A Neat Opportunity and a Contest for You

Back in February, a new law was passed pertaining to children's items. It was written in response to the toys that were imported from China and found to have dangerous levels of lead in them. But it was written so broadly that anyone making anything for children would be affected. The law said that everything made for children would have to be tested and given a certificate that said it was safe. Each and every batch would have to be tested and it was the responsibility of the one making the item. In other words I would have to test everything I made for Daddy's Little Princess. I would have to test just about each and every dress or pair of bloomers because only those that were made *exactly* the same - pattern, size, fabric, buttons etc could be counted as a batch. And I couldn't just buy materials that had been tested by their manufacturers and rely on their certificates. I'd have to do my own testing. This would of course add up considerably.

As more and more small businesses let their voices be heard, the cpsa decided to forgo the testing requirements for one year. Business owners should be careful to make and sell only safe items, but they were allowed to use their own common sense rather than deal with the testing. Unfortunately the ability to use common sense may go away in February of next year, depending on what they do about it - but at least for now Daddy's Little Princess can continue pretty much as before.

One positive thing came out of this. As I read through the law and realized that there were exemptions for completely natural materials - cotton, wool, wood - without any dyes, bleaches, etc - I started searching for sources of organic cotton fabrics. I found something wonderful - organic *color-grown* cotton! Did you know that cotton naturally grows in all kinds of shades of green, brown, and cream? I had no idea! And they can actually weave the different colors into lovely patterns, so I can get ginghams and stripes and all kinds of things. I ordered some and fell in love with the look and feel. I actually made our Easter dresses from the colorgrown cotton this year. :) It's more expensive than my usual fabrics, but not as expensive as testing everything. :)

Then, last weekend, Mike and I went to a new store called The Green Plan-It. It was a fascinating place with everything you could imagine organic/natural/or recycled. The man we spoke to told us that they had someone working with them on providing cloth diapers and they were hoping to carry a line of infants and toddlers clothing. I talked to him about the organic colorgrown cotton and he was very interested in seeing and possibly carrying some things from Daddy's Little Princess made from those fabrics!

So I've been working on some new designs. So far I have a little blouse and bloomers set. I made it of the natural muslin. It is *so* soft! And I used drawstrings rather than elastic because I can get them made of organic cotton. They are sewn in for safety of course. I'm thinking of adding just a little lace to the set too, but I have to get some more.

To go with it, I'm planning to do one of these sets:

in the green/cream gingham and another cream that has a diagonal texture woven into it. I got buttons made of wood and some of tagua nut so that even they will be completely natural materials.

So, I thought it would be fun to have a contest here in honor of the new line for the Green Plan-It. I will make either a blouse and bloomers set or a little petal dress (the dress only) in your choice of size up to 3T. You just have to be willing to send me your address. Just leave a comment here and I'll enter your name in the drawing. At the end of the week, (on Friday the 12th) I'll put all the names in a hat and let Emilie (my 2 year old) pick one out. If you don't have a little one, you probably know someone who does, to whom you could give these as a gift. Please pass on the link to my blog too!