Leah and I knew we would travel to India soon. We even knew it would be early in 2007. It was only once we booked our flights in late November that reality sunk in.
India! Hmm... I need shots. And a Visa. Where are we going to go? Who are we going to see? Will I get sick? What do I bring? So many questions. Of course, we knew the answers to most of them, but having tickets to go made the trip seem real, and a wee bit scary.
First, our itinerary.
Leah will travel to India first, leaving Seattle on January 16th, arriving in Bombay the next day. From there, Leah will visit various suppliers, plus take a week off on a Yoga retreat.
I will follow Leah a month later, leaving Seattle on February 11th, meeting her in Bombay.
Both of us will leave Bombay on Feb 26th, returning in Seattle after a day's layover in London.
Next up... shots. Lots of 'em.
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Originally posted on 12/29/06 by Paul
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Monday, May 31, 2010
It wasn't a dream... we really did go to India
Leah's first trip to India was back in 2004. Once Leah found the source of naturally dyed, organic fabric for her quilting business, she began quilting. After about a year and a half, Leah asked me to help with her business plan. It was then that I saw the magic in what Leah had found and the promise of naturally dyed, organic fabric. I knew then that she had found something special.
When Leah and I began creating the vision for Truly Organic in 2006, we both knew that we wanted to know EXACTLY how our product was going to be made. We needed to visit organic farms, see how the organic cotton was harvested, processed and spun into beautiful fabrics. Then, we needed to fully understand the natural dye process, the heart of our brand and our promise. We even wanted to see examples of chemical (or conventional dyeing), so we toured a conventional dye factory.
We traveled north and south, east and west within India over the course of 6 weeks, starting in January of 2007, and we learned so much about who we are and just what our product was about. The following blog posts recount our adventures in India, and our journey deep into the heart of Organic Cotton farming (and boy, were we ever!). These posts take us back 3 years, and tell of the great trip Leah and I enjoyed together.
Editorial note: some of these posts are by me (Paul) and some are by my sister, Leah. The bottom of each post will have a signature and the original date of the post.
Enjoy.
When Leah and I began creating the vision for Truly Organic in 2006, we both knew that we wanted to know EXACTLY how our product was going to be made. We needed to visit organic farms, see how the organic cotton was harvested, processed and spun into beautiful fabrics. Then, we needed to fully understand the natural dye process, the heart of our brand and our promise. We even wanted to see examples of chemical (or conventional dyeing), so we toured a conventional dye factory.
We traveled north and south, east and west within India over the course of 6 weeks, starting in January of 2007, and we learned so much about who we are and just what our product was about. The following blog posts recount our adventures in India, and our journey deep into the heart of Organic Cotton farming (and boy, were we ever!). These posts take us back 3 years, and tell of the great trip Leah and I enjoyed together.
Editorial note: some of these posts are by me (Paul) and some are by my sister, Leah. The bottom of each post will have a signature and the original date of the post.
Enjoy.
Friday, May 28, 2010
The beginning of Truly Organic
We created Truly Organic apparel when we learned the truth about organic cotton. It's not that organic cotton is bad, it's the reality of what happens to organic cotton AFTER it is grown organically that is bad (ok, less than perfect). This is the story of what Leah and I learned about organic cotton, how most of the world's organic cotton is processed, how we can use natural dyes instead, and how we came to create Truly Organic Apparel.
When my sister Leah began quilting with organic cotton years ago, she found that almost all of the organic cotton she found had been dyed using synthetic petro-chemicals. With all of the benefits of organic cotton, many people are willing to overlook this minor detail in order to use more of this natural, organic fiber. Not Leah. She wanted to do better.
Leah decided that in order to make 100% organic quilts, she needed to find cotton fabric that hadn't been processed with any chemicals. None. The problem was, that Leah is a quilting artist, and artists need color. And this artist needed natural color. But not white, off-white, ecru and sort-of-white colors that she found. No, Leah needed COLOR. And so, after searching, researching and experimenting with onion skins without much success, Leah decided to do what any good quilter would do to find the perfect fabric. She went to India.
Leah spent 3 months traveling in India in search of naturally dyed, organic cotton. Leah lived on a working organic farm, learned about the ancient art of natural dyeing in the birthplace of Indigo, and met many wonderful, helpful people. Finally, near the end of her trip, Leah found what she was looking for... Yards upon yards of beatiful, colorful, organic and 100% naturally dyed cotton fabric basking in the sun on bamboo racks standing 20 feet tall. There was red, blue, yellow, orange, black and white. And all of it was 100% natural. No chemicals. None.
This was the beginning of Truly Organic Apparel.
When my sister Leah began quilting with organic cotton years ago, she found that almost all of the organic cotton she found had been dyed using synthetic petro-chemicals. With all of the benefits of organic cotton, many people are willing to overlook this minor detail in order to use more of this natural, organic fiber. Not Leah. She wanted to do better.
Leah decided that in order to make 100% organic quilts, she needed to find cotton fabric that hadn't been processed with any chemicals. None. The problem was, that Leah is a quilting artist, and artists need color. And this artist needed natural color. But not white, off-white, ecru and sort-of-white colors that she found. No, Leah needed COLOR. And so, after searching, researching and experimenting with onion skins without much success, Leah decided to do what any good quilter would do to find the perfect fabric. She went to India.
Leah spent 3 months traveling in India in search of naturally dyed, organic cotton. Leah lived on a working organic farm, learned about the ancient art of natural dyeing in the birthplace of Indigo, and met many wonderful, helpful people. Finally, near the end of her trip, Leah found what she was looking for... Yards upon yards of beatiful, colorful, organic and 100% naturally dyed cotton fabric basking in the sun on bamboo racks standing 20 feet tall. There was red, blue, yellow, orange, black and white. And all of it was 100% natural. No chemicals. None.
This was the beginning of Truly Organic Apparel.
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