{Photo from Betz White}
Have you seen Betz White's new fabric line - Family Cottage? I love the colors, designs, the weight of the fabric (it's a home dec weight), and perhaps most of all....that it's organic! Betz is printing this line on demand (eliminating waste), with organic cotton and hemp blended fibers. And it's all printed in the US with non-toxic pigment dyes. I love it.
In both Handmade Home as well as Betz's book Sewing Green - you can find each of our favorite sources for organic and natural fabrics. Some favorites - NearSea Naturals, Organic Cotton Plus, and a favorite of mine for diapering materials - Very Baby. I've been so grateful to have those sources handy for basics. But now it feels like the 'design' world of fabric is really opening up to organics, Family Cottage among them, and it's just thrilling, really.
I had the pleasure of meeting Betz at Squam this year, and ever since our chats there about her new line, I have been anxious to do some sewing with Family Cottage myself. After I finished Adelaide's quilt, I finally found myself 'free' to play with a little pile of it this weekend. You'd think, though, after all that quilting, that I'd move onto something other than log cabin. But, no. That's just what I did! Momentum, I suppose. And the fact that I couldn't bear to separate these yummy prints from one another.
Using the same method I did for the quilt, I made one log cabin square for the front; and on the back, a green linen with bits of the leftover fabrics. I lined it, and made just a simple buttonhole and drawstring tie (with bias binding). It's a super fun little bag with a very specific purpose...just for me.
When it was done, I made three more...just for my babes (three of them, anyway). And this week we're putting them into use for the first time with much excitement. Here they sit by the door waiting for action (the print above is Maine Summer by the lovely Jennifer Judd-McGee).
So, anyone care to venture a guess about what's inside those bags? Hmn...I'll be back to share tomorrow.
