The Materials.

The world of textiles is an imperfect one, filled with imperfect choices - so I thought I'd tell you about some of the fabrics I'm using and why. Fascinating, right? Go get a cup of coffee and come back, I'll wait.
This is Hempcel. It's 55% Hemp and 45% Lyocel. It's a new one for me.
My impressions: light and strong, great feel, easy to work with, washes up with a satisfying line-dried-linen-like crinkle, but slightly silky. Lovely.
Sourced from a Colorado-based company where a rep calls me when they're about to run out of something I like. Good sales technique, probably. Also, nice.
The upside: Hemp is an extremely fast growing crop, producing more fiber yield per acre than any other source. (Fewer resources used.) It is commonly grown without the use of pesticides and herbicides. Lyocell is made from renewable wood pulp (eucalyptus) in a closed-loop system that recycles almost all of the chemicals used.
The downside: Made in China (but, with considerable disclosure about the factory's employee and environmental policies). Lyocell production is energy intensive and involves an iffy petrochemical.

So there you have it - imperfect. Worse than some choices. Better than most. Where's my coffee?