{ Posts Tagged ‘linen’ }

galbraith and paul fabric

gpfabric galbraith and paul fabric

To me, summer means Galbraith & Paul fabric. The Philadelphia-based design duo of Liz Galbraith and Ephraim Paul specialize in the art of hand-block printing — pressing carved wooden (or foam rubber) blocks coated with coloured vegetable dyes onto fabric to make patterns. It’s a thousand-year-old process that’s Galbraith & Paul have brought into the 21st century with their penchant for stunning patterns and pretty palette of over 80 colours.

Fern (above) is a new hand-block printed pattern for Spring 2009, and Birds Silhouette (below) is a new variation of my all-time favourite Galbraith & Paul fabric, Birds (a citrusy, multicoloured version of the same pattern — on linen it’s positively dreamy). Wouldn’t these make the prettiest throw pillows for the cottage?

gpbirds galbraith and paul fabric

Love the Birds Silhouette in black, too… So striking!

gpblackbirds galbraith and paul fabric

For more information, visit www.galbraithandpaul.com or call 215-508-0800.

long-lasting linen tea towels

linenteatowel long lasting linen tea towels

Part of living an environmentally friendly life includes buying products that are long-lasting so you don’t have to continually replace them.

100% linen tea towels are a perfect example. I have a set from my family that is at least 60 years old (unbelievable, I know, but it’s true!) and you’d never guess it to look at them. Plus, linen is the perfect material for tea towels, since it’s lint-free and fast-drying.

When new, the material is quite crisp and stiff but it softens with age and use. And while it is more expensive than, say, cotton, because it lasts forever it ends up being less expensive in the long-run in terms of monetary and ecological costs and really is an heirloom item that you can hand down to a younger generation.

Canadian company Rawganique’s organic linen tea towels are certified organic and sweatshop-free. They come in Ivory, which is whitened with hydrogen peroxide, or Evening Sand Dunes (which is shown in in the background of the picture above and is the natural, unprocessed colour of the linen).

Available at: www.rawganique.com; 877-729-4367

Price: $28 each

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!