The Changing Landscape of American Organic Cotton

I live in a cotton producing area.  In October I drive past miles and miles cotton fields.  Bits of white fluff line the road like frost.  Yet, I've repeatedly heard "there are almost no cotton fabric mills in the US, much less one that makes organic fabric."  Really?  We grow mountains of cotton, I drive past them regularly.  Do we really ship it all to be processed overseas?

Turns out that since all of the stories that the American textile company was on its last legs, much has changed.  While thousands of factories closed in the last 20 years, they have also consolidated, improved technology and benefitted from being close to the major world markets.  In the last 3 years, the industry has expanded by almost 40% according to the New York Times.  No, it did not bring back the thousands of jobs that they once provided--much of the production is automated--but the ones they brought have decent pay and safe working conditions.  Imagine that!  Many of these revived factories have started oroducing organic cotton fabrics.  In 2010 all of the news stories seem to indicate there was only 1 organic cotton fabric mill in the US.  Now, I can find evidence of at least 4 on this site, not to mention the many others I was able to find through product references.  For instance, there is a mill that now produces organic cotton sheets here.  And another makes custom t-shirts--I bought one from TS Designs  and will write about it after it comes.

Be skeptical if you hear that the US doesn't produce organic cotton fabric--we have factories churning it out by the ton!

Photo from New York Times article linked to above

Grandma's Jar of Buttons

One thing about sewing or craft projects is it seems you always need to go out and buy stuff and create more trash and waste more gas.  Sure, you know that the factory worker (you!) was not in unsafe conditions when the garment was made but just look at all of the waste!  Well, there are some clever, easy and cost effective ways to reduce your waste--one is to reuse old buttons. 

I swear, new buttons now cost over $1 a piece!  And for what?  A small piece of plastic.  Turns out there is no need to rush out and constantly go buy them.  You can reuse old ones.  Buttons far outlive whatever garment they're attached to--it isn't like the buttons have gone bad on something with a hole or stain.  Your grandmother used to have a jar of buttons she collected, did you ever wonder why?  Because if she reused the buttons, she didn't need to buy new ones!  Saves money and reduces waste. 

No, I don't have a jar of buttons I've pulled off my old clothes.  I tend to donate them instead of completely destroy them.  What I do instead is to buy bags of old buttons on ebay.  It usually costs about 1 penny (99% savings!!!) a piece and I wind up with all kinds of interesting ones that otherwise I'd never find.   My favorite was a big bag of buttons from men's pants that were stamped with the names of bespoke tailors all over America.  You would be surprised what is out there--antique inlaid buttons, ones of hand-carved bones, buttons from firms long-defunct. 

Below is a sweater I knitted for a relative, I finished it with vintage tailor buttons.  The variety of buttons available for reuse in the world is impressive--why waste your money on new ones when you can give ones we already have a new life?

In support of http://myplasticfreelife.com/ which kindly brings me much traffic

Interview: Deborah Lindquist

Yes, I really did interview the woman herself!  The "Queen of Green" is one of the nicest designers I've ever met.  Deborah Lindquist is known as The Queen of Green because she's been making eco-friendly designs for over 10 years, before it was the new IT--and she knocks IT out of the park.

"Eco-friendly people are so sexy from all of the yoga and healthy eating and everything else that they do, why shouldn't they dress sexy too?"  Well, with Deborah's line, they can and do.  She's dressed The Pussy Cat Dolls, Sharon Stone and a whole variety of other celebrities.  The best part is, you'd never know it was all eco-friendly, recycled or organic unless someone told you.  She does "rockstar" in a way that any woman could wear it and look amazing--she designs her clothes to do the work for you.  Deborah knows that not all of her clients are performers, so she takes care to design pieces that can be paired with basics for an edgy yet appropriate outfit for a woman of any age.

"I love dressing confident women, and on what day is a woman more confident than her wedding day"--Deborah has slowly been incorporating bridal designs into her line.  It started because some of her clients kept asking for wedding gowns, and being client-centric that she is, Deborah obliged.  "I've found that eco-conscious women take that same aesthetic to their weddings--they don't want to harm the world on their happy day, and what better thing than a "green" wedding dress!"  Also, the wedding dresses usually aren't so over-the-top bridezilla that they can't be worn again, so not only are they made out of recycled materials, but they can actually be enjoyed again and again.

Deborah grew up in the farm country of the northern midwest and loved making costumes with vintage materials as a child.  She went on to attend Parsons in New York and shortly after moved to LA and launched her company.  As her career progressed, she always found herself drawn back to her inspirations as a child--vintage and antique wallpapers and fabrics.  Now, she reimagines those same prints from her childhood into appliques and screen prints for her designs.  The materials that she uses include old leather jackets, men's tweed blazers, recycled cashmere and vintage findings.  Everything is made in her LA studio with the greatest of care.  She also does custom work upon request.

Deborah Lindquist is sold at boutiques around the LA area such as Blue Planet, Fred Segal and Fleurt.  It is available online at www.deborahlindquist.com and www.devidoll.com    The pictures are from devidoll.com