Monday, July 21, 2008

Thanks EcoStilleto

Oh boy are we loving the article that EcoStilleto wrote about us! We've copy & pasted it here for your convenience to read.

The insider’s guide to a cruelty-free life.

Raksha Bella Organic Textiles



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The sheets have gotten a little threadbare these days, as our EcoStilettoized knowledge of the pesticide load carried by conventional cotton butted heads with our distain for the plain-Jane, soul-less organic cotton and bamboo sheets that crowded the shelves stocked by retailers who seem to think that we greenies prefer our bedding the color of mud.
Yes, conventional cotton is on our Big List of Things That Suck for a reason. And yes, it’s a lovely thing when the eco-movement hits the big-box store and saves the Earth a whole lotta chemicals. But do you think we could have a few patterns? Maybe a little splash o’ color here or there?
Thankfully, Raksha Bella Organic Textiles just stepped up with a collection of 100% organic cotton, 225-thread count bedding, hand-made and hand-block printed in India with fair labor practices and featuring a glorious (though subtle—we are, of course, talking about places where people sleep) color palette of rose, amber and indigo, among others, created with heavy-metal free, non-toxic dyes.
The patterns are little homages to traditional designs like paisley, our favorite being the Raj in Rum Raisin, probably because the name alone conjures up an almost impossibly perfect fantasy. New sheets. Ice cream. Need we say more?

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Raksha Bella on More Way to Waste Time

Speaking of bedrooms, scrolling through images of these new textiles fromRaksha Bella is making me very, very sleepy ...
Seriously, who wouldn't want to go back to bed and curl up in this beautiful bedding? Founded by Berkeley, California designer Carrie Peters, Raksha Bella just introduced a lovely collection of organic duvet covers, quilts, and pillowcases and shams.

Each piece, handmade by fair-trade workers in India from Indian-grown, certified-organic cotton, is subtly pattered using hand-carved blockprints of traditional Indian motifs and printed with low-impact dyes.

And if knowing that doesn't help you rest easier, I don't know what will.

Of course, sustainably produced products like these don't come cheap: Prices start at $89 to $123 for pillow- and sham-cover sets and go up to $311 to $439 for duvet covers and $442 to $491 for quilts.