Let's Talk About Hemp...

I have introduced a new line of bags in my Etsy shop made from eco friendly and sustainable fabrics such as hemp, linen, organic cotton and bamboo.

I wish to buy hemp.  It is not grown or manufactured in the U.S. .....soooo, I need to send my  dollars out of the country since our government in it's effort to keep us drug free simply flat out banned the growing and harvesting of cannabis.  In researching the fabrics I am using I am learning a lot about growing, harvesting, manufacturing and arcane laws.

Hemp bags with coconut husk buttons lined with bamboo-cotton. 

 

Surely no member of the vegetable kingdom has ever been more misunderstood than hemp. For too many years, emotion-not reason-has guided our policy toward this crop. And nowhere have emotions run hotter than in the debate over the distinction between industrial hemp and marijuana.  Please read this article which is intended to inform that debate by offering scientific evidence so we can distinguish between myth and reality.

Finally....hemp is one of the easiest and sustainable  crops to grow.  Anything that can be made from cotton can be made from hemp.  Cotton is one of the most environmentally destructive agricultural crops. In pesticide use in the US alone, it is staggering – 125 million kilograms annually. Worldwide, cotton production used 50 percent of the world's pesticides/herbicides. 

Pesticides are possibly the greatest toxic threat to contaminating our soil, air, water and natural communities because they are often permanent and they bio-accumulate, ie their toxicity increases as they are consumed up the food chain. Many pesticides are known carcinogens, and can also cause immuno-deficiency disorders. Added to this, pesticides have a petroleum base and their excessive use perpetuates our dependency on oil. (Courtesy: Binhai Times).  You may want to take a look at Hemp 101 .

I am more and more tuned into what we, as a family, are doing to work with our environment as well as getting chemically engineered products out of our lives.  With my antennae up I am taking in more and more information and adding that to what I already know....which I find was surprisingly little.   So I am taking the liberty of chunking up my blog with this information.  Sorry, but this little corner of the world is mine.

In the next few weeks, I will pass along information about household cleaners, organic gardening and re-cycling.

Please, if you have something to add...I would welcome it.  The comment section is open to everyone.  Let's share what we know.

Chinese Lantern Bag (parts by ETSY)

Someone has asked me again, where I get the fabric and all the parts that go into my bags and etc I make.  Almost everything is from fellow Etsians! The prices are very fair and consisent and I feel comfortable "keeping it in the family"........although I don't have to.  I will reveal some (not all) of my secret sources at the end of this post (no peeking now!...look at this divine bag first).

So....I used some of my favorite Laura Gunn “Chinese Lantern” fabrics to make this zippered wristlet with detachable key fob/handle for my shop. Inside, I made a  zippered pocket, a cash and credit card pocket...so it is also a wallet.  The strap is removable so you can it as a clutch (with the handle as a key fob )or wristlet.

Bag measures 8.5" x 5" high. The corners are boxed, so that it has a 1.5" x 8" base.  A peek-a-boo pleat on the front expands so you can put as much of your girly stuff inside as you need.

The swivel hooks and D rings are antiqued bronze in color to give this bag some class...adding to the eye candy...check out the beaded zipper pull (made by a an etsy jewelry maker)!

 One new thing I am doing with my bags, is to use these "antiqued bronze" d-rings, swivel hooks and magnetic closures.  I really am happy with...more pricey, but give the bags and totes a a very classy look.  The other shinny-stainless hardware bothered me...they look cheap to me (and we all know they cost a bit too). 

FYI, everything in this bag came from Etsy..pattern from Lisa at http://www.etsy.com/shop/aivilocharlotte, the bronze hooks and closures came from jennalou06 ,  fabric is right off the TheFabricFarm,  zippers from kandcsupplies and the handmade beaded zipper pulls from BlueMoonBaubles......how about that!!

Stay tuned.....