Green Options

So there I was, looking through the HempTraders website.  Ah yes, I said to myself, they have all kinds of hemp and hemp blends.  Hemp knits, hemp stretch fabrics, hemp linen and muslin, hemp canvas, and even hemp / silk blends and satins.  They have hemp upholstery fabric too.

Some of the fabrics are as low as $7.25 per yard, some as high as $20, and as I’ve come to expect with hemp, I’m seeing mostly solid colors.  HempTraders has a wider variety of fabrics all in one place than some of the other online shops I’ve covered, and the photographs of the fabrics are exceedingly clear.

“But what’s a specialty weave?” I thought, and clicked on that link.

Now I am obsessed with the idea of sewing up little boy pajamas.

Welcome to the fifth Carnival of Green Crafts!
Another carnival, another bunch of craft-a-licious green goodness.  A bunch of, um, somewhat disturbing craftiness.  Glue sniffing.  Hitting things with sticks.  Metal saws.

What the heck are you people up to out there?

Before we begin, a few administrative notes: The sixth Carnival will head to Canada on October 2nd to be hosted at Smidge! Send in your posts via the carnival submission form today! The Carnival of Green Crafts home page has background info.  And if you missed it, the fourth carnival was at Whip Up and others are linked at the end of this post.

Now on to the carnival!

The winners of the Creativity 350 challenge have been announced!

In the crafts section, the winner is 350 Save Mother Earth by PEACEANDALLTHATJAZZ. In the t-shirt design section, the winner is Equilibrium 350 by artoo1121.  See the winners here, and congratulations to both of them!

As Kelly told us back in June, the Creativity 350 partnership and contest was launched to draw creative energy and attention to 350.org’s goal of reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million to stave off dangerous climate change. Entries were accepted until August 31st, and then a voting process took place to determine the winners.

Reading recent posts in Craftster’s forum on Creativity350, I was not surprised to see that not all crafters believe in the science behind global warming.

What is going on down under, folks?  There are some rockin’ fabric makers in Australia,

Pippijoe is another great source for limited edition, hand screen printed fabrics.  They print on both a 55% hemp / 45% cotton blend and a 100% hemp fabric using environmentally friendly inks. The fabrics are described as “soft to touch and feel like linen” and perfect for “crafts, bags, clothing, soft furnishings and light upholstery” and a heavier base weight fabric is available for projects that need something sturdier.

Pippijoe’s Etsy Shop offers mix packs and a couple of the fabrics, or you can buy fabrics by the metre on the main Pippijoe site.  Different fabrics have different prices, from about $16 to $35 per yard in U.S. dollars for 30″ wide fabric.

The fifth Carnival of Green Crafts is Thursday here at Crafting A Green World.  If you’re going to submit a post, why not do it today?  If you’re not, why not?

Details here, or submit a post through the submission form.
Previous editions of the Carnival of Green Crafts:

First Carnival of Green Crafts
Second Carnival of Green Crafts at BlogHer
Third Carnival of Green Crafts: Trash [...]

GreenSage bills itself as a store for “sustainable building and furnishing.”  As part of that identity, they sell a number of natural, organic, and hemp fabrics - including the 100% hemp print you see here, which unfortunately for the hobby crafter is $50 per yard.

Several times I’ve thought about whether to include a fabric this expensive in the Fabulous Fabrics series?  Is it just to taunt you?  No!  You’re all very nice, and I like you.  I’m also not trying to reinforce the perception that all organic fabric is expensive.  The fact is, fine fabrics and upholstery fabrics are expensive no matter what they’re made of, and we all understand that.

What I am trying to do is celebrate the organic, sustainable, and environmentally friendly fabrics that people are creating, even if most of us aren’t able to consume vast quantities of it.  I think it’s part of building and nurturing a movement to point out successes and hold up even high end examples of what we want products to be like.

And I like to show you pretty things.  You’re o.k. with that, right?

The fourth Carnival of Green Crafts is now posted at Whip Up, and it’s quite a diverse collection of links for all of us to enjoy!

I love seeing the submissions as they come in, especially when one post introduces me to a whole new blog I’ve never read before.  If you haven’t yet submitted something to the carnival, please do!  Even if you don’t have a full-fledged article or tutorial to share, or if all of your projects right now are UFOs (unfinished objects), we’d still love to get your “take” on this whole green crafting thing.  So here are a few ideas to get you started:

Don’t forget!  The next Carnival of Green Crafts is Thursday at Whip Up.  Sneak your entry in just under the deadline now!

I started writing the Fabulous Fabrics series here in March, and I thought the six month mark would be a good time for a retrospective.

What I’ve liked best about doing this series is seeing the combination of creativity and passion that goes into what these fabric designers and manufacturers do.  If someone’s making organic fabric, it’s because they believe in it.  It’s not just because a market analysis told them they would make some money.  (In fact, I sometimes worry if they’re even making enough to live on, given the extra work they’re doing to source and use eco-friendly materials and fair trade practices.)  These folks really want to make a difference.

So here are the fabrics and shops I’ve covered so far in the Fabulous Fabrics series here on Crafting A Green World.  At one point I was afraid I would run out, but more and more come to my attention all the time.  So here’s the past, and I’ll see you next Tuesday to start in on the next six months!

Jennifer wrote about Kee Ka yesterday here on Eco Child’s Play, and I thought I would add a few more kids clothing ideas to the mix.  The monkey ensemble she highlighted was actually one of our favorite outfits we received as a gift for our son when he was born last fall.  It was a true breath of fresh air.  You see, here in Texas, we like our boys dressed in clothes that reflect real manly values.  Tools, trucks, sports logos, and cowboy gear abound on clothes for our sons, and that’s as it should be…

…unless you’re a parent that hates looking at tools, trucks, sports logos, and cowboy gear, in which case you’re up a creek.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for all of the hand-me-downs we’ve received since our son was born last fall.  Passing clothing down from kid to kid is an American tradition that’s thrifty and environmentally responsible at the same time.  I’ve also had a great time going through resale shops and thrift stores and I’ve found some good stuff.  Blue jean shorts for $1?  Sold!

However,  since kiddo isn’t old enough to care about his own clothes yet, we are actually the primary viewers of his wardrobe and we are starting to get a bit tired of all the “All Boy All The Time” look - and it is darn difficult to find anything else unless you buy new.  I know it isn’t any easier on the other side. Announcing “it’s a girl!” seems to trigger a pink clothing avalanche.  (Also see Amy’s post on GirlMogul for some alternatives.)

So if you’re on the hunt for something to break the mold and liven up your babe’s couture, here’s a list of 20 eco-friendly shirts that don’t scream boy or girl (or cowboy).  Use the money you saved on the jean shorts to splurge a little, or drop a few hints to the grandparents.

Welcome to the Third Carnival of Green Crafts!
Before we begin, let me just thank all of the crafters who participated in this month’s carnival for taking a weight off my mind. After reading all of these posts, I now have NO worries at all about landfill space anywhere in America. Seriously, y’all, crafters are obviously the solution to the trash problem. Go us!

Before we begin, a few administrative notes: We’re pleased as punch to announce that the fourth Carnival will be September 4th at Whip Up. Send in your posts via the carnival submission form today! For background information about the Carnival, please see the Carnival of Green Crafts home page. And in case you missed the previous editions, here are the first Carnival, here at Crafting A Green World, and the second Carnival, at BlogHer.

Thanks so much to all the crafters who shared their posts with us for this edition of the Carnival. Let’s dig in!
Eco-Friendly Materials
Tiny Decor gathered a list of the Top 10 Modern and Eco-friendly Fabric Sources on Etsy. You HAVE to see what she’s collected, there are some real knockouts.