Slow fabric?

Here is a link to a great article about "Slow Fashion," roughly defined as "durable, made from recycled or organic materials, and made by someone paid a 'living wage.' 

IS THE TIME RIGHT FOR SLOW FASHION?  (Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 10 edition)

This article perfectly defines Mod Green Pod's mission to create something that is beautiful, lasting and made with integrity.  Our fabric is about safety for the planet, the workers involved in the production process and your home and family.  We're "slow fabric."  

Mod Green Pod fabric might cost a little more than similar fabric you can buy for half as much at a chain store, but do you know where that fabric was made and what chemicals were used to make it?  Is it safe for your family?  And was its production safe for the people whose hands touched it throughout the manufacturing process?  Most fabric is NOT made with integrity, the safety of the planet, producers and your pod (and your peeps!) in mind, but ours is!

Shout out to the fabulous Kathie Sever of Ramonster, who is mentioned in this article.  She and I are currently collaborating on one of her signature western shirts using Mod Green Pod fabric.  I can't wait to blog about it very soon!      

Nancy's chair: The Chair Stripped Down by her Upholsterers, Even

(sorry, Marcel)

Nancy's chair: "Mid-strip at high noon"

"Mid-strip at high noon on Wednesday" was what Kallie at Spruce told me I should check out if I wanted photos of my chair being disassembled by Amanda and Lizzie. Luckily, it was a gorgeous day, so I found them in the lovely space behind their studio, in the early stages of the process.

I was amazed by how many layers were under the fabric: cotton batting, cotton muslin, horsehair tied to burlap, more batting and individual metal coils tied together with twine.

Here are Lizzie and Amanda pulling the horsehair from the burlap, careful to save the horsehair in a sheet for reuse:












I loved seeing the coils tied together and wondered who had tied these together many, many years ago:


















































After seeing this process, I have newfound respect for well-made furniture and upholsterers!

Sneak Peek of MGP's new Austin headquarters

MGP is now headquartered in an adorable late-40s bungalow in central Austin. We all love our convenient, well-lit space and even though we still don't have a sign out front (we still have the sign for the former inhabitants, an art gallery) we feel happy, comfy, and productive in our digs on the inside.

Here are some photos of the front display wall, the first thing you see when you walk in:

I love this pair of old flashcards I recently found when I was in Savannah, GA. Together, these cards perfectly sum up our fabric:

for Austin peeps: Spruce-Mod Green Pod upholstery class in April

For Austin area friends: Spruce Austin is teaming up with Mod Green Pod for a 2-day "Make your Own Green Statement" upholstery class in April. You can pick your funky "before" chair, then use green materials to rebuild it, then your choice of Mod Green Pod fabric! Spaces are VERY limited, so sign up NOW at Spruce's blog.

In addition to the hands-on course on the fundamentals of upholstery and building your own one-of-a-kind chair (!) Valerie and I will be there to talk about our wild and wacky adventures in the world of organic cotton textiles.

We'll be bringing bolts of everything in our current collection, but go ahead and have a peek and figure out what you want to use on your chair here at our website.

Class details and sign-up info are on Spruce's blog. Can't wait!

Facebook fans

Please join Mod Green Pod's Facebook fan page for updates you won't see on the blog or our website.  We've thrown up some of our favorite photos that didn't make the cut for our website and we're brewing up some other goodies for our fans.

Check it out!

Our magical connection to the beautiful Spruces of the world!

We are somehow magically attracted to businesses and blogs named Spruce.  Of course, we are working with our beloved neighbors Spruce Austin, on the upholstery projects we're blogging about and we have blogged about some of the redesigned furniture they sell using Mod Green Pod fabrics in their etsy shop.

But we have two other Spruce friends:

In the past few days, we heard from Nomita and Cheryl at Spruce New Orleans about a great post on the Dwell blog, featuring their gorgeous shop.  They wanted to make sure we saw our Bloom fabric (and assorted swatches of our other fabrics) in the top photo.  Their shop looks gorgeous and now I'm dying for a road trip to NoLa. . . .    

And Lissa, designer and blogger of Spruce [decor] emailed to tell us she had included several of our prints in a recent post about a little girl's dream room.  I love seeing how people envision our textiles and wallpapers in their projects, imagined or realized!

Thanks, Spruces, for making the world a more beautiful place!

New press: Q&A for Green Planet

Thanks to Planet Green for including Mod Green Pod in their Change Makers series.  To read the interview, click here.

We also threw some recent print press up on our press page on the website.