Supply chain transparency is really important to us! Letting customers know the quality of the yarn, dye and production is imperative to a more sustainable future in textiles.

Simon the owner of Potters has been in the business for 25 years and has built up a solid relationship with the mills we work with and sourcing agents. We really pride ourselves on this as we know we can trust the mills we use for quality and standard. We travel to China regularly, Turkey, Japan and Korea visiting suppliers, to keep relationships, and to source new innovative fibres and designs. 

When the retail side was first set up it was to start selling ends from our wholesale side. Most of the time after big fashion labels have placed their orders for bulk production we would have 100 to 20 metres leftover. So to give it another life we started selling these ends retail. We noticed that the retail side was growing and we had more and more interest- specially in Perth where we are very limited in fabric stores! Now we have grown to online and haven't looked back. We love the fact we can supply up to date, high quality fabric to home sewers...

LINEN

Yarn

Linen is what we specialise in… When Simon first started Potter Textiles, Linen is one of the first qualities he started with. He has continued to sell it for over 25 years…

Linen comes from the flax plant, which is a hardy plant that requires little water and few pesticides and fertilisers. Linen production has a long history in Europe, and most high quality flax comes from France and Belgium. Our Flax is sourced from France and Belgium and sent to China to be milled. The yarn we source is high grade long staple yarn. If you compare our linen with cheaper linen or cheaper linen garments you will notice a difference. Our cloth won’t pill, there is no slippage and it has a beautiful density.

Mills

We only use 3 to 4 different mills to produce our linen as we can trust them on quality. We use a few different ones as they each specialise in a certain finish, for example our high twist crinkle linen or our antique wash linen.

All the mills for linens meet the Oeko-Tex 100 standard. This standard is checked yearly and mills can supply certifications on request anytime of year.

Dyes

As part of the mills meeting the Oeko-Tex 100 Standard their dyed have to meet this too. All of our mills use the dye brand DyStar which is Oeko-Tex certified

The dyes used on our linens are reactive dyes. Reactive dyes attach themselves to their substrates by a chemical reaction that forms a covalent bond between the molecule of dye and that of the fibre. The dyestuff thus becomes a part of the fibre and is much less likely to be removed by washing than are dyestuffs that adhere by adsorption.

COTTON

Yarn

The Cotton we use is all grown in China and Milled in china. China is the largest producer of cotton in the world having

4.35 million hectares. We only carry a few cotton cloths as we like to focus on linen due to how hardy the plant is compared to cotton. The cotton we do run is high quality, for example the compact cotton Nova, is dencly over and long staple so it is light weight and not sheer. Otherwise we blend our linen with cotton as a cheaper option due to the increase price of linen.

Mills

The mills we use to weave our cotton are the same ones we use to produce our linen. So we still only have about 3 to 4 different mills. These mills all meet the Oeko-Tex 100 standard. This standard is checked yearly and mills can supply certifications on request anytime of year.

Dyes

As part of the mills meeting the Oeko-Tex 100 Standard their dyed have to meet this too. All of our mills use the dye brand DyStar which is Oeko-Tex certified

The dyes used on our cottons are reactive dyes. Reactive dyes attach themselves to their substrates by a chemical reaction that forms a covalent bond between the molecule of dye and that of the fibre. The dyestuff thus becomes a part of the fibre and is much less likely to be removed by washing than are dyestuffs that adhere by adsorption.

DENIM

Yarn

The cotton yarn used in our denim is all spun in Indonesia, in Nisshinbo factory. Nisshinbo is known for combining traditional and modern techniques, and is widely recognized for their ring-spun denim.

Mills

All the indigo rope dyed denim is produced in  in made in Indonesia with Japanese machinery and technology. The White denim we have started supplying is all produced in Japan.

Both these mills meet the Oeko-Tex 100 standard. This standard is checked yearly and mills can supply certifications on request anytime of year.

Dyes

As part of the mills meeting the Oeko-Tex 100 Standard their dyed have to meet this too. All of our mills use the dye brand DyStar which is Oeko-Tex certified

Rope dyeing denim is recognised as the highest quality indigo denim dyeing technique. This is due to the rich colour and

uniformity achieved. Other dying methods such as slasher dyeing where the yarn is soaked in indigo baths, will not produce an even and consistent colour shade throughout the width and length.

Rope dyed denim is created by taking the cotton thread and twisting into a rope. The rope is then repeatedly dipped into indigo resulting in a dyed surface while the core remains a cotton colour. This process of dipping the yarn could be repeated up to 12 times, until desired colour. The ‘ring dyed’ yarns fades faster than yarn that are completely soaked with indigo, creating the denim look.

All our rope dyed denim in made in Indonesia with Japanese machinery and technology. As it is dyed with indigo dye the denim will need to be washed separately first before use. In the first wash, colour will run from the fabric but the indigo will intensify. The fabric will also soften, as it will wash away the starch that has been applied during production. All indigo dyed denim will lose pigment as you wash and wear, but that’s part of its unique quality as denim.

OTHER FIBRES

All of our other fibre we use have Oeko-Tex 100 standard certification.

..OUR PACKAGING..

All our printing uses soy/vegetable inks. These are eco friendly and a great alternative to petroleum-based inks. While soy inks are slower to dry than many inks, the process produces more vibrant colors as well as having the added benefit of not leaving behind petroleum based products when decomposing. Finally, soy inks have low levels of VOCs, reducing air pollution during the drying process.

Tissue paper and Tape 

The tissue paper and tape we use is FSC certified and acid free paper.

We use Tissue paper for wrapping your fabric just in case the parcel bag break open. This means your fabric is safe!!It is made from cellulose fiber where the active acid pulp is eliminated during processing. It is also lignin- and sulfur-free, meaning that our ink won’t transfer from the tissue and the paper won’t leave behind any of these chemicals when decomposing.

Our tape is used to keep the tissue paper closed and is water-activated. This means the tape is compostable!!

Business cards, 

Our business cards are made from recycled T-shirt offcuts. So not only do they reuse fashion industry waste, they're also naturally white, beautifully textured and seriously durable! And they are tree free..

Parcels

We use Hero Packs for our parcel bags. The bags are fully compostable at home as they are made from corn starch and PBAT. All you need to do to compost them at home, is remove any labels, and cut up the bag and place in your compost. These will completely break down within 90-120 days. All our paper and other packaging can also be cut up and put in your compost too!