Organic Textile Company

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Machynlleth
Organic Textile Company

Family-run online business based in mid Wales selling organic and sustainable fabric and cotton

There's just me Phil, Ann (mum to my 4 children) Nancy who does the buying, Gwyn, Dex, Debbie, Yvonne and Kev. We trade as www.organiccotton.biz and supply all over the world- lots to the EU. We try and be innovative and come up with unusual eco friendly fabrics.

02/06/2025

M A Y

What’s that Instagram? Carousels can have up to TWENTY photos? And that’s actually been true for a while now? Well in that case, here’s a spin through May at The Organic Textile Company…

1. A little showroom rearrange

2. A casualty of the little showroom rearrange

3. Photographing our NEW Chirpy green!

4. Mobile office for a trip up to London for a sustainability netwalk with

5. Spotted this hot air balloon from the car park. They were so close we could hear the passengers(?) chatting!

6. Agata pulled off a major scrap bag re-stock

7. Jaw dropping patchwork installation at

8. Roll ends topped up

9. Big dog’s birthday

10. A delicious treat from and

11. Field trip to Frome

12. Donating a selection of our organic cotton blanks to for

13. In between all that, orders orders orders

17/04/2025

We’re crossing our everythings for a sunny bank holiday weekend!

Our team is looking forward to a little break over Easter. We will be reopening on Tuesday after (hopefully) a long weekend in the Somerset sunshine. Orders and emails received between now and Tuesday morning will be processed when we’re back.

Photo taken last week at the always beautiful

17/03/2025

Wishing our Irish friends and followers a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day ☘️

28/11/2024

As some of you already know, our longest standing weaving partner, Genesh, passed away recently. Genesh is responsible for some of our favourite and most popular organic fabrics including our gorgeous herringbone, texweave and cross weave cottons.

Genesh’s relationship with The Organic Textile Company began in the mid-2000s when the business was in its infancy. He and his small team in Kerala began supplying Phil and Ann with organic cotton, long before organic fabric was anywhere near as mainstream and popular as it is today.

The best part of 20 years later, we were still working with Genesh. Despite having retired, Phil and Ann have maintained a close friendship with Genesh and he’ll be sorely missed by all of us.

In Phil’s words, “We rarely talked about price. I trusted him and he trusted me”. That setup continued into our own relationship with Genesh. Before ever discussing fabric we would exchange family news and other updates. Sometimes fabric was never discussed at all! We’re delighted that his family will continue to run the business and we are already enjoying working with his son, Gokul, who we hope will continue Genesh’s wonderful legacy for the next 20 years and beyond.

Thanks for reading. After sharing this news on our stories we received some lovely words from customers, friends and followers which will all be passed to Genesh’s family. Please feel free to comment below or DM if you would like us to add your own message.

12/07/2024

It sounds a bit silly to say there are “good clothes” and “bad clothes”. If they cover your body and fit, surely they’re doing their job?

We just watched a really interesting video about the decline in quality of clothes on the high street since the 1980s, which has prompted us to think about the many talented makers and designers we work with every week.

For those of us old enough to remember 80s and 90s clothing (elder millennial here 🙋🏼‍♀️), it’s not your imagination. Things really were better in the old days! Today there is enormous demand for cheap clothes and some brands now release new designs every few weeks (or even days!), as opposed to two collections a year; “Spring/Summer” and “Autumn/Winter”. That demand has driven quality down and manufacture to countries with cheap labour. The introduction of synthetic fabrics has arguably far more to do with to making clothes cheaper than making them nicer.

We are thrilled to supply so many independent designers and small fashion brands who believe in using their creativity and technical skills to create clothes that last for years and make their wearers feel good.

We’re always happy to share our customers’ work. We have two Instagram story highlights dedicated to what you’ve made. If you use our fabric in your business - whether you’re making clothes, bags, accessories, perhaps using our blanks to print on - we’d love to give you a shout out! Drop us a comment below, DM us or send a good old fashioned email (told you I was old…).

10/07/2024

Reusable Organic Cotton Packaging and Storage

We may not be able to help with coffee cups or reusable cutlery this Plastic Free July, but we do have a few organic cotton bags and fabrics which can help you make some swaps this Plastic Free July. Our sturdy tote bags can easily be rolled up and stuffed in your pocket for a shopping trip. We also have drawstring bags in a variety of sizes which are great for transporting your fruit and veg. If you’re handy with a sewing machine, our range of net and gauze fabrics - including our Big Net, seen here - can be used as breathable storage bags for perishables.

Be sure to wash your bag or fabric before using for food storage.

09/07/2024

Plastic Free July

We do our best to limit single use plastic at the Organic Textile Company and is a great opportunity for a wider discussion about how we can all do our bit to reduce the amount of single use plastic we use both at work and at home. Described as “A personal challenge that’s part of a global effort”, Plastic Free July isn’t about drastic action or grand gestures. It’s an invitation to make a few simple swaps in July which hopefully become habit.

Here are a few simple things we do every day at the Organic Textile Company to reduce single use plastics within our business:

We avoid using a tagging gun wherever possible. For pricing rolls of fabric, we use recycled cardboard strung labels with safety pins. After a lot of trial and error, we have also ditched plastic tags in our sample packs. We use a good old-fashioned metal split pin to bind multiple swatches together.

When you order from us your fabric will nearly always be sent in paper or cardboard. Whole roll orders are wrapped in deadstock curtain fabric which is securely stitched around the edge. Even the printed label is made from damaged organic cotton fabric from our warehouse and the bags can be re-used again and again. Occasionally we will use heavy duty plastic sacks or tubing. Why? Because sometimes we receive orders and deliveries in this type of packaging. We clean it and we re-use it.

08/07/2024

“Have you got any offcuts?”

We love how often we’re asked about our offcuts. It means you care about minimising textile waste as much as we do! It might sound odd but we actually end up with very little in the way of fabric scraps.

So, how do we generate fabric waste and where does it go when we do?

🗑️ The sample cutter

We use a very serious looking machine to cut our neat little fabric swatches. This machine creates a tiny bit of waste along the edge of each piece of fabric, but very little. This waste goes into a box under the machine and will eventually be added to our biodegradable scrap bags.

🗑️ Redundant samples

If we receive a new batch of fabric we will cut a new set of samples to try and ensure that if you order a sample, it will be the same as the fabric you eventually purchase. As a result, we occasionally have a little pile of squares that are no longer needed. These will also be added to scrap bags.

🗑️ Ends of rolls

When we reach the end of a roll, we will often be left with a short piece of fabric which is too small to leave on a tube. It might be a bit “scrappy” from being rolled tightly, or not cut quite straight. These pieces end up in our remnant trolleys, or as discounted roll ends.

🗑️ Damaged, marked or “seconds”

As disappointing as it is to discover marks or other damage, it is unavoidable. Sometimes there will be a pull or flaw in a roll of fabric, sometimes it will have a join, and sometimes things get marked or damaged in transit. It happens very rarely. These pieces also end up in our remnant trolleys or being sold as roll ends, depending on their size.

We really don’t generate fabric waste in the same way a clothing or furniture manufacturer might. The examples above crop up pretty rarely.

Remnants, scrap bags and damaged blanks are all available on our website. However, if you’re in or near Somerset we’d highly recommend a visit to our showroom to have a good in-person rummage!

Address

Machynlleth

Opening Hours

9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441654700002

Website

http://www.organiccotton.biz/

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