Support us on Patreon! Love to Sew Podcast

Support us on Apple Podcasts! Love to Sew Podcast

Follow Helen! Blog: Helen’s  Closet Patterns, Cedar Quilt Co., Instagram: @helens__closet, @cedarquiltco

Follow Caroline! Shop: Blackbird Fabrics, Instagram: @blackbirdfabrics, @bfpatterns

Follow the Podcast! Instagram: @lovetosew.podcast, Facebook: /LovetoSewPod, Bluesky: @lovetosewpodcast.bsky.social, Pixelfed: @lovetosew.podcast

Leave us a voicemail with your questions, comments, and feedback: 1-844-SEW-WHAT (1-844-739-9428)

E-mail us: hello@lovetosewpodcast.com

Sign up for our newsletter to get weekly episode updates, special news, and even some exclusive content that you won’t find anywhere else.

Leave us a review! It will help other sewists discover us.

---

Transcript:

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello and welcome to Love To Sew. I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics and BF Patterns.

Helen: I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co.

Caroline: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew, and it’s basically all we wanna talk about.

Helen: This episode is all about a lesser-known fiber: hemp! It’s super environmentally friendly, breathable, antibacterial, and has great body and texture. We talk a bit about hemp’s long history, how it goes from plant to fabric, and what you can sew with it.

Caroline: If you love to sew, this is your show. Hi, Helen.

Helen: Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: How are you?

Helen: I’m good. How are you?

Caroline: I’m really good. I love hemp.

Helen: Really good. I love hemp, too. I’m really excited to talk about it.

Caroline: Yeah, me too. I love these fabric deep dives. I always learn something new when we do these.

Helen: It is really interesting to learn a bit more of the history behind the fabrics that we love.

Caroline: Yeah. And we’re really starting to get to the point where we’re like, “Well, what could we do next?” ‘Cause we’ve covered a lot of different fabrics.

Helen: That’s true. If our listeners have suggestions…

Caroline: I was just gonna say, please get in touch with us if there’s a fabric you want us to cover on one of these episodes. But for today, we’re gonna talk about hemp, which is a real favourite. And a community favourite, too, so I’m excited to get into it later.

Helen: Okay. We have a couple things to get outta the way. First and foremost, we wanted to remind you that the best way to support Love to Sew is by joining us over on Patreon or Apple Podcast subscriptions. And if you join us there, you get access to bonus content every month. We have so much fun catching up with you all on those more casual bonus episodes. It really is a highlight of our month.

Caroline: Oh yes. We get to be really chatty in those episodes. And this past one that we did in April was really fun. We got to talk about your weekend playing so many board games.

Helen: Yes, that’s true. And your new truck.

Caroline: Yes, my new truck, or Shea’s new truck, and my future vegetable garden, and, of course, sewing. It was really fun. So go check it out. And sometimes they’re really long, so if you just need more Love to Sew hours…

Helen: We got you.

Caroline: We got you.

Helen: Yeah. Literal hours and hours and hours.

Caroline: Yes, and it means so much if you’re able to support us, even if it’s just for a month or two. And of course, if that’s not in the cards for you right now, we totally get it. We just wanna say thanks for listening and cheering us on over here.

Helen: Yeah! And on that front, we have a little announcement, which is that you can now follow Love to Sew on Bluesky and Pixelfed. We know that there are a bunch of listeners out there who aren’t on Meta social media, so we thought we’d spread out a little bit so that you can access our content in other places. And if you are on those platforms, check out our accounts. On Bluesky we’re @lovetosewpodcast and on Pixelfed we’re @lovetosew.podcast. And we’ll see you there.

Caroline: Yes. Okay. We’re gonna talk about some feedback, because after our sewing machine chat episode came out, we got some great comments from listeners about what they named their sewing machines and we wanted to share some of them with you. They’re so good.

Helen: Oh my gosh, I loved this. It was so much fun. Som Sarah wrote, “My very first machine was a basic Singer bought in 1989 called ‘Old Faithful.’ But at some point she broke down and was never quite right so I renamed her ‘Old Fickle’. Then I had a Walmart Singer – “The Goodtime Gal” because she only worked on the easiest of projects. I had a brother serger that I called any string of profanity that seemed fitting at the time. That thing was a menace. (Not its fault – a friend accidentally knocked it off the table and sent it flying across the room. It was never the same again). I had a 1970s Pfaff that replaced Old Fickle and The Goodtime Gal and she was simply ‘The Workhorse’ until her cam shaft wore out. Is that what it was called? That sounds like a car part. Maybe I’m wrong on that. I’m still trying to find someone who can fix it. I currently use a yet un-named Bernette and a Singer Serger/Coverstitch.”

Caroline: Sarah, I can’t wait to get a follow up once you name these two machines. ‘Cause you’re really good at naming machines.

Helen: Yeah, I like the descriptive name approach. It’s very fun.

Caroline: Yeah, they’re so fun.

Helen: Next up we have Nicole, who wrote, “My sewing machine is a Janome Magnolia so I named her Truvy after Olympia Dukakis’s character in Steel Magnolias.”

Caroline: Yes. I love the idea of naming a machine after a favourite character.

Helen: Yeah, so smart.

Caroline: So cute. Julie wrote, “BERNINA – Bernadette Peters…no nicknames, full name only.”

Helen: Wow. The whole legal name every time. Very nice. I bet there’s quite a few Bernadette Berninas out there.

Caroline: Yes, for sure.

Helen: Annie wrote, “My rules for naming machines is: first letter of the brand and popular name (in Quebec) the decade the machine was made. 60’s Kenmore is Karole, 90’s Kenmore is Karine, 2020 BabyLock is Béatrice.”

Caroline: Okay. I have to say it would be like, (speaking with a French accent) “Karole and Karine.”

Helen: Thank you, Caroline. You gotta help me out. What about Beatrice? What do you got for that?

Caroline: Uh, (with a French accent) Béatrice!

Helen: It’s so much better.

Caroline: Yeah, no, I was, my mind was going to, like, popular names of my childhood, my generation, and I was like, “I feel like a Janome named like Jessica would be hilarious.”

Helen: Totally. So popular. Shout out to all the Jessicas out there.

Caroline: Absolutely love that name.

Helen: Probably at least half of our listeners are named Jessica. Okay. Last one here. Kat wrote, “I call my vintage Pfaff ‘Pfaffy Duck!’”

Caroline: It’s so cute. It’s perfect. I love all of these names. It’s really inspired me to be more creative with naming my machines.

Helen: I know! You gotta get on that. We’ll check in with you next season and see if you’ve come up with anything.

Caroline: Yes. Okay. Before we get to the show, we have a question as well. So this one comes from Kimberly. “I’m thinking about getting a serger but have a few questions. In patterns, you’ll see the suggestion to finish your seams and one option is a serger. Why wouldn’t you just do the seams with the serger and skip that step? I’ve heard it mentioned for knits but usually not for wovens. Why?”

Helen: Hello, Kimberly. Okay, here’s the official advice for rule followers: all-in-one serging is for knits only. With wovens, you should sew the seam separately. But with that said, and you probably saw this coming, you can totally ignore that rule with pretty good results a lot of the time. But we have some things to keep in mind before you start rebelling because there’s definitely reasons why you don’t wanna do this.

Caroline: Yeah, so keep in mind that unpicking a serged seam to fix a mistake is going to be more difficult than unpicking a regular seam. There are tricks to make it fast, but…

Helen: It is just a pain.

Caroline: It’s a pain. Yeah.

Helen: Yeah. And seam allowances will be stuck together with the serged seam, so you’ll need to press them to one side instead of pressing them open. And this would only really affect heavier fabrics or maybe certain sewing steps that require an opened up seam allowance. So just pay attention to what’s gonna happen next before you go right in with the serger.

Caroline: Mmhmm. It’s also more difficult to sew curves or points on a serger, especially if it’s like a inside point.

Helen: Mmhmm.

Caroline: Like, if you’re having to turn a steep curve or corner it’s gonna be nearly impossible to get it to be nice and secure and also look good.

Helen: No, you really cannot turn very well on a serger. You can’t put your needle down and pivot like you do on your regular sewing machine. And this is a big one: serged seams are not as strong as traditionally sewn ones. And you would think it would be the opposite because there’s so many threads involved in a serged seam. So you technically do have a lot of threads happening, and you even have two rows of stitching if you’re using a four thread serger. But for parts that undergo a lot of stress, like the crotch seam on pants, for example, it’s better to sew with a regular machine for that main seam and then just use the serger as the secondary finishing step. But for looser garments, a serger should work fine. The reason it’s not as strong is because serger cone thread is typically not as strong as regular sewing thread, so it comes down to the actual thread itself.

Caroline: I feel like it’s just also just leaving more margin for error. Like, you know when you sew a seam on your serger and you pull the seam apart and you get that laddering? Sometimes it can be hard to fix that, and you don’t want that if that’s the only seam that you have.

Helen: Tension issues. Yeah. Exactly. You can get away with a bit of a looser tension if you’re just using it for finishing.

Caroline: And you will lose a lot of your seam allowance. So obviously, if you’re doing a one-and-done on your serger, you need to trim your seam allowance if it’s not already a quarter of an inch. That’s usually the seam allowance of a serger. But you might actually wanna keep that seam allowance in case you ever want to let the garment out in the future. So you’re sort of getting rid of that option if you do the all-in-one method.

Helen: Yeah. Caroline, do you ever do all-in-one, just serge with your woven fabrics?

Caroline: I honestly don’t. I used to, like, when I first got my serger when I was in high school, I was like, all the time, only serger. I thought it was so cool that I could do that. But I think in my sewing practice I’ve realized that I’m not that adventurous. And, in fact, often when I sew with knits, I’ll sew on my regular machine, and then go through it with my serger again, just for, like, extra security, which I know is definitely overkill. But no, it just, I feel like this is kind of similar to that, like, do you trim your seam allowance when you finish it or not debate that we had a couple months back.

Helen: Yeah, no, totally. In this case, you’re definitely trimming if you’re going right in with the serger.

Caroline: Exactly, and there’s no going back. But yeah, so I don’t, I don’t often serge my woven garments as, like, a one-and-done. I do serge to finish the seam allowances, but I don’t sew them completely on my serger.

Helen: I don’t, either. And I’m, this question really made me think about that. ‘Cause I’m not really sure why. It’s, like, never occurred to me to do that.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Like, I think every once in a while, maybe I would go in and, like, do like a side seam on, like, a straight dress or something, you know, that’s, like, loose. But even then, I just always do the sewing machine and then the serger as two separate steps. And I think it does come down, to me, to the, like, unpicking it. If I make a mistake, I wanna be able to do that. It’s so much easier with the sewing machine stitch. And then I had that situation in high school where I, like, chopped a hole in my dress.

Caroline: You have serger trauma.

Helen: I have serger trauma. So now I’m like, I don’t really wanna take something that’s pinned and not secure to the serger because that’s when that kind of stuff happens where you like lose control or you things get bunched up and, like, if you’re trying to sew a sleeve or something, like, that’s not really a good place to do that. So I just don’t. I avoid getting into that situation.

Caroline: I concur. I think there are a lot of reasons why you should maybe consider not doing it. But you can!

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: But we support you if you don’t wanna do it. And if you just wanna finish everything or sew everything with your serger and that works for you, then absolutely.

Helen: Yeah. Lickety split. And make sure your tension’s real good and you’re good to go.

Caroline: Yeah. Okay. Finally we get to talk about hemp!

Helen: Yeah, we’re gonna take a deep dive into the, one of the less common fibers that you might encounter out there in your sewing, which is hemp. Maybe you’ve seen some hemp fabrics around and you don’t quite know what to expect from them. Maybe you’ve heard hemp is super strong and sustainable and you wanna find out where you can get your hands on some.

Caroline: Yes. In this episode we’re gonna talk about the history of hemp fabrics, how hemp is grown and made into fabric, and what the fabrics are like. Plus, we’ll talk about sustainability, how to care for it, sewing tips and indie patterns that would go great with hemp fabrics.

Helen: So, hemp is one of the earliest fibrous raw materials used in textiles. It might even be the first one. Hemp fibers were being used to improve pottery 10,000 years ago, and hemp textiles were being made 4,000 years ago, about a thousand years earlier than cotton.

Caroline: Wow. I almost don’t believe it because cotton is the fabric of our lives.

Helen: It’s true, and we’re gonna talk about why that is in this episode.

Caroline: Okay, so there are a lot of misconceptions about hemp, which is probably because its legal status has changed over time and in different places. The cannabis sativa plant has been selectively bred by farmers to have distinct types, each with different characteristics.

Helen: Yeah, so some varieties of cannabis have a high percentage of THC, which is a mind altering substance that’s used medicinally and recreationally. It may or may not be legal where you live. And to differentiate it from hemp, in the USA, it’s called marijuana.

Caroline: However, industrial hemp has less than 0.3% of THC. It’s been bred to have long fibrous stalks for use in textiles.

Helen: Because hemp is rich in CBD, which is a non-mind-altering chemical substance that has therapeutic uses, some hemp has been bred to have shorter stalks and bigger flowers. Now, they’re all considered hemp, but they’re different strains from the ones that are used for textiles. So basically, the stuff used for marijuana to make cannabis is different than the stuff used for textiles is what we’re getting at.

Caroline: Yeah, same plant-ish, but different uses. Yeah, I think it’s pretty common to assume that because all these plants are from the same species, that hemp fabric is made from the same plants that people use for their mind altering chemicals. But, like you said, they are actually not, to be clear. So no matter where you stand on marijuana, you can enjoy hemp fabrics and not have to think about that part.

Helen: Let’s talk about how hemp goes from that plant to fabric. When hemp is harvested, it’s left in the fields for about five weeks. This is called retting. The stalks partially decompose, which loosens the fibers from the woody inner core. Retting can be done simply using the natural dew, bacteria, and fungi found in the field, and some farmers will wet the stalks and use enzymes to help with that breakdown process.

Caroline: After retting, the stalks are dried and broken, and the breaking used to be done by hand, but now it’s done by a machine called a decorticator. This peels the surface layers off of the woody core of the stalk.

Helen: Next comes scutching, which is beating the stems to separate the last bits of woody core from the fibers.

Caroline: Then comes hackling, which is like combing the fibers to separate them.

Helen: And the smooth loosened fibers are loosely twisted into roving and then spun into yarns. And finally, those yarns are woven or knit into fabrics.

Caroline: Like magic.

Helen: It’s so easy.

Caroline: You just needed a decorticator…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: And some hackling.

Helen: It really is so cool, though. And we have a great video we’re gonna link on YouTube of the hemp production process from harvest to finished cloth. Caroline, I loved this video. It was, like, very soothing.

Caroline: Me too. The music was great.

Helen: Yeah. It doesn’t have any talking, it’s just visuals. You can watch them create the fabric. And it was mind-blowing, especially, any textile mill behind-the-scenes stuff. I’m just like, my mind is always blown because there’s so many machines, there’s so many spools, there’s so, like, it’s, the scale of it is kind of incomprehensible. So that was very cool.

Caroline: I know, it is really just an art and it’s so fun to watch. We’re gonna get into the characteristics of hemp fabric soon, but first, let’s talk about sustainability. Hemp is actually a sustainability superstar.

Helen: Yes, it’s one of the strongest and most durable natural fibers available. In fact, the ban on growing hemp was lifted during World War II so that rope could be made to support the war effort. Hemp rope is especially good for ships because it’s naturally resistant to mildew and rot. And historically, ships’ sails were made of hemp, too.

Caroline: It is naturally antimicrobial and hypoallergenic, and this reduces the need for pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

Helen: It also requires four times less water to grow than cotton and it leaves the soil in better condition than cotton does. It also takes half the land to grow the same amount of fiber for the fabric. So basically, it takes a ton less resources to grow a successful hemp crop.

Caroline: Finally, hemp is a great carbon sink. It absorbs and stores more CO2 than any other crop or forest.

Helen: Wow, this really is a superstar. It’s pretty incredible.

Caroline: Yeah. Superstar in reality and in our hearts, because the bonus is that hemp fabric is amazing.

Helen: Yes. Okay. And that’s exactly what we’re gonna talk about next. We talked about growing. Let’s talk about the finished product. Finally. Hemp fabrics kind of feel similar to linen, but they do have a bit more body and a bit more texture.

Caroline: Yeah, you can find hemp in wovens and knits of varying weights. And hemp fabrics are also resistant to pilling. They do wrinkle, though. They’re probably on the same wrinkle level as linen.

Helen: Also like linen, hemp fabrics soften with washing and wearing and become that beautiful worn-in kind of texture.

Caroline: Yeah, and hemp fabric is smell-resistant because it’s antimicrobial. It’s also breathable, which is great.

Helen: You’ll find a lot of hemp cotton blends on the market. Hemp brings the durability and texture while cotton brings the softness and makes it a little bit less wrinkly. So if you’re looking for hemp fabrics, don’t shy away from those blends.

Caroline: And while cotton hemp blends are the most common, there are hemp fabrics on the market that are blended with silk, rayon and linen as well.

Helen: Now, hemp fabrics do tend to be a little bit more expensive than cottons, and even some linens, and this is for a couple of reasons. There’s fewer hemp fabric producers than there are for other fibers, and there’s a bit of a stigma against hemp because of its connection to marijuana.

Caroline: Honestly, it’s sad because hemp actually takes fewer resources to produce. But there are more farmers growing hemp as the legal status has changed in the past 10 years, so things might change.

Helen: Yeah, I feel like things could change in the future and that would be really positive. ‘Cause I do love hemp fabrics. I think they’re great. As far as care, you can wash your hemp fabric in cool water and tumble dry it on low. There’s mixed opinions about whether hemp fabrics shrink a lot or not. I would definitely pre-wash and dry your fabric before you cut into it, especially if it’s a blend. And just use whatever method you’re planning to use with your finished garment as usual.

Caroline: Mmhmm. And if you have a silk or rayon hemp blend, make sure to air dry it instead of tumble drying.

Helen: Okay Caroline, I wanna know, as a fabric store owner, what’s the deal? Do you like hemp fabrics? Do you have trouble sourcing them? Have you sewn with them? What’s going on?

Caroline: I will say that sourcing is challenging. Like, we only have one or two suppliers that we buy hemp from. We don’t come across it very often. Or if we do, it’s like maybe not the right one for us. But we’ve carried a few hemp fabrics. I’ve worked with a few hemp fabrics and I really, really like them. I especially love our hemp and cotton denim, which is like a lightweight, sort of semi-drapey hemp blend that is a darker indigo denim, but it fades really beautiful. That one’s definitely my favourite. And yeah, we’re always on the lookout for new hemps, but I wish there were more options out there.

Helen: Yeah, I love that fabric. It’s truly, like, a GOAT fabric for me.

Caroline: Mmhmm. Yeah, you’ve made a bunch of things out of it.

Helen: I always, yeah, and I, like, just, I repurchase it for whatever future thing might come down the line for Helen’s Closet. ‘Cause it’s so versatile and it works for so many things. So I always like to have a little bit of that hemp denim in my stash. I also like the hemp jersey that you guys have carried previously. I’ve made t-shirts out of that and I really like the weight and the breathability of that fabric. I’m pretty sure those are my only hemp fabric experiences. I’ve worked with hemp fabrics a little bit but not a ton because I just haven’t encountered them that much out there. And even though I know that hemp fabrics can pretty much look and feel like a wide variety of things, anything, I still just picture, like, the classic hemp pullover hoodie sweater that, like, my friends wore in high school and they were listening to reggae and, like, with the stripes and yeah, it’s a look. That’s what I picture when I picture hemp fabric. That’s it.

Caroline: Hemp needs a rebrand.

Helen: Yeah, it really does.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Yeah. And speaking of that hemp jersey, I actually pinged Laura when I was reviewing the content for this episode and I was like, “You know what? We need to bring that jersey back.” So we’re gonna be bringing in some in time for this episode to come out because I love it too. And if you’re looking for that hemp denim that we were just talking about, it’s back ordered, but we’ll be getting it I think within the week of this episode coming out. So keep your eye out on our website.

Helen: Oh, fantastic.

Caroline: Anyways, we should talk about what kinds of patterns go well with hemp fabrics. Because most fabric recommendations on patterns aren’t gonna mention hemp just because it’s less common. But you can kind of figure out what works from hemp with some of the tips that we have below.

Helen: Yeah, so for most plain weave hemp fabrics, you can treat it like linen. So, for example, if your pattern recommends medium weight linen, you’d be good with a plain weave hemp blend or a hundred percent hemp fabric that weighs like four to six ounces.

Caroline: Yeah. And there are other kinds of hemp fabrics, too. Cotton blend jersey, silk blend charmeuse, French terry, fleece, twill, denim, and canvas. So for these, I think it’s a good idea to pay attention to the weave or knit when you’re choosing a pattern. So for French terry, that would make a good lightweight sweatshirt. Charmeuse would make a nice evening dress. Just keep in mind that these fabrics will probably have more texture and body than they would if they weren’t blended with hemp. And just pay attention to the weight.

Helen: Yeah, I feel like we’re mentioning texture a lot, and I wanna iterate that it’s not, like, crazy texture or something.

Caroline: It’s not, like, slubby, necessarily. Sometimes it can be, but…

Helen: Yeah. It can be, but it’s not, like, rough to the touch or anything. It’s just, like, a subtle texture, which is actually really beautiful. So I would recommend. The heaviest hemp fabrics are for structured bags or upholstery. Do keep in mind that hemp canvas can get really heavy, like 17 ounces. So for sewing patterns, you probably wanna cap it around 12 ounces for most domestic machines.

Caroline: For sure. I think a chore jacket would look really cool in a hemp or hemp blend fabric. We have a six ounce hemp cotton railroad stripe canvas at Blackbird. It has a really nice body to it even though it’s just six ounces. And it has a subtle texture that you find with hemp and linen. Again, not too textured, just a little.

Helen: Just a little texture.

Caroline: But I can really imagine, like, a stripy chore jacket with the pockets and the yoke cut on the cross grain. I think this would be so good. This one is really nice.

Helen: Really nice. We already talked a little bit about hemp knits. These are generally best for patterns that aren’t supposed to be really tight. A lot of them don’t have a ton of spandex in the blend, so don’t expect the recovery to be amazing. A relaxed fit tee, like the Jackson Tee, would be a good choice in this instance.

Caroline: Yeah. I really love the slubby look of this jersey. It’s so pretty. And you’ve made some amazing garments from it.

Helen: Yeah. Super fun.

Caroline: We also have a lighter weight hemp cotton chambray at Blackbird. It’s 3.8 ounces. This one would look great as a button-up like the Archer by Grainline or the Cameron Button Up from Helen’s closet. I also think a relaxed dress like the Skyline Dress by Syd Graham would be great. Just keep in mind that, because hemp has more body than cotton, gathered dresses and skirts will have a little bit more volume. But I think that would be a great look for the Skyline Dress. And this chambray, in particular, is quite drapey.

Helen: Ooh. Excellent. Yeah, I do think it would look so cute with the gathers.

Caroline: Yes. Okay. Should we talk about sewing tips?

Helen: Yeah, overall, hemp is pretty nice to sew with. It presses really well, much like cotton. The layers don’t slip and slide over each other ’cause it has a bit of grip to it, so it’s quite pleasant to sew.

Caroline: Yeah, I mean, some hemp fabrics do have fraying issues. You’re definitely gonna need to finish your seams, and if you can, try not to handle your pieces too much. If you need to handle certain pieces a lot, you might wanna finish the edges before you even sew them up, or you could increase the seam allowance to allow for the fraying.

Helen: And when it comes to pressing, use the same heat level you would for cotton fabrics. And steam is a-okay.

Caroline: You are gonna use a regular point needle with wovens, a ball point needle with knits. And hemp fabrics don’t come in a ton of colours. Threads Magazine test dyed swatches of hemp fabric blends in their fabric lab. And the hemp cotton blends turned out great with RIT powder dye. The rayon and silk blends dyed unevenly. So you’ll be fine dyeing a 100% hemp or hemp cotton blend with regular dye. if you have a different blend, you might want to look into specialty dyes. So if you can’t find the colour you want, you might want to dye it.

Helen: And there’s also hemp thread out there. It’s pretty much only heavy duty upholstery thread or hand sewing thread for leather, for example. Neither are really good for garment projects. So just use an all-purpose thread for your hemp projects.

Caroline: Yes. Okay. Before we go, we wanna name a few online shops where you can buy hemp fabrics that you can check out.

Helen: Yes, we’ve mentioned it a few times, but Blackbird fabrics has some hemp fabrics. Core Fabrics also has some hemp blend options. They also have hemp buttons in a bunch of pretty colours, which is kind of cool. So those are great for Canada options.

Caroline: Mmhmm. In the US, Hemp Traders has a wide selection of hemp fabrics in different weaves and blends. Dharma Trading Co. has undyed hemp fabrics for low prices, including hemp and Tencel blends. Very cool.

Helen: In the UK, The Hemp Shop has the largest range of hemp-based fabrics in the EU. Well, that’s pretty cool. And Hemp Gallery Australia has an impressive collection of different fabrics, weaves and knits. Jersey, canvas, velour, fleece, and more. I’m kind of jealous of this, Australia and UK options here.

Caroline: Hemp velour. I’ve never seen that before. Very cool. Alright, if you have one takeaway from this episode, I hope it’s that hemp is good.

Helen: Yes, it is good. It’s so earth-friendly. It lasts forever. It’s a nice fabric to sew with and nice to wear, especially with those blended and softer fibers. How can we get the word out? We need, like, a slogan.

Caroline: Okay. How about “Hemp! I need somebody. Hemp! Not like anybody.” (Sung to the tune of “Help!” by The Beatles)

Helen: Okay, I like it. Okay. What about “Make every day hemp day?” “Live every week like it’s hemp week.”

Caroline: What about, like, a mascot called Hempty Dempty?

Helen: Aw, Hempty Dempty.

Caroline: Aw, like a little hemp plant with little eyes.

Helen: Okay. But I feel like that’s not a fun story. Like, what’s gonna happen to Hempty Dempty?

Caroline: Yeah, he’s gonna get turned into fabric. Yay!

Helen: Yay!

Caroline: Oh my gosh. We should probably leave this to the professionals. But, Big Hemp, If you need us, you know where to find us. And we, we’ll advertise for you.

Helen: I look forward to seeing more and more hemp fabrics over the next decade. I’m sure it’s gonna come back in a big way and I’m excited.

Caroline: Me too.

Helen: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Helen, at Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co. and Caroline at Blackbird Fabrics and BF patterns. We’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Caroline: You can support Love to Sew and get access to bonus content by subscribing on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. You even get access to the back catalog of bonus episodes. That’s over 75 hours of Love to Sew. Go to patreon.com/lovetosew or check out our podcast page on Apple Podcasts for more info.

Helen: And head to lovetosewpodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, you can leave us a message at 1 (844) SEW-WHAT? That’s 1 (844) 739-9428. Or send us an email at hello@lovetosewpodcast.com.

Caroline: Thank you to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant and Jordan Moore of The Pod Cabin is our editor. And thank you all for listening. We’ll talk to you next week.

Helen: Bye bye!

Caroline: Make every day hemp day.

Helen: Thank you.

Related Episodes