, designed in California and woven in China. It's true, textiles are indeed a global industry and there are good, honest, thoughtful people EVERYWHERE! For your chance to win one of these cozy towels, just "like" Breganwood on facebook and then leave a comment on which Jacquard towel is your favorite before Sept. 30th. They will also have a booth at the upcoming ABC show in KY (booth 4402). Feel free to stop by and tell them hello if you are attending the show.
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Debra Lynn Dadd has published another book: TOXIC FREE: How to Protect Your Health and Home from the Chemicals That are Making You Sick. Debra has been a consumer advocate on this subject since 1982. Her journey began in 1978 when she first found out that there were toxic chemicals in her own home making her sick. She has worked tirelessly for the last 30 years to understand and help educate others about the day to day decisions that impact our homes and health.
To celebrate the launch of her latest book she is conducting a 12 hour internet radio marathon and has asked yours truly to be one of the guests. I am honored. YOU too can listen and call in with your questions this THURSDAY! The radio show will go from noon to midnight east coast time (or 9am - 9pm for us west coast peeps). I am scheduled for the show #6 at 10pm eastern time (7pm west coast). The show will be recorded and can be listened to later but I would LOVE to have some people listening live and calling in with their questions. I am happy to introduce you to the new organic fabric web site on the block! American Grown• Spun•Milled is the brain child of long time organic fabrics sellers and supporters NearSea Naturals. Their mission is to help bring back USA textile manufacturing which has been shrinking dramatically in recent years. In fact 2 of the first printers Harmony Art used have now closed shop, so we personally have felt the effects of this shrinking local economy. All fabrics sold on our American Grown•Spun•Milled site meet the following criteria unless expressly noted in the fabric's description:
Please give them a warm welcome! We are happy to have them selling our 100% made in the USA, heavy weight Chili Pepper Red flannel on their site and wish them oodles of success. When there is a fiber-reactive GOTS certified (ideally wide-width) USA printer, please let us know!!! We look forward to helping support this movement.
Amorette! Congratulations. Mallory from Amy Bulter will be contacting you with the details. Thank you EVERYONE who entered! I was truly smitten by the thoughtful responses.
Have a lovely rest of the week! My customers and friends know I end most of my emails with the quote from Margaret Mead, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." That small group committed to organic cotton just added a BIG NAME endorsement with the impending release of: Organic Soul by Amy Butler for Rowan. The collection contains nine prints on 44/45" wide organic cotton fabric. You don't have to wait very much longer; the fabric will be shipping to retailers in mid August. Here are some photos of the loveliness in action . . . Amy is a dear friend and so this is EXTRA special and exciting for me. I thought I would take the opportunity to ask Amy a few questions... Why did you decide to release an organic collection? It's something that I've wanted to do for years, and we finally found a great source for high-quality, GOTS certified organic cotton. It's close to my heart, and I want to support it in any way I can. I'm hoping that by supporting the industry through making choices to buy organic, that it can eventually become "the way" and not the exception. What does organic mean to you? I want to live my life and run my business as sustainably as I can. It's a consciousness that we have in our home and studio. Simple choices we make like raising our garden organically, buying local organic foods, walking or biking instead of driving, just being healthy and living simply. How we affect our surroundings gives us an appreciation and respect for ourselves. Supporting the organic movement to me is not revolutionary, it just makes sense for the long term health of everyone. I feel that choosing organics whenever I can supports an optimistic vision of my future, our future, and every little bit helps. Thanks Amy! I am hopeful that your commitment will get the attention of many more people as we strive together to make sustainable living/eating/crafting/dressing/being the norm. I too agree that it is the simple choices repeated daily that create our lives and the world we live in. If you are interested in learning more about why organic textiles are a sustainable option, please visit these 2 informational pages on the Harmony Art web site: Why Organic Cotton? and The (r)evolution of textiles. In the spirit of sustainability, please leave a comment about what small step(s) you are taking to live a more environmentally thoughtful life and you will be entered to win a selection of Amy's sewing patterns. Comments must be posted by Tuesday, August 2nd for a chance to win. Thanks Mallory for organizing and including Harmony Art in the blog tour! Be sure to continue Amy's blog tour as she visits with the ladies at See How We Sew on Tuesday, August 2nd for more information about her new Voile fabrics! My friend Trudy is truly amazing. I can never remember how old she is because it never makes any sense when I hear it. I know she is in her 70's but she has more vitality, zest for life and joy than just about anyone I know. She is spontaneous, wise, loving and always a pleasure to be around. This year has been a tough one for Trudy. Her son died after a valiant fight with cancer and in the middle of his last days she was hit by a car while in a cross walk. The accident left her with a major gash in her leg that had to heal before they could do reconstructive surgery on her knee. Tough stuff... but Trudy is tougher. When a member (and friend) in our local quilt guild suggested that a comfort quilt be made for Trudy, I immediately jumped on the team. It was definitely a collaborative effort with design input from Misses Stitches, The Green Bag Lady, myself and Mirka (the leader of the group). The quilting was done by Suzanne Friedland. Mirka gets the award for most time and effort and for pulling it all together (a couple of times). To be able to work with such thoughtful women to create something meaningful was truly a joy. I was really happy with how it turned out. I am happy to report that as of this week Trudy can now put 50% pressure on her recovering leg and will be swimming, driving and traveling again soon.
Have you ever been involved in a "comfort quilt" project? I recently learned of this project: do. Good Stitches and was really impressed with what they are doing and creating. I do believe that acts of love and kindness are priceless gifts -- like friendship. In case you are curious, the fabrics used in this organic cotton comfort quilt are: Vein, Thirty-nine, 10 Flowers, Fields of Honey, Morning Dew and Solid Scarlet. The summer issue of Living Crafts magazine contains the "Complete Guide to Organic Fabrics." -- In this 12-page article by Fiona Duthie, you’ll find out about the leading brands of organic fabric companies, where they are produced, where they are printed, their certification(s), as well as a nice list of organic fabric retailers. In addition, they offer you a side-bar on Selection Criteria by Tara Boyd and Winnie Culp of Nearsea Naturals. As someone who has been working since 2005 to break organic cottons reputation of beautiful shades of oatmeal and granola this was one of those issues that warmed my heart! This multi-page spread features 13 different organic cotton fabric companies! Big thanks to editor Pardis and writer Fiona for taking on this project and helping educate and promote the use of organically grown fabrics. To help you find them all, here's a link to the 13 companies mentioned in the article: www.birchfabrics.com www.spiritex.net www.harmonyart.com www.cloud9fabrics.com www.monaluna.com www.oliveiratextiles.com www.oecotextiles.com www.daisyjanie.com www.swankyswell.com www.livetextiles.com www.oliverhenry.etsy.com www.alabamachanin.com/studio-store www.1014organictextiles.com Please pick up your own copy of Living Craft magazine. In addition to features on each of these companies they have a section about the equally important organic fabric retailers as well as lots of other crafty articles.
As more and more big names enter the organic arena, our movement gains traction and energy. Big LOVE to all the designers and companies who have put their fabric where their hearts are. You make me very, very happy! In Studio City there is a house - not just any ordinary house but one that has been remodeled to take advantage of existing green technology. Last year I had the pleasure of visiting the Zenergy house and meeting the inspiring owners. Their mission: to help homeowners recognize what truly determines a green home and to provide a roadmap for creating thier own ZENERGY HOUSE. You can get a virtual tour by clicking this link. The web site is full of useful tools and tips. We were thrilled when they asked to use our Evelyn organic sateen in their sitting room. What have you done to "green" your home?
When I launched Harmony Art Organic Design in January 2005, I was looking to create a business (really a job) for myself in my field (textile design) that I could feel good about. Reality was that in 2005 there were no fabric companies making organic cotton prints. Oh sure, there were a few pioneering companies like Patagonia and Green Babies that were making clothing using organic cotton printed fabrics but unless you were big enough to do your own production runs (1,000 + yards), you had no selection. This left small businesses and home sewers virtually without any organic fabric options beyond beige, oatmeal or granola. It also left this textile designer with next to no job opportunities beyond the toxic traditional ones.
In 2005, there were over 40 eco-textile standards to choose from. (Talk about confusing!) The OTA was writing their own Fiber Processing Standard and since then have worked collaboratively to develop the Global Organic Textile Standard or GOTS. Just last month the USDA's NOP program acknowledged and ok'd the use of GOTS for textiles labelled as organic. (THIS IS BIG NEWS!) What started as a quest for a job I could feel proud of, became a vision/mission to change the way textiles were produced. I wanted to help move the textile business from being one of THE MOST TOXIC industries to one of the most thoughtful. To that end, I would need many more companies to embrace organics! Six and 1/2 years later... I am proud and honored and encouraged to report that indeed the textile industry has caught on! No longer alone, many independent organic fabric companies (Mod Green Pod, Oliveira Textiles, Cloud9, Daisy Janie, Birch Fabrics, etc) have started and with this spring's Quilt Market even the biggest names in quilting fabrics have joined the organic fabric team. Large fabric companies like Rowan, Clothworks, Robert Kaufman, and Michael Miller have released printed organics. Even the amazing and oh-so-popular and lovely Amy Butler has released an organic cotton collection. Quilt Market's latest trend report highlighted organic fabric's proliferation. Over the years, I have spoken directly or indirectly to just about every one of these companies and designers. I've watched it all and personally participated in much of it. It is safe to say that organic fabric is no longer just shades of oatmeal and granola! Although still a small fraction of the conventional cotton being produced, organic fabrics are no longer fringe. They are a force (much bigger than me) to be reckoned with. It's been an honor and a privilege to be a part of this movement. It's been exciting and thrilling to watch it grow and expand. Thank you to each and every one of you who has understood, purchased, supported, encouraged, challenged and embraced this journey. Without a doubt it has been the people along the way that have made this movement happen. I am just one small part. I think collectively we have much to be proud of. What do you think? Is the mission accomplished? Is it time for a new goal? I'd love to get your perspective either through this blog publicly or privately by phone or email. I look forward to your feedback. With sincere gratitude, We returned from our road trip to LA to find a complimentary copy of this book had been delivered. Why the excitement? There it was on page 9.... our organic cotton interlock print: Alphabet Soup. Thank you Meg McElwee for choosing to use one of our organic knits in your book! It is always thrilling to be featured in books, blogs, articles, newspapers, etc. We have been very fortunate over the years to have been featured many places but there is something that makes it even sweeter when the organic content is a footnote rather than lead story.
To learn more or to purchase your own copy of Growing Up Sew Liberated just click. Thank you Elisabeth Malzahn & Elaine Lipson from Interweave Press. Thank you Jen Madsen for bring this to my attention. |
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Harmony Susalla
Founder of Harmony Art organic design. Archives
June 2022
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