Green Options

Fleece isn’t a natural fabric, but it is vegan, is often (although it’s just as often nearly impossible to tell when) partially to completely made from recycled plastic bottles, and has many of the same qualities of wool, in that it’s breathable and wicks moisture away from the skin. It doesn’t readily hold stains, doesn’t ravel, is thin and light and yet soft and plush, and can be washed easily.

It’s one of the staple fabrics that, as a cloth diapering momma, I bought every time it was on sale. Only now? All my babies are toilet trained, and I still have, pardon my French, a butt-load of fleece.

One of the things that I like to do as an eco-friendly crafter and that I like to teach my children as a natural parent is to remember to have respect for our stuff. We should keep only what we can use or enjoy, and we should use and enjoy what we have. Thus I need to either use or lose my fleece stash, and that’s my goal this week.

Fortunately, the same qualities that make fleece an excellent material for cloth diapers also make it an excellent material for a light and comfortable matress pad. Additionally, it comes in a width that’s perfect for my queen-sized bed and workable for my daughters’ full-sized bed, and the sewing on it will be absolutely minimal because fleece doesn’t ravel–just cut it to shape, throw on some elastic, and we’ll be good to go. Here’s how:

Sally Fox started growing colored cotton in the 1980’s. Concerned about the mass quantities of pesticides used in cotton growing, Fox researched different cotton breeds that were naturally resistant to pests and developed those breeds that were easily spun into yarn.

Over the years she has developed these plants and now produces green, brown, buffalo brown and white organic cotton. While it takes about 10 years to develop a color, Fox continues to experiment and tries to find new hues for her organic cotton. She says that by working at it year after year, eventually you come up with a plant that has a good color that is also suitable for spinning.

All of Fox Fiber yarns are certified organic and the cotton is available in cones or skeins and available in a variety of textures including boucle, chenille, bulky and crepe. As previously noted here on Yearn Worthy Yarn, I am a sucker for bulky yarns and Fox Fiber’s bulky comes in wonderful blends of the green, brown, and white cotton.

At the beginning of May I attended the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. It is a yarn lovers dream. A weekend to really geek out over fiber. Really, it was heaven.

One of the things this festival reminds me of is the process that fiber goes through to become yarn. With sheep, llamas, alpacas and goats parading through, it is hard not to recall that - oh, yeah, that’s where my yarn comes from! It is a chance to speak directly to the shepherds and the spinners and gain a better understanding of how the yarn is produced. And Nature’s Palette is one such company that has a handle on the entire production of their yarns.