Sunday 7 October 2012

Organic Cotton - Where to Buy


So, you're feeling bad about all the chemicals in your conventional cotton stash and you want to explore the possibilty of using some organic cotton. Where do you start?
If you're a quilt maker you want some nice prints.
To date the manufacturers of organic cotton have concentrated mainly on nursery prints.One of the leading manufacturers of printed organic cotton is Cloud9. They produce the elephant print shown above.
Cloud9 is not only committed to producing organic cotton designs, it ensures thay are printed with low impact dyes.
This is what their website says about the dyeing process:
"Conventional dyeing and printing uses a myriad of toxins, including heavy metals, benzene, formaldehydes and organochloridess. The process requires large quantities of water to wash out the residues, which is then dumped into the local waters of the mills. Cloud9 Fabrics are printed with low impact dyes, which are petroleum based. Although they are made from a synthetic material, they are considered to be more eco-friendly in comparison to natural dyes for many reasons. One of the interesting benefits of using low impact dyes is they have a higher absorption rate, which means less dyestuff is actually required to adhere to fibers which also results in a lighter, softer fabric. Likewise, low impact dyes don't require toxic chemical mordantss to fix the color to the fabrics as do natural dyes. Low impact dyes are often reclaimed from the liquid waste and the water is recyclable. Another added benefit is that they require less heat which saves energy."
Cloud9 regularly bring out new ranges, which are on trend for quilters and sewists alike.
I particularly like the Simpatico range, which has a variety of geometric designs like the one below.
 
Other producers of printed organic cottons include Birch Fabric

 
 Timeless Treasures - wouldn't this treasure map be wonderful for a boy's bedroom!
 Monaluna

Amy Butler

and of course Robert Kaufman produces a great range of solids.

So, where in the UK can you buy these lovely organic fabrics?
The shops I have listed below are, I'm sure not the only ones, they are just the ones I have used so far.
They are in no particular order.
The Village Haberdashery
Backstitch
Eternal Maker
Fabric Rehab
Raystitch
Saints and Pinners (sadly not many anymore)

If you want to buy from the US then probably Fabricworm has the best selection.

Happy fabric hunting :)




2 comments:

  1. I'm in love with that gorgeous Elephant fabric! And thanks for the links to the various organic stockists. Going to set aside some time to have a peek at them all.
    Happy Monday xx

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  2. Isn't it so sad what we have been putting up with? People just don't realize the hidden damage it does. Well, thanks for the education. I never thought about organic cotton before.

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