Living in a material world, and I am a material girl

We've been busy adding loads of fabulous, new, ethical fabrics & materials, so head on over to our Fabric & Haberdashery Shop and rummage through all of our organic, fair trade, recycled and reclaimed fabrics!

Some of our top sellers were featured on our newsletter this month.  Not signed up for it?  Head over to our website to sign up now, where you can also sign up for updates about ourboutique, any new jobs we hear about in the fashion & interiors industry and student sponsorships!

Organic Cotton Threads

 Work well in sewing machines, even in overlockers/sergers, and great strength for garments.

Code: NSN/OrganicThread-White

Materials/Fiber composition

100% Organic cotton

Dimensions

29/2

Thickness

29/2

Organic Cotton Wool Balls (1kg)

Mechanically rolled into small balls, this organic wool is great to use as stuffing material for toys, pillows or in other art and craft projects.

£34.99/1 kg

Code: GF/WoolBalls

Weave/knit types

• Non-woven

Dye/print types

• No Dye or Print

Recycled Rubber

Sheets of black, recycled rubber - made from old tyres.  Sold in 1 meter squared sheets. This comes in four thicknesses: 5mm, 10mm, 15mm & 20mm.

Materials/Fiber composition

100% rubber

Weave/knit types

• Non-woven

Dye/print types

• No Dye or Print

Dimensions

1m/sq

Thickness

5mm

Cambric - Pomegranate

Colour: Pomegranate orange

Thread count: 202

Organic, herbally dyed fabrics manufactured in Nep

Materials/Fiber composition

Organic Cotton

Weave/knit types

• Plain

Dye/print types

• Herbal Dye

Dimensions

52"

Weight

85 gsm 2.51 oz

Fusible: Polyamide/ Viscose

Soft to touch, with slight brushed surface.  Glued backing, which will fuse with heat. Woven - no stretch except on bias.  Samples not available, but there is a one meter minimum.

Recommended: always test fusibles on your face fabrics for durability, wash and glue push through.

Viscose is an artificial fibre, made from wood pulp.

To make viscose, wood pulp is treated with toxic chemicals such as caustic soda and sulphuric acid, but the raw material is sustainable.  A much more ethical alternative to anything else we've been able to find!

Weave/knit types

• Woven

Head on over to Offset Warehouse for all your ethical needs!

The bags that give back...

We're very pleased to introduce our new range of bags- ON SALE TODAY!  With their quirky embellishments and bold, bright colours, brighten up your summer wardrobe whilst doing something good for someone else!

See the range here...

NALA

http://www.offsetwarehouse.com/boutique/product/132/nala

All these bags feature a recycling technique from Malaysia that incorporates small oragami folded squares of used, scrap fabrics.

The trim is made by people from different charities within local communities such as drug rehab centres, women empowerment initiatives, vocalization training and community development projects instigating workshops that develop skills, create income and lead to a sustainable employment. 

Since 2007 these hand bag sales have put $90,000 back into these communities.

BALI

http://www.offsetwarehouse.com/boutique/product/137/bali

VILLAGE CLUTCH

http://www.offsetwarehouse.com/boutique/product/138/village-clutch

Different types of weaving:

• SAORI weaving from Soari cooperative in Phangga province, Thailand for tsunami weaving
• Poppy cross stitching a Tibetan income generating project, Qinghai Plateau, China 
• IKAT weaving from tribal people in Borneo, West Malaysia
• Village scene  embroidery from cotton industries in Vietnam

Mai Thia- Hand woven by an art therapy project in Costal tsunami area Thailand

http://www.offsetwarehouse.com/boutique/product/134/mai-thai

Head on over to Offset Warehouse and purchase your very own gorgeous piece from this collection.

Hatastic Launch

In keeping with the wedding spirit this week (it's tomorrow- How exciting!) and inspired by the lovely Kate, we would like to introduce to you our newest fascinators and hairpieces...

http://www.julietlemon.com

We mentioned that a fabulous array of hair accessories was coming your way, and the day has finally arrived where we get to share them with you and point you to our first few additions!

Not only that, but we have an exclusive few words from the designer, Chloe, herself about her new collection, and three previews of what you can expect!

http://www.julietlemon.com

My new collection 'L'air du Temps' - translation I use is 'Spirit of now'. 

It's a ten piece collection of reworked old hats made out of sinamay, sisal and paper(!) and adorned with vintage remnants, jewellery and millinery foliage. The only new thing added to any of the hats is possibly the elastic which fixes them to the head.

My inspiration was the artist Bakst who was the designer for the Ballet Russe. He created the most gorgeous fluid costumes...gorgeous...

The full collection will be launched very soon! Oh and I'm up for an award too so it's all go...gulp!

Behind the scenes: Offset Warehouse's fashion editor, rocks one of our newest additions!

Our fashion editor, Rhiannon, couldn't resist - it was like Christmas when she opened the hat boxes and all these fabulous colours with quirky adornments came out!  So she insisted she wore one of them on a recent shoot, where we were also updating profile pictures... her profile pic coming soon!

http://www.julietlemon.com

Can't wait any longer? Pick up pieces from our first lot today, before they all go!

Wedding fever!

With only three days to go to the royal wedding, wedding fever has hit me hard! All I can think about is, "How will she wear her hair?  What will her dress look like?"

In the spirit of this occasion, I turned my thoughts to ethical wedding dresses- something that I know very little about.  To my surprise, I have found six designers that I actually love!  Using peace silks and fairtrade fabrics, I was surprised to find that the dresses aren't the hippy, hempy, fumpy pieces I thought they'd be, but elegant, gorgeous works of art!  I'll definitely be checking out ethical alternatives for my wedding... now to find a groom!

Gwendolyn Gleason

Rene Geneva

Chrissy Wai-Ching

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2009/04/08/2009006535.jpg

Morgan Boszilkov

Deborah Lindquist

Olivia Luca

This week we will dedicating our blogs to wedding styles for guests and for the bride with our amazing fascinators, accessories and amazing clothing that we have to offer.

And of course, if those don't particularly take your fancy - you could always have your own dress made, using some of Offset Warehouse's ethical fabrics.  So, for those creative Offsetters, we will be featuring fabrics that you can use to make your dream dress and even your bridesmaid's dresses for your big day.

Rhiannon is one of our "Offsetters"!

Our ”Offsetters” are a group of writers, comprising of anyone who has a personal passion for ethical development.  Through short updates, they inspire us to be ethical by giving us a taste of exciting people and news they’ve come across, and letting us know about interesting things we don't already!

Keep following Offset Warehouse for all you need in ethical fashion and interiors... and visit our website  Offset Warehouse

Be good to our planet, but don't forget to be good to yourself!

Here at Offset Warehouse we are all about promoting ethical clothing and interiors.  Being good to our planet is a big deal, but sometimes, we forget to be good to ourselves!

Introducing a skin care range called KORA Organics, by international super model Miranda Kerr.

This organic range of skin care products will have your skin glowing and you feeling refreshed and looking even more beautiful than you already are!  What you eat and your skin care regime is key when looking after yourself - so don't pump yourself full of chemicals!

If your worried that this is just another brand with someone's name on it, then fear no more! Miranda actually studied nutrition and health psychology before pursuing modelling - she knows her stuff!

As well as being actively involved in the products, she also writes a blog about nutrition and how to feel good on the inside as well as looking good on the outside!

Check out the website here... KORA Organics

So, eat your organic meals, apply your organic skincare and wear your ethical ensembles... you'll be looking and feeling a million dollars (or pounds)!

Keep following Offset Warehouse for all you need in ethical fashion and interiors... and visit our website  Offset Warehouse

Bring on those lazy, hazy days of summer...

Summer is around the corner and if you're anything like us Offset Warehouse gals, your thoughts turn to "What on earth am I going to fill my summer wardrobe with!?"

 

Fret no more, we're helping you with some fab outfits (using our latest additions, of course), so you can start your summer in style!

This first look, with the right accessories, can transcend day or night -  we'd recommend a lunch with the girls, or a dinner date with your summer fancy.

Next up... accessories!  If you are wearing the dress during the day then accessories may not be needed, keep it simple with some classic aviators, maybe a necklace - and don't forget your bag with chunky knit features.

  For your dusk date, glam up the dress with earring, a pair of heels and some fab jewelry.  These gorgeous little earrings, will send him some "subtle signals", or why not bring yourself some luck with this vintage charm bracelet!

And evening it up with this statement necklace...

Don't panic, this is just the start of our style segment:  We'll be giving you weekly summer style ideas and keeping you up to date with the hottest trends of the summer season!

Keep following Offset Warehouse for all you need in ethical fashion and interiors... and visit our website Offset Warehouse