My favorite jeans have finally died, and before I saw Gavin’s post I was planning to start a denim quilt. Denim quilts are heavy duty for picnics and playing on at the park, and I was just at Goodwill this past weekend so I’m inspired by the availability of cheap denim that needs a second chance at life.

Then I started to think about my “dead” jeans from a green point of view. The mantra Reduce, Reuse, Recycle doesn’t include the word “repair,” but it probably should. Reducing is best, reusing or repairing is good, recycling is a last resort. I had decided to recycle my jeans rather than repair them because I had this notion that patched jeans look “run down.” It’s like I’ve been trained by society that if a repair is visible, it makes the garment worthless.

Let’s get serious, people. I am a stay-at-home / work-at-home mother of an eight month old baby. I spend most of my waking hours in my own house. I get spit up on a lot. I crawl around on the floor to retrieve pacifiers and toys. Who the heck is going to put me on What Not To Wear for sporting a pair of patched jeans? I thrifted a “new” pair to replace them for going out, but if I can get more life out of the old ones, why not do it? Also, that way the new ones won’t be worn every day and they’ll last longer for occasions nicer than than cleaning pureed sweet potato out of someone’s hair.

I’m not saying that I’m going to spend all day in clothes I hate in order to be green, but I think it’s time for me to fight my way out of the trap that equates repaired with flawed.

At this point you may be thinking “Um, excuse me, wasn’t the title of this post DENIM QUILTS?”

Yes! Even though my favorite jeans aren’t going to be included, I still want to make a denim quilt.

The Goodwills in my town don’t sort jeans by size, so it’s way too time consuming trying to find some to wear. It’s more fun to pick them out for craft projects. I’ve been to the “overflow” discount shop where I saw how many they’re trying to get rid of that didn’t even make it into the store, so I know they’re not running short on jeans for people who are actually trying to buy clothes to wear.

I’ve been looking for inspiration, though, because I’m in a quilting rut lately. I keep falling back on unplanned scrap quilts or large squares just to get a project done instead of putting time into finding or designing a pattern I will be delighted to look at. A lot of denim quilts are rag quilts, which I don’t personally care for, or they look a little bit country to me.

So I went to look around for other options, and I thought I’d share a roundup of some of the beautiful denim quilts I found.

• Denim Quilt (2000) by Sandra J. Loosemore
• The Freebox Jeans Quilt, a work in progress at The Daily Dabbler.
• Denim Workclothes Quilt #1 and DenimWorkclothes Quilt #2, vintage quilts owned by Flickr user m.ruth
• Workingman’s Quilt by Ellen Sohn
• Random Blues by Flickr user sholridge mixes denim with other blues. Here’s a shot of the whole quilt.
• This mixed denim and scrap baby quilt by Flickr user cvkasdan could be adapted to other types of fabric. I’m thinking Japanese indigos.
• Jim’s Quilt by Brandy Agerbeck is made out of cords instead of jeans.
• Stepping Out In Denim by Flavin Glover looks a bit grey and fuzzy in the photo, but I’m loving the log cabin adaptation.

So that ought to help me get out of the quilting blahs. First, though, to patch my jeans…

PM Organics, like Near Sea Naturals, is an online shop crammed with “Textiles You Feel Good About.” PM Organics is currently closed as they move cross-country, but I thought I’d highlight them anyway since they are such a great source of eco-friendly fabrics and other supplies. You can sign up for their mailing list if you want an update when they get settled and re-open.

Their knits section includes organic cottons and blends in jersey, rib, fleece, terry, thermal, and interlock. Wovens include a few sateen sheetings, hemp and hemp blends, and twill. They also have organic cotton lace in three widths and 3/4 inch organic cotton twill tape which they note is “perfect for stabilizing seams, drawstrings, reinforcement or trim.” Organic cotton bias tape, elastic, and thread is currently sold out, but folks on the email list will get updated when they become available again.

The black floating seed crepe pictured above is 50% Organic Cotton/50% Tencel Crepe, and it’s only 10 bucks a yard. It also comes in nutmeg and seafoam. I had no idea what Tencel was, so I went to find out.

It turns out that Tencel is a brand name for a fiber called lyocell which is made of the cellulose found in wood pulp. That sounds great from a sustainability point of view compared to synthetic fabrics. But as with all products, you have to do your homework and be aware of the whole picture before making decisions.

The Organic Clothing blog, run by the folks at Lotus Organics Clothing, had a piece back in 2005 called Tencel: Sustainable but not necessarily healthy. It turns out that just like with bamboo, there are parts of the process in making lyocell that aren’t as green as we wish they were. I’m not saying I wouldn’t buy it, but it’s good to keep in mind that nothing is perfect and we just need to make the best informed choices we can.

PM Organics was founded by two moms who were looking for organic fabrics to use for making children’s clothing and cloth diapers:

We were tired of not having reasonably-priced sources of organic fabrics and were sure that others shared our feelings! As word of our fabric co-op got out, more and more people joined. Clearly, people wanted these fabrics, but like us, could not find them, at least not at affordable prices. So, we gathered all the cash we could, bought as many rolls of fabrics as we could, and started offering these wonderful organic knit fabrics as an on-going business venture.

Shops like PM Organics are a great resource for the rest of us, because they bring together so many different fabrics in one place. We wish them well in their move and look forward to updates as they get settled in their new home.

Previous Posts in the Fabulous Fabrics Series:

• Fabulous Vintage Kimono Fabric at Ah! Kimono
• Fabulous Fabrics: Michael Miller Organics
• Fabulous Fabrics: Hemp Linen And Twill From Earth Friendly Goods

My ideal craft shop would have EVERYTHING! I love it all. I would especially love a great supply of pretty recycled papers and unique recycled beads. Non-toxic glues/adhesives, glass etching solution, paints. Unique synthetic yarns AND more stylish (affordable) knitting needles/crochet hooks.

Katherine also mentioned that she had stopped shopping at mainstream craft stores, but had concerns about the independent online retailers as well. How do you know their business practices are any better?

I can definitely sympathize with Katherine. In my fantasies, I can walk down the street and shop at a grocery store where everything is organic and either local or fair trade. Anything I see that I want, I can have without worrying if I’m doing something bad to the planet or people. Put a craft store next to that grocery store and I would be in heaven.

While we wait, though, I thought I would round up some recycled and fair trade beads we can all feel good about:

• EcoButterfly Organics sells recycled glass beads. They belong to the Organic Trade Association and Co-Op America, and their website stresses their commitment to fair trade.
• eShopAfrica sells various sizes, shapes, and colors of recycled glass beads. eShopAfrica belongs to the Fair Trade Federation. Cool thing: you can see the process the artisans use to make the beads.
• Bead For Life is a community development project where Ugandan women make paper beads. You can buy jewelry, but you can also buy loose beads. (Juliet showed us how in Junk Mail Love Pat II.)
• Cathy Collison of Glass Garden Beads makes fun recycled bottle cap beads with lead-free solder.

While this isn’t the same as walking into an all-green, fair trade craft store, it’s a start. If you have a favorite source for earth-friendly, people-friendly beads, please share it in the comments.

Lucky for me, vintage kimono fabric is available elsewhere without the bother of glass cases and security guards. I found out about online shop Ah! Kimono when I came across Maitreya’s cute flower pin on Craftlog. Ah! Kimono imports used and vintage kimono from Japan and resells the fabric.

Owner Cheri Bridges describes the founding of Ah! Kimono as follows:

In the ’80’s and ’90’s a person could buy 200 lb. bales of used kimono. The very idea of that seemed so amazing, but what would I do with that many kimono I wondered. I really just wanted a few of them to line some hand woven garments. In 1991, I was taking a garment class with a wonderful group of adventurous women. We decided to split a bale of kimono so that we could learn more about the textiles.

Ah! Kimono offers five different fabric packs that include cuts of different sizes, from 4×6 inches to 14×28 inches. Most of the fabrics are silk or silk blends. You can select a color family or ask for a pack split between two color families.

They sell kits for a folded purse and a small bag, as well as monthly and quarterly fabric clubs in case you are troubled with an excess of disposable income.

You may be thinking to yourself, “What would I do with kimono fabric?” If you are, set aside two or three hours and search for “vintage kimono” on Etsy. You’ll find a wealth of crafty inspiration for using these gorgeous fabrics. Here are a few of my favorites Etsy folks who use kimono fabric:

• Kimonocards
• AtelierKanawa
• Run Amok

(Remember to use other crafters’ designs for inspiration, not duplication, unless you have permission!)

Other Posts About Reusing and Remaking Clothing

• Tied Up In Knots About Recycling?
• Upcycle Old Jeans Into A Sexy Mini
• Recycle Sweaters Into Yarn

Being creative with your quilt ingredients is part of the history of quilting. Now granted, many of the choices that early quilters made were due to economic constraints. I suspect that if the pioneers had sewing machines and fabric shops readily and affordably available, a lot of them would have taken advantage of those options. However, quilting does have a historical ethic of conservation and re-use. Quilters today manifest this ethic through the obsessive saving of fabric scraps too small for any reasonable project, “just in case.”

So if you’re willing to look past batting, there are other earth-friendly alternatives for your quilt’s insides. Your linen closet, thrift stores, or donations from other people’s sewing supplies may provide just what you need.

When you’re making a heavy quilt, such as a denim quilt or a flannel rag quilt, you may not want to add the weight and warmth of batting to your project. A flannel sheet is a good alternative. You can also use a flannel sheet for the batting of a traditional quilt, but check first to make sure the pattern doesn’t show through the top or backing. For an even lighter weight, you can use a regular sheet. Regular sheets will give the quilt less body than flannel.

If you’re going to tie your quilt, regular or flannel sheets might be a great choice because they remove concerns about batting shifting over time. If you’re quilting, sheets will give you a very flat look for the finished quilt relative to batting, and the quilting stitches will be quite visible. You can also get away with less quilting.

For wall hangings, felt can be a good choice because of its stiffness. I’ve received leftover felt from a couple of people once they moved past making Halloween costumes for their children. I’ve been using it to practice free-motion quilting, but I could even re-use those pieces as the middle layers of small quilts. Like sheets, felt won’t have the same crinkly outcome as batting after washing.

You can even use an old, somewhat worn-out quilt as batting for your quilt. I know it may seem like heresy, but there are older quilts out there that are ugly and have no historical value. Caryl Bryer Fallert’s first quilt used a quilt as batting, and she says in the description that she’s pretty sure the batting in that quilt was worn-out long underwear. If you’re going to use an old quilt, make sure the batting of that quilt is in good condition. A quilt I recently inherited had batting that had turned into lumps and pellets. Not a good choice for your next project.

(You can take this idea one step further and use a lame, boring, mass-produced quilt picked up at a thrift store as the batting for your lovely, interesting, handmade quilt. Take that, Tommy Hilfiger!)

Other possibilities include light fleece blankets, or any other large piece of fabric with a weight that you think would work for your quilt. The two risks you run are uneven shrinkage and bearding (when the batting fibers “leak” through to the outside of the quilt, as can happen with polyester batting), so pre-wash your fabric in hot or warm water before using it and inspect it carefully for signs of fuzziness.

Finally, if you’re going to do fairly dense quilting, you can always piece together leftover batting scraps from previous projects. My good friend Stephannie of Silana Stitchworks gave me the following advice:

I just make sure that I quilt it densely enough that that section won’t shift around. I zig-zag stitch (widest I can manage) with the two pieces butting up right next to each-other - but not overlapping, since that would create bulk. I use a similarly colored thread. It’s amazingly easy to do, and really doesn’t take much time or patience. And it soothes me not to have to buy more batting when in total I have enough. I’ve successfully pieced like 5-6 little pieces together to make something large enough for the whole quilt. Sometimes the pieces all go in one direction, and sometimes it’s more of a puzzle piece sort of thing.

I’ve done this for a wall hanging, but now I think I’ll try it for a larger quilt and see how it goes.

Related Posts About Blankets and Quilting

• Winter Woolies
• Are The Amish Extreme Green Quilters?
• Top 5 Quilting Ideas for “Use What You Have” Month

Michael Miller Fabrics is co-sponsoring a Baby Bootie contest with Craft Magazine. I would love to see a green crafter win this with organic or recycled materials.

I do suspect there’s some kind of craft hive mind episode going on here, because I’ve planned to write about their organic fabric line this week - and just last week, Autumn posted here at Crafting A Green World about recycled handmade shoes. I fully intend to investigate this set of coincidences, but first let’s talk about Michael Miller Organics.

Michael Miller Fabrics launched its organic line at the beginning of the year. The sneak peek on their blog last fall included a shot of the supercute booties shown here. That blog post gave a snapshot of some of the challenges facing folks who want to bring organic cotton to market:

Did you know that organic cotton has to be grown for at least three years without chemical pesticides, defoliants, or fertilizers? It costs more because organic farms are more labor and management intensive. They’re also usually smaller and do not receive federal subsidies like conventional farming.

Luckily for us, they persevered and created a small collection of fabrics and a couple of trims in warm, natural tones. Included in the organic collection are one each of gingham, terry, fleece, sheeting, sherpa, a plain herringbone, the herringbone check shown above, felt, gingham bias trim, and gingham “ruffle rac.”

While it’s a small collection, it’s a big step forward to see organic fabrics for home crafting that are affordably priced. I’m not knocking the high-end organic cotton home decorating fabrics like those made by Mod Green Pod and Oliveira Textiles. Those companies make beautiful fabrics. It’s just nice to see the spectrum of fabrics filling out with choices for a variety of projects and budgets.

Michael Miller Organics fabrics and trim are available from J. Caroline.

Related Resources:

• Earth-friendly choices for batting and stuffing.
• Online shop Near Sea Naturals.
• Hemp Linen and Twill from Earth Friendly Goods.
• Harmony Art Organic Design fabrics

Or maybe I should speak just for myself. My name is Skye, and I collect craft books. My collection is very small when compared to some people’s (hello Jessica, are you reading this?), but it contains books for quilting projects that I likely will never undertake. Celtic knot applique using bias strips, crazy landscape piecing techniques, etc. It’s like I have a fantasy craft life that is totally divorced from my real craft life, which is mostly concerned with making baby quilts for other people’s children.

Now I’m branching out into non-quilting books as well. One of the books that is about to add itself to my collection - note the use of passive voice to imply that it’s not my fault - is the eco-fabulous Second Time Cool: The Art of Chopping Up a Sweater by by Anna-Stina Linden Ivarsson, Katarina Brieditis, and Katarina Evans.

I know that getting books from the library is the greener option, but at some point the Austin Public Library is going to get sick of me having their book out all the time and want a few words with me.

The fun, funky projects in Second Time Cool include skirts, hats, scarves, jewelry, gloves, slippers, and bags. It’s intended for teens, which is why many of the projects are too cool for me, but there’s plenty there for a 30-something mom as well. Everything I need to know is included, from felting and deconstructing a sweater to adding embellishments to the final piece. I have heady visions of the wonderful recycled sweater crafts I will create after rummaging through Goodwill during the three weeks a year when they actually put wool sweaters out for sale here in Texas.

Or will I?

Does anyone? Second Time Cool is lauded across the web for its style and possibilities, but out of all the people who bought it, did anyone actually make anything? I can’t find sales figures, but its sales rank on Amazon is 554,476. For reference, the cookbook from reality show The Biggest Loser is 18, and one of my husband’s obscure books is ranked 1,964,912. So let’s assume that a reasonable number of people bought Second Time Cool.

After careful research, I have found dramatic evidence that at least THREE people on the planet have actually completed a project using Second Time Cool as inspiration. I would now like to pay tribute to those brave souls.

First up is Aimee Owen at Wardrobe Refashion. She actually did turn a sweater into a skirt. Aimee, we salute you!

Flickr user vasilisa also turned a sweater into a skirt, adding a crocheted hem and a ribbon at the waist. Impressive!

Last but not least, it turns out that the staff at Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon is full of crafters. Who knew? Tracey of Powell’s made some sexy wrist cuffs, which she wears inside at her desk. Tracey, congratulations! And tell your employers to turn on the heat.

All joking aside, craft books are yummy, and buying them new supports crafters and authors. Buying them used is greener. Either way, frequenting your local independent and used bookstores is good for you and your community.

And I am heartened to discover that making a project from a book is not just an empty dream.

Related Posts:

• Upcycle!, about another “trash into treasure” must-have book
• Recycle Sweaters Into Yarn
• Top 5 Must-Have DIY Sewing Tomes

Welcome to Earth Day, crafters! Today, in honor of our one and only home, I’m taking a break from the Fabulous Fabrics series to address a serious dilemma.

If you’re like me, you have a decent sized fabric stash sitting around. In my case, it’s quilting cotton. Yards and yards and yards of it. If you’re like me, you also spend a lot of time thinking about how you can help avert ecological crisis. When the two collide, it can produce guilt about consumption of that much cotton - which uses a ton of water to produce - as well as dyes to make it pretty.

Don’t fret! While cotton is a thirsty crop, your stash can start to make up for its ecological footprint while it awaits that perfect project. Scientists here at Crafting A Green World Laboratories have been working diligently to evaluate all the possibilities and develop this list of the Top 5 ways your fabric stash can help save the earth. (We believe these tips are also applicable to other stash materials, such as yarn and possibly ribbon, but our research is still ongoing into these supplies.)

Insulation For Your Home

While our researchers have not yet determined the exact R-value of a fabric stash, it’s pretty obvious that stacking tons of fabric up against a wall provides some extra insulating power. You want to use a wall that faces the outside, so my stash can’t live in the closet anymore, but on the other hand I’ll get more of a chance to see it when it’s not behind closet doors. Bonus: people who live in energy efficient homes are sexier.

Energy Efficiency for Your Refrigerator

Refrigerators run more efficiently when the freezer compartment is mostly full, so why not use any extra space to store your stash if your freezer is rarely fully stocked? We advise you to store your fabric in plastic bags before using this tip, though, because you don’t want it to end up with freezer smell. (Plastic bags aren’t all that eco-friendly, we know, but you should be able to use the same ones for years.)

A Comfy Guest Bed

Why buy a whole piece of furniture for an occasional use? In the spirit of Use What You Have Month, stack your fabric stash to create a guest bed when company comes to visit. If you have a guest who likes a firmer mattress, slap your rotary cutting mat on top. If they like a softer mattress, top it with some batting. It saves raw materials, and you don’t need an extra room to store the bed even when it’s not in use.

Build a Tiny House

Speaking of extra rooms, have you noticed that U.S. houses are WAY bigger than they used to be? Making a guest bed out of your stash can save you some square footage, which means less to heat and cool (and clean), but why not go one better and downsize your dwelling? If an ice hockey goalie can live in his net, why can’t a crafter live in her (or his) stash? You could even put your tiny house on wheels for taking to craft shows.

Craft for Great Justice

Our colleague Nayelli pointed out in her post on our sister blog EcoWorldly that No Water Means No Food, so if you ever eat or drink, you’ll agree that water is important. In 2006 and 2007, knitters came together with international charity WaterAid for the Knit A River project to raise awareness of the need for clean water worldwide.

What eco-cause are you passionate about? How can you get crafty and get involved? Creativity is what we do, so I look forward to seeing an explosion of crafty activism from Crafting A Green World readers in 2008.

And on that note, I leave you to celebrate Earth Day!

It turns out that wise use of resources is a hallmark of Amish quilts even beyond avoidance of applique. The Quilter’s Ultimate Visual Guide has this to say about Amish quilts:

Most quilts contain bits of fabric left over after dresses and shirts have been made for the family […] Mitered borders are rarely used, since they require more fabric. In keeping true to their faith, the quilts the Amish make are simple in design and fulfill a utilitarian need of providing warmth.

All of the quilters I know keep a collection of fabric scraps and leftovers that we are just positive we are going to use someday. Throwing away a bit of fabric is tough, even when it’s only 1 inch by 1 inch. (Hey, there’s always miniature paper piecing.) We also plan before we cut and we cut carefully so we don’t use any more of the fabric than we have to. It’s expensive, and we want to have some left to use for other projects if we can.

The Amish, however, take this to another level. How many quilters have actually sworn off particular techniques because they are too resource-intensive? How many crafters have sworn off new materials, only using leftovers from other activities? For example, we like to think that t-shirt quilts are a great recycling project. But for every t-shirt quilt that keeps part of a shirt out of a landfill, we throw part of each shirt away and then use fusible web, batting, and a backing fabric to finish the quilt. I don’t think the Amish would be terribly impressed.

The Amish commitment to their way of life is motivated by religion and not just by environmental concerns, but their example does make me stop and think. They aren’t consuming their way to a greener world. They’re deliberately limiting their consumption.

They aren’t doing without beauty, though. If all they wanted was to keep warm, they wouldn’t have to piece the quilt top at all. Looking at their quilts makes me think of folks who fear going green because they don’t want to sacrifice style, beauty, or comfort. Collectors Stephen and Faith Brown have been generous enough to create an online gallery of some of the Amish quilts in their collection. When you look at a quilt in that gallery, do you miss the mitered border?

The authoritative work on these quilts is The Amish Quilt by Eve Wheatcroft Granick, the cover of which is pictured above. I’m looking forward to reading it and learning more about this green quilting tradition.

Related Posts:

• Top 5 Quilting Ideas for “Use What You Have” Month
• What Can You Do With Jeans?
• Winter Woolies, featuring an artist’s reponse to waste in the garment industry

So I thought it was high time to give this online eco-shop their own day in the sun in our Fabulous Fabrics series. Their collection of cotton, wool, and hemp fabrics, yarns and knitting needles, and notions is sure to warm the heart of any green crafter. Since there’s so much to see on their site, I thought I’d take a moment and highlight a couple of the new fabrics they just added.

The White Sands Safari Interlock, pictured above, is 100% cotton and whitened with peroxide instead of chlorine bleach.

I love their description of what it’s good for (emphasis mine):

Soft and comfortable, the interlock feels marvelous against your skin. You’ll love it for sundresses and other summer wear, for a feral baby, for unexpectedly interesting long johns, pajamas, boxer-briefs, and other intimates, for T-shirts and classic tops, …

I didn’t realize feral babies needed clothes, but I guess it does get a little chilly out in the woods!

I also love this pumpkin jersey, also 100% cotton. Although as a pale redhead, I probably couldn’t wear this color, a lack of immediate practical application for a fabric isn’t really a barrier to purchase. (You may have noticed this in my post about thrifted sheets, and look how well that turned out - people have shown up to give me plenty of ideas!)

Near Sea Naturals can send you a swatch of one of their fabrics for 50 cents if you need to see and feel it, or you can get a swatch packet of some of their basic fabrics.

Did I mention the kits? Oh yes, they also have sewing kits. If you need an apron, a tipi, a pair of boxers, or some baby clothes, check them out.

The Near Sea Naturals blog will keep you up to date on new fabrics and products. The pre-cut and clearance page might score you a good deal. What more could you need?

Problem #1: Nothing in my house is mauve, persimmon, or lime.

Problem #2: I don’t have a twin size bed.

So what do I do with this sheet?

Granted, sheets are just really big pieces of fabric, so there are plenty of options. But this sheet is so cute, I want to use it for something special.

I could use it for the back of a quilt, since I do all my sewing by machine. If you’re going to hand quilt, DO NOT use a sheet unless you enjoy blisters, bleeding, and adding an unfinished project to your pile of UFOs. There are some concerns with poly-blend sheets and sheets with high thread counts, so choose carefully. Look for fairly new 100% cotton sheets and prewash them thoroughly. And if you’re going to send the quilt out to a longarm quilter, make sure you check with that person first to see if they accept sheets as quilt backs. Some don’t.

Unfortunately, my sheet doesn’t work with any of the three quilts I have going, and starting another quilt to go with a back seems a little silly.  If I didn’t have a baby and I could pretend that I could work on four quilts at once, I might do it anyway, but not right now.

The internet was helpful when I was trying to find a destiny for my worn out blue jeans, so I turned to it once again for advice.

Wendy at Wisdom of the Moon has created a great tutorial on how to make reusable grocery bags from sheets. Look at the photo in her tutorial and tell me that it wouldn’t be more fun to do the grocery shopping if you had bags this attractive. Janel has told us on our sister blog Planetsave about how many localities are banning plastic bags, so this one is timely.

However, I’m leaning towards making reusable gift bags. Like with grocery bags, I’ll be using a thrift store find to replace a disposable product - double green points for me! And since the sheet is so attractive, I will surely win accolades from friends and family for my good taste in textiles. The Simple Drawstring Bag tutorial on happythings is a good basic bag, or for something fancier, try Liesel Made’s tutorial on wine gift bags.

So I’m going to try cutting up my beloved sheet. If I can. Of course, Jennifer at Eco Child’s Play suggested around the holidays that I could skip the bag-making step and wrap presents in fabric, and then I wouldn’t have to cut it up… but then I’d have to buy someone a really large present…

Please don’t make the hemp jokes. Please. I live in Austin, Texas, which is full of hemp enthusiasts of all types, so I promise that I have heard them all. And truth be told, I didn’t think I would be that impressed by a web page full of hemp fabric.

Yes, I was one of those ignoramuses who envisioned only scratchy off-white canvas when I thought of hemp fabric. Victoria has profiled hemp yarns from Lanaknits, Autumn has opened my eyes to the beauty of macrame, and I even profiled a fabric that’s a blend of cotton and hemp. But 100% hemp? I clung to my preconceptions.

The hemp linen and twill at Earth Friendly Goods has won me over, though. How?It’s in multiple colors.

It doesn’t take much, does it? Splash a little purple on it and I’m all “Ooooh, pretty.” But honestly, hemp has a lot to recommend it from an environmental standpoint. And as Victoria said, “similar to wool, every time you wash it, hemp becomes softer and more luxurious.”

The linen comes in 10 colors, including black. The twill comes in 14 colors, including bleached and semi-bleached options if you’re going for the classic off-white color. In addition, there are natural color textured herringbone and basket weaves, a terrycloth in a hemp and organic cotton blend, and even painter’s canvas. The hemp/organic cotton plain weave comes in four colors named Barley, Raspberry, Pistachio, and Thyme. Rounding out the collection are fleece, french terry, and jersey knit, also in the blend. There’s even a blend of hemp and recycled poly.

At $25-30 per yard for the linens and twills, these fabrics are less expensive than some of the more upscale interior design and home decorating fabrics we’ve looked at so far in the Fabulous Fabrics series. Some of the other fabrics are less.

So don’t fall prey to my delusions about hemp! Take a look and see what you think about including some of these fabrics in your next craft project.

As you may already know, April is Use What You Have Month in the craft-o-sphere. Started by crafter Toni at her blog Simple Sparrow in 2006, this challenge asks crafters of all types to take 31 days and rediscover the treasures in their stashes instead of heading to the store.

(Yes, your stash. The one over there. Don’t bother closing the closet door or standing in front of it, we still know it’s there.)

Over 4,700 photos in the Use What You Have Flickr group demonstrate that this idea has caught on. Sometimes being green means supporting companies and artisans that are producing sustainable, beautiful materials. Sometimes, though, it means taking a break from accumulating more stuff and using the time to create something beautiful.

How can quilters spend the month of April? I’m glad you asked! Here are my picks for the Top 5 “Use What You Have” quilting ideas:

The Journal Quilt

Jeanne Williamson, a mixed media artist, started making a small art quilt each week in 1999 and kept going until she had made 365 of them, which can be seen online in this gallery. These “journal quilts” were the inspiration for the Journal Quilt Project that has run in conjunction with the International Quilt Festival (IQF) for several years. Participants in that project make a quilt each month that’s the same size as a sheet of notebook paper, and each quilt is an exercise in developing their creativity. Karey Patterson Bresenhan’s book Creative Quilting showcases over 400 of the journal quilts that have been hung at IQF.

You don’t have to make a journal quilt every week, or even every month, but why not try one in April? You have enough in your stash already to try a new block, a new technique, or a color combination that you normally wouldn’t choose. Or use the opportunity to express a feeling or commemorate an event in your life.

The Miniature Quilt

If you’ve always wanted to make a log cabin quilt, make a tiny one. If you’ve always wanted to make an art quilt, make a tiny one. The Miniature Quilt: Over 24 Projects for Quilters and Doll’s House Enthusiasts by Dinah Travis has patterns for every kind of quilter, but you don’t really need a pattern. Just scale down your blocks, or go block-free and improvise.

If you haven’t already tried paper piecing, you could try it out with a miniature quilt. Paper piecing, in which you sew pieces of fabric to a paper foundation, often makes it easier to achieve precision when working with very small shapes. Look for books by Carol Doak, such as Easy Paper-Pieced Miniatures, or other paper piecing books for ideas. You’ll need tracing paper, though, so if you don’t already have it, you may have to wait until April is over. (Learn from my experience and don’t use regular printer paper instead, as you will spend the rest of your life removing it from the back of your quilt blocks. With tweezers. And if you didn’t have carpal tunnel syndrome before, you will develop it.)

The Scrap Quilt

The history of quilting in America is scraps. Leftovers from clothing, feed sacks, and other bits of cloth were made into quilts that ranged from utilitarian to exquisite. If you’ve made a few quilts, you undoubtedly have a collection of scraps in a box that you just couldn’t bear to throw away. Give them a new life during the month of April, and they’ll thank you for their second chance.

Successful Scrap Quilts from Simple Rectangles by Judy Turner and Margaret Rolfe is a great sourcebook for learning how to organize your scraps and plan quilts that are made of leftovers, but don’t look like it. They include a number of patterns to get you started, but the block system they present offers endless possibilities. The lessons they share about color and contrast are valuable for any project.

Quilt for Charity

Project Linus provides quilts and blankets to children in hospitals, social services agencies, and other settings where kids need some kindness. Quilts of Valor Foundation provides quilts to wounded soldiers and service members. If neither of those options strikes your fancy, just do an online search for “charity quilt” and you’ll find other causes and lots of free patterns that whip up quickly. The quilt doesn’t have to be intricate to mean the world to the person who receives it.

Tackle those UFOs

You knew I would say it, didn’t you? To many folks, a stack of Unfinished Objects is the proof that you’re a real quilter, but April would be a great month to make that stack a little shorter. There are so many reasons not to finish a project, but here’s a list of tips to help you break through those barriers.

(However, the tip “Evaluate why projects don’t hold your interest” seems kind of preachy and doesn’t really address the current situation. Also, they don’t provide any tips for “started a project for someone I was dating and then broke up with him before I finished it.”)

Good luck with Use What You Have Month, and we’ll be looking for your wonderful quilts on Flickr!

No, really. I’m serious.

Granted, Santoro describes the sound as “kind of like scratching a record backwards or radio static” because you’re listening to many strands of tape at one time. So a Sonic Fabric dress isn’t exactly a replacement for the IPod. (John Fishman of Phish did have a Sonic Fabric dress made to play in concert, but that was kind of a special case. Here’s the video of the performance if you’re interested.)

Sonic Fabric doesn’t seem to be available on a retail basis, but I’m tickled that it exists. I’ve often wondered what would happen to the magnetic media that’s becoming obsolete as information technology evolves. I’ve seen notebooks made with floppy disks as the covers. Is anyone out there reusing microfiche?

For more about how Sonic Fabric came about, see Pardon, Your Dress is Singing on Wired. Online shop 3r Living has Tell-Tail Thangkas (”inspired by Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags and ‘tell-tails’ used on sailboats to tell the wind direction”), flags, and messenger bags made out of Sonic Fabric for sale.

First, in Recycled Crafts: Recycling Crafters of Etsy, she lists some of her favorite Etsy shops that use recycled materials. As commenters point out, this is quite dangerous, because it may not be physically possible to visit Etsy and not buy something. My favorite one of her finds is RePlayGround!, with the tagline “Garbage has feelings too!” RePlayGround! has a shop, but they also have instructions for DIY projects and recycling kits like the bottle lamp kit pictured here. They supply the hardware, you supply the bottles, and let there be light.

Next up, in Recycled and Green Crafters: Communities and Blogs Deb takes us on a tour of various sites and blogs that provide inspiration for green crafting. You might see a mention of a blog that you recognize. Make sure you check out this amazing scrap dress that has the commenters drooling. If all those folks show up to the BlogHer Conference this year wearing those dresses, I promise I’ll post pictures.

Finally, in Thrift Stores and Salvage Yards Are Art/Craft Supply Stores, she lists ideas for using wool sweaters and other clothing from thrift shops, then also describes other potential sources of art and craft supplies. Her Flickr photos documenting trips to the local salvage shops was an eye-opener for me. Here in Austin, we have a Habitat For Humanity ReStore which carries reusable building supplies, but I’ve never gone with an eye towards craft supplies. Usually I’m looking for window blinds. (There is a good number of Habitat ReStores in the U.S. and Canada, by the way, so you may have one nearby.)

I’m pretty sure Deb has one more post left to go this weekend, so I’ll be keeping my eye on BlogHer to see what she comes up with.

After seeing bags and bags of them at thrift stores, though, I realized that not everyone holds on to them forever. (Come to think of it, I’m not sure where my childhood set went. Note to self: interrogate mother about how she disposed of eggs.)

So if you’re not going to continue using them for festive holiday celebrations, or if you’ve found a stash that’s begging for re-use, what can you do? As we’ve seen, Kelly’s using hers to organize craft supplies. Autumn found a tutorial on felting wool eggs using the plastic ones as a base.

Now it’s my turn. I’ll pose it as a riddle. What do you get when you combine a pizza box and a few dozen plastic easter eggs?

This wreath. (You may have to scroll to the right to see the image.) With a bunch of easter eggs bought for $1 at a thrift store, crafter Oddie put together quite a spring wreath that’s keeping a number of easter eggs out of a landfill.

The color scheme might not be to your taste, but consider the possibilities with a little non-toxic paint. You can also use glue and scrap paper or other notions to decorate your eggs. I’m seeing a Halloween wreath of black and orange eggs, accented with green easter grass?

Once you replace the well-worn pair of jeans, though, what’s next? Since I’m currently facing the demise of my favorite (and only) pair of jeans, I thought I would take a spin around the web and see what I could do with them.

First up is this recycled blue jean organizer, perfect for craft supplies.

Three pairs of jeans, plus a dowel, some cord, thread, and you’re good to go. The instructions say you should use a yard of new denim fabric for the back, which is probably to avoid extra bulky seams, but I think I’d just use more pieces of the jeans. A 22×25 piece could be put together, and if you do a 1/2 inch seam allowance and press it open you shouldn’t have too much trouble.

Another option would be to stockpile a few pairs and make a quilt. Susan Druding maintains a great resource page on Blue Jeans Quilts. As she says, the page covers “sewing and quilting techniques for denim, ideas for quilt designs, quilt top layout samples and patterns for various easy quilts, and many links to sites on the Web to see and learn more about blue jeans quilts.” A few of the links are broken, but there is still plenty of information and good tips for working with denim. The gallery of quilts has a few different styles of quilts.

(And just like with Emma’s post on recycling neckties, this is a perfect excuse to go thrift shopping. You may need multiple colors of jeans for an interesting quilt.)

Finally, check out this jeans pocket gadget protector by sagefemme on Instructables. Jeans pockets are used for a variety of crafts, but this one caught my eye. Something about the little tiny IPod peeking out of the pocket is just too cute. Sagefemme’s tutorial is very clear and user-friendly.

For UK folks, if you just can’t make time in your busy crafting schedule to reuse your jeans, you can recycle them. Recycleyourjeans.com will accept them and remake them into sandals for you. So if you just can’t bear to part with your beloved jeans that have seen better days, send them in and give them a second life.

What are your favorite ideas for reusing and recycling blue jeans? Seen any great tutorials online? Let us know and we may end up with a regular feature here at Crafting a Green World.

Oliveira Textiles is a new kid on the block when it comes to organic fabrics. Their first fabrics, called the Ocean Collection, came out just last September. The Press section of their website shows that people are definitely noticing. Domino, At Home, Design New England, and Home and Garden magazines have already covered them. So have websites Design Sponge, Treehugger, decor8, ecofabulous, Salon, and more.

So what’s all the fuss about? Three fabrics - Wavelength, Shell Game, and Anemone - which are each available in three colorways. They’re all twill fabrics suitable for home decorating, made of hemp, organic cotton, or a blend. Printing is done with water-based non-toxic inks.

Oliveira Textiles is also working toward fair trade certification by the Global Organic Textile Standard.

Why use hemp? Their website explains:

Hemp is an ancient plant, ecologically friendly, biodegradable, strong and durable yet with a fabulous luster and soft hand; as well, hemp’s natural ability to screen out ultra-violet rays makes the fabric less prone to fading. We love everything about this fiber!

Sisters Dawn Oliveira and Deborah Olson were inspired to start Oliveira Textiles when family illnesses made them think about the role of environmental toxins in health. The Ocean Collection is a tribute to their father, a fisherman, and inspired by their childhood living by the sea.

Two locations, one U.S. and one Canadian, sell to retail customers. Like other organic home dec fabrics, the collection runs pricey. This isn’t a surprise. We’re at the beginning of a cultural shift, where fabric producers are rejecting methods of agriculture that have essentially poisoned people, animals, land, and water. Until more and more customers follow these producers and buy green, organics are going to be more expensive up front. The cost to your health and habitat, though, is much higher on the back end for traditional textiles.

My solution? Find someone who likes me a whole lot between now and my birthday!

Who makes your favorite sustainable fabric? Let us know what you love and we just might feature it in the next installment of Fabulous Fabrics.

eInsider

I did have a couple of bones to pick with the article, but there were also quite a few good things that were new to me.

First, the Green Quilts Project, founded by Susan Shie, encouraged quilters to make quilts from 1989 to 2004 to send healing energy to the Earth. I had never heard of this effort before. I also didn’t know about Mountain Mist’s Eco Craft batting, fiberfill, and pillowforms, which are made from corn fiber.

The Aurora Silk website offers natural dyes and great tutorials for using them. And it was good to see a mention of Betz White’s delicious recycled wool sweater crafts and her book Warm Fuzzies, which always make me want to buy every wool sweater within a 10 mile radius and start felting them.

Readers of Crafting a Green World will no doubt recognize a few of the other artists and businesses mentioned!

What didn’t I like about the article? First, the claim that there is little need for eco-friendly notions because many notions are made from bamboo. Maybe that’s true for buttons, but not for everything else. Second, the following recommendation, emphasis mine:

Aside from personally reusing textiles, quilters and fiber artists can also donate fabrics, clothing, or other fiber products to local charities, regardless of the condition of the item. According to the Council for Textile Recycling, close to a million tons of post-consumer textiles are collected by non-profit organizations each year. Of that, about half can be sold as second-hand items, while most of the remainder is recycled and used to create new products, often for individuals in third-world countries.

I hope the readers of this article check with their nonprofit of choice before donating torn, stained, or worn out clothing! Not all nonprofits participate in such programs, and receiving “donations” like this just increases their disposal costs.

The article mentions that Mountain Mist and the International Quilt Study Center are co-sponsoring the Crafting A Better Planet Quilt Competition. Unfortunately, the deadline was March 1st. We’ll keep an eye on it to see who wins and keep you posted.

The current line of fabrics includes 28 fabrics in a variety of solids and prints in sateen, twill, denim, interlock, and even a couple of flannels for those cozy sewing projects. There’s a clearance section for flawed fabrics which may work for smaller scale projects. You can also check out the upcoming new fabrics on a page of their web site that is just as creative as the fabrics themselves. Take a look to see what I mean!

Why organic? In Susalla’s own words:

The textile industry affects everyone, everywhere. It has also been one of the world’s largest polluters. Less than 3% of earth’s arable land is dedicated to cotton cultivation, yet it accounts for nearly 25% of all insecticide usage. According to the World Health Organization, twenty-thousand people die each year in developing countries as a result of the chemicals sprayed on cotton.

In addition to the fabrics, the Harmony Art website also has a wealth of information. The information sheet on organic versus convention cotton is a real eye-opener, even if you know a little bit about organics. Susalla’s blog, the journey is the prize, offers a window into the business. The Frequently Asked Questions are quite helpful if you’re considering a purchase, and it includes links to retail ordering options for the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. The list of products from other companies that have used Harmony Art fabrics is impressive.

Some Harmony Art fabrics are produced in India and some in the United States. All but the wide width fabrics are third party certified to conform to the Global Organic Textile Standards for fair trade, and they are working on certification for the wide widths in 2008.