Eco-fabrics for your home
Home » Magazine » Good, issue 12 » Eco-fabrics for your homeWhere to find ethical textiles for your home
Pic thanks to www.goodyarn.co.nz
What is the most environmentally friendly option for curtain fabric? The only fabrics I have been shown are polyester.
There are so many beautiful, natural furnishing textiles available in New Zealand that your next problem will be choosing just one! Great fabrics for drapery are hemp, organic cotton, linen and jute, or blends of these fibres. The suppliers listed (see box, below) stock stunning fabrics from textile designers who work with eco-friendly basecloths—my picks are Mod Green Pod, Leanne Culy, Bird Textiles and Ink & Spindle. All will send free fabric swatches on request; Bolt of Cloth will also provide a free estimate based on your window size, and has an excellent reference guide on its website.
If you’re after a bargain, Auckland’s Ab Fabrics stocks European end-of-line fabrics and seconds. Linen, made from flax, is also quite affordable—from about $20 a metre. It’s a little on the plain side, but you could add colour with a wide border of patterned fabric, or invest in smaller lengths of designer fabrics and scatter your room with beautiful cushions!
For lightweight fabrics like linen it’s essential to add an insulating layer of ‘bumf’ (like a thin duvet for your windows) between the curtain and lining. Even polyester curtains lined with bumf are a relatively eco-friendly choice, because your home will better retain heat in winter.
It’s important to use at least one layer of lining for all curtains, for insulation, extra fullness and fade-protection. Greenfields Trading imports organic, fair trade cotton from $14 a metre—its unbleached calico would make a good lining. Thermal or blackout linings are much less natural, but because of their insulating qualities they’re also an eco-friendly choice.
Lining will shield your fabric from the sun, but natural fibres need extra protection: if possible, extend the rail so your curtains sit in front of the wall when open.
ethical textiles
- Bolt of Cloth, www.boltofcloth.com
- Good Yarn, www.goodyarn.co.nz
- Ab Fabrics, www.abfabrics.co.nz
- Vida Textiles, www.vidatextiles.co.nz
- Greenfields Trading, www.greenfieldstrading.co.nz
Mon May 02, 2011 @ 04:56 PM
