Planning Organic Fabric

This summer AJ and I have been working hard to change our recycling/reusing patterns as we’ve been learning together about how to be good stewards of God’s resources. Part of my goals for this year were to incorporate that into my work.

Decreasing Fabric Waste

One thing I’ve done is work to reduce fabric waste by offering custom layouts in fabric orders. The beauty of the digital fabric printing arena is that I can layout fabric in any shape/design I need within a yard. The simplest and most common way I do this is with fat quarters. I arrange 4 patterns in 18×21 pieces all in one file that I send to the printer.

Here’s how I’ve done this for customers. They tell me the dimensions of the pieces they need and what prints they want to see. For example, Kristi of Palmetto Handmade commissioned a yard in which there were 28 patterns in 6×9 blocks for her verse purses. Done this way, there were virtually ZERO scraps, not to mention the variety in 28 patterns!

When you order fabric from me, think about how much you’ll need and send me dimensions, or even a sketch on graph paper will do. Just tell me what patterns and how much of each you want and as long as the total area makes up a yard or more, I’ll get it done.

Going Organic

Organic fabric (quality fabric) in the digital printing market is difficult to come by just yet, but I’ve found some that is pretty fantastic! So I’m beginning to go that way, but it is an investment I’m not quite ready to make yet, so to help me hone down my plan, would you help me pick designs?

Please take a look at http://olivepatterns.com/ and tell me which pattern set you like best, and one or two of your favorite designs or colors within that set. I can’t move forward with this until I know people will buy it, but commenting here doesn’t mean you’re committed to buying anything either. It’s just a head-count. You can always email me instead to keep your preference private.

Once I choose a pattern set, I’ll start taking pre-orders (at about 35% OFF retail) for organic cotton in those prints. I’ll also be offering smaller cuts under a yard as follows:

Size	Dimensions	Use
Sample Square	17″ x 17″	pillow front, bags, wallets, crafts, quilts
Fat Quarter	18″ x 29″	napkins, apron, purses, wallets, larger crafts
Fat Half	29″ x 36″	tea towels, pillows, child’s clothing
Yard	36″ x 58″	everything else!

In the meantime, you’re welcome to request custom fabric by the yard in any of my patterns and I’ll have them printed on-demand for you.

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