Featured Article: The Recent Trend of Organic Fabric in Quilting
100% organic cotton fabric is a new arrival to the quilting industry. Until just a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable to purchase quilting fabric labeled "organic". With the recent advent of "modern quilting" an eco-conscious trend appears to have developed among manufacturers, fabric designers and consumers.
Organic fabric can be identified as such by looking at the selvage (or unprinted edge) of a fabric. Here you'll find the information identifying the manufacturer and fabric line and if organic, the tagline "100% organic cotton".
Although the cotton itself is 100% organic as stated, once the dyes hit the fabric things get a bit dicey. The cotton fabric has been grown without pesticides and uses organic farming processes as promised but what about the dyes?
Robert Kaufman, a very prominent quilt fabric manufacturer, provides copies of their organic certificates online. Anyone can see that as promised, all cotton is 100% organic. The dyes are referred to as "Low Impact". What this means is that they are printing on these fabrics using dye components from a pre-approved list of chemicals.
Is there a dye that that is 100% eco-friendly with absolutely no impact on the environment? The answer is yes and no. Vegetable dyes are chemical free but not colorfast. They fade within a few washings. There are ways to make the colors "stick" but they may not actually be a more eco-friendly choice due to the chemical binding elements needed to keep the colors from fading.
That leaves us with "low impact dyes and inks". Why are they better than traditional dyes? Through a fiber reactive process the dyes won't fade and will maintain their vibrant colors. They require less rinsing and thus put less chemicals into the water supply and do not contain heavy metals which can be toxic or chemical carcinogens.
How can you know if the fabric you are using has been printed with low impact dyes? Look for a GOTS certification rating. If you visit the Robert Kaufman website, you will see a GOTS certificate next to each of their organic fabric lines.
GOTS stands for Global Organic Textile Standards. This body covers production, processing, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, export, import and distribution of all natural fibers.
Important to note is that the dyes allowed under GOTS are limited to natural dyes and some synthetic dyes that meet their specific requirements, i.e. no heavy metals, formaldehyde, pesticides or dyes considered to be chemical carcinogens.
In essence, if you purchase fabric certified by GOTS, you are buying the most eco-friendly version of quilting cotton on the market today.
Lastly, what about more long term sustainable fabric choices such as hemp, soy or bamboo? Although they are starting to show up they are not in any way competitive with cotton as a choice for quilting. Additionally, they are easily twice as expensive as organic cotton.
Already, 100% organic cotton is more expensive than traditional cotton fabric.
To avoid some of this sticker shock among traditional cotton buyers, vendors are selling organic cotton fabric in smaller quantities. Online store owners are parceling organic fabric into 1/2 yard bundles versus the traditional 1 yard. This means when a consumer logs on and peruses the organic fabric section, they are not met with a large difference in price between the traditional cotton fabrics and organic fabric.
It is impressive that quilting manufacturers and fabric designers are taking steps to curb the pollution and toxicity associated with growing and producing cotton fabric. Already, manufacturers are stepping up the number of organic lines being offered and customers seem to be meeting these choices enthusiastically.
Heather Banks
Quilt Pattern Designer
http://www.apassionatequilter.blogspot.com
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