Hi, guys! I hope you’re all well! OK, I know that most of us who sew are into fabric, but I’ll speak for myself and say that while I like sewing, I LOVE fabric. But I struggle a bit because I’ve learned that the textiles industry isn’t very earth-friendly and doesn’t have a great track record for human rights. Of course, not all fabric is produced in an unethical way, but it’s really hard to know where each bolt of fabric comes from. So I was really excited when I heard that Olgalyn Jolly was producing a line of cotton sweater knits that are grown, ginned, spun, and knit in the United States! The knits are non-GMO and they’re not dyed- the beautiful brown and green are grown-in color! It’s exciting to see fabric options that are healthier for the earth and for the producers. I’m guessing I’m not the only one who’s excited to learn more about healthier fabric choices, so let me introduce you to Olgalyn!
Here’s Olgalyn in a gorgeous Grainline Morris blazer made from her color-grown Mesa plaid… click on the picture to go to her blog post!
Olgalyn is a knit textile designer here in NYC; she creates beautiful sweater knits for fashion designers and now for home sewers! She also blogs as O! Jolly! I’ve gotten to know her through the large circle of sewing enthusiasts here in New York and I’m really glad that I have. She is gracious, kind, and warm, and is the kind of person with whom you can feel instantly at ease. But for those of you who are far away, I encourage you to get to know her through her Instagram. Her photos always inspire me, whether she’s snapping pics of her own designs, cool knitwear she sees in her travels, or her neighborhood. Her journey to becoming a knit designer is an unusual one, and her love for knits is so exciting that I’ll let her tell you herself! Take it away, Olgalyn!
Q: I’d love to hear about your journey to becoming a knit designer! What was the path that led to where you are now? Did you study textile design? And why knits?
A: I had a career in show business; I was a dancer who also sang. Dancers can have quite limited careers. The body simply gives out or acts up one body part at a time. I’d been dancing since I was three and wanted to find something else that I was passionate about and had been thinking about my next career for a couple of years before I left the biz. I was on tour in Japan with the international company of a Broadway show in the mid 80s at a time when I was also becoming aware of the Japanese fashion designers who were achieving international fame. I fell in love with the color combinations and concepts from from Kansai Yamamoto and the shapes and textures from Yohji Yamamoto. I especially loved the sweaters.
I appreciate knits in their many forms. Knits can be form fitting without darts or they can be extravagantly draped. I enjoy the process of designing knitting stitch patterns. There’s a formality; it’s a grid. You can build texture, play with color, or even shift the grid.
I never took a prescribed course of study, which I regret a little bit now. Instead I took the technical classes I really wanted to take with the people I wanted to study with, kind of an à la carte education. I studied Weft Knitting Technology with George Tay at Fashion Institute of Technology, who’d been highly recommended by my Draping teacher at Parsons when she found out I loved knits. At Parsons I also studied with Susanna Lewis, author of my absolute favorite machine knitting technique and resource book, A Machine Knitter’s Guide to Creating Fabric. I took several other classes at FIT over the years.
I made sweaters for other designers and designed sweaters under my own small label for a little while as I gradually began to understand that the part that really got me excited wasn’t the sweaters. It was designing the knit fabrics — coming up with stitch patterns, trying the patterns out with various yarns and yarn combinations. I didn’t get to specialize in designing sweater knit fabrics until years later however.
Q: How does your design process change when you’re designing for home sewers?
A: My design process changes significantly depending on whether I’m working with a client (fashion designer) who has a strong idea of the type of design she wants or if I’m submitting work to an agent who’s been “forecasting trends” or if I’m designing independently.
Because my new sweater knit fabric line for home sewers was going to be exclusively for cutting and sewing by people who do don’t necessarily do this as a profession, I wanted this collection to be relatively stable. I made certain design choices so that someone who was venturing into the wonderful world of sweater knits would have success their first time. Sweater knits, otherwise, can be notoriously unstable if there’s a lot of openwork or if the fabric is loosely knitted.
Q: Why did you choose cotton for this collection?
A: I chose cotton for this collection because there simply aren’t enough cotton sweater fabrics available to home sewers. I absolutely love wool and hope my next collection will include wool, but cotton is a true easy care fabric, that can make beautiful sweater fabrics and therefore beautiful sweaters.
Q: I’m really interested in natural dyes and more earth-friendly textiles, but before your new collection, I’d never heard of color-grown cotton. It’s such an exciting idea! I’d love to hear more about how it’s grown and processed!
A: As I understand it, cotton grows naturally in various shades in parts of North and South America and Asia, but the strength and longer staple length of white cotton made white cotton more favorable early on for commercial development. Sally Fox is the person usually credited with the breeding of color cotton in this country in the late 1980s. She selected for qualities that would allow the color cotton lint to be spun in conventional mills. Color cotton began to be used commercially in the 1990s by a few commercial brands. I remember that Levi’s used color cotton for a little while. I don’t know if they still do. Sally Fox also has her own line of products.
The yarns I’ve used for my new fabric originate from a different seed stock than Sally Fox’s. I was so excited when I was able to find a source of this beautiful yarn! All cotton used to make these yarn was grown in the United States by farmers who use sustainable growing practices. The color cotton is spun with a natural white cotton to create the earthy pastels I’m using, giving a very subtle heathered look to the color jerseys.
Q: What’s next for O! Jolly!? Do you plan to introduce any new ethical fibers to your shop?
A: I hope so. I was recently introduced to an Oregon rancher whose sheep are the source of the most wonderful wool. The ranch is 30,000 acres and the people who live and work the ranch take very seriously their stewardship of the land, their domestic animals, and the wildlife.
Once one’s aware of the impact that the textile industry can have on the earth and human lives, it’s very difficult to go back to conventionally produced textiles. Right now I’m at the very beginning of a transition to ethical fibers professionally with my fabric design and also in my home life, just asking questions and taking steps, little by little. I’m glad there are alternatives available, but sometimes they’re hard to find and they’re usually more expensive. (Yes, that means buying less!) I hope that the sewing community finds the ethically produced textile a valuable and worthwhile product and will seek it out, whenever possible.
Thank you so much for telling your story, Olgalyn! It’s so fascinating to learn more about you!
If you want to know more about O! Jolly! knits, check out the links below. I’ll also be blogging a garment made with one of her gorgeous sweater knits very soon!
- Olgalyn’s blog
- Olgalyn’s fabric shop (she also sells on Etsy, if you prefer that)
- her tips for sewing with sweater knits
- sweater knit care tips
Ginger Makes... 
I think I’m jealous that I didn’t think of interviewing Ojolly first! This is a great interview and I learned a few new things.
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Isn’t she interesting? I loved her connection from dance to textiles- such a cool story!
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Just the post I needed to get into my luvverley grey wool sweater knit I’m so afraid of! Then I can replace it with Olgalyn’s scrumptious bamboo knit for summer! Thanks for the prod Ginger!
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Oooooh but wool sweater knits are such a joy to sew! I bet you will love the finished garment! Do it do it! 🙂
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What a wonderful post. I have knitting machines and have tried knitting my own fabric, with limited success. I love the idea of only having ethically produced fabric in my stash and Olgalyn’s ethos really resonates with me. Thank you!
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Wow! That’s so cool that you have knitting machines! Honestly,they scare me! They seem so complicated! I’m really impressed that you’ve gotten them to work! 🙂 I’m on the hunt for more ethical fabric producers and will be sure to post about them if I can find any!
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Fascinating, the cotton knits are beautiful. I love the textures.
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She really has created some beautiful textures, hasn’t she? They’re really unique!
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This is brilliant, thanks for thinking of a great post to help us find some knit materials that are kinder to the environment. I learnt about colour cotton in university but never found out where to get hold of some. Now I love the idea of using it in some of my handmade wardrobe. The soft colours and the textures in the collection just make me want to reach out and touch them.
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The colored cotton is so pretty and unusual! I hope it becomes more common- why bleach it just to dye it when you can achieve such a pretty color naturally? 🙂
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Thank you for the intro to such an amazing creative! Really intrigued by the sweater knits themselves and am instantly trying to think of a project to justify using some. Need to save up first, but they look like they are well worth the money 🙂
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They are really special! I’m saving up for some of the colored cotton! 🙂
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Olgalyns knits are beautiful and I’ve yearned for some for a couple of years now! Her blog is fabulous and has lots of really great tips on sewing sweater knits. Thanks for interviewing her!
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She really does have a fabulous blog, doesn’t she? I learned so much reading through her posts on sewing a sweater!
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I was up to feed the baby when I read this post, and then Olgalyn’s blog. Hours later and I have pinned an instruction set of hers and have planned out my next project! I am not sure whether I should rejoice or bemoan my sleepy eyes! Thank you so much for taking the time compiling this blog post.
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Oops!! Sorry for keeping you up! 😀 Her instructions and tutorials are so thorough- they really helped me out!
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Great interview! Thanks so much for introducing me to Olgalyn. I definitely want to try using more sustainable fabrics in my sewing, so O! Jolly! would be a good start!
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It can be so overwhelming trying to find eco-friendly textiles, but I’m going to keep digging and trying to find more!
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Ohmygosh, sweater knits I can actually play with! It is SO hard to find nice sweater knits that aren’t wool, usually I can only find those super-thin, open type ones like they sell at Fabric. com. So I am super-excited to find out about her shop, and I hope she keeps making cotton knits for a long time!
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These were made for you!!! I’m so glad there are some nice knits that you aren’t allergic to! Hope you and baby are well! 🙂
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Oh man! I have been lurking SO HARD on this woman’s Instagram ever since people started posting her swatches. Her sweater knits are ridiculously beautiful, and I’m even more delighted to hear about their naturalness and sustainability (the little hippie in me is squealing with delight right now haha). I’m really excited to hear that she’ll be offering wool next, because while I love cotton – wool totally has my heart! Once I figure out exactly what I’d make with one of her knits, I definitely plan on investing. Thanks for sharing this interview with us – it was really interesting!
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Oh man, I am right there with you- I ADORE wool! It’s just so squishy and bouncy and wonderful!
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Great interview! I love the natural color cotton knit so much! Her etsy shop look great!!!
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Her answers to my clunky questions were so interesting! I wish you could meet her- she’s really lovely!
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Great story! It’s the first time I hear about color cotton, how exciting. Her blog is awesome as well, thank you for sharing!
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Isn’t that a cool idea? And what an effective way to cut down on the chemicals used in the processing when you don’t need to bleach and dye it!
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Amaaaazing! I’ve also thinking hard about sustainability, and looking at fabrics that are produced nearer home and with fewer toxins right now, so perfect timing!
I vote for wool next, please! It’s wonderful how much local/sustainable/single-breed wool yarn is available to knitters now, but I haven’t been able to find any wool fabrics coming out of that movement yet, and I think the niche is there to use them. I would be beyond excited if that happened!
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The great hand knitting yarn that’s available gives me hope that maybe there will be good options for locally-produced wool jerseys soon! It feels like the knitting movement picked up steam several years before sewing did… maybe we’re just a little behind?
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Thanks, Sonja, for this opportunity to talk about the fabrics I love! And the comments have been so lovely and encouraging. Much appreciated.
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It was such a pleasure having you here! 🙂 Come back and visit again soon, heeheehee!
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What a great interview. I love the ethos behind the beautiful fabrics
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Isn’t Olgalyn interesting? I’m really hoping that we see healthier textiles being developed all the time… there’s some interesting research going on right now, and hopefully that will make its way into the commercial realm soon!
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Thank you for introducing her in this post! What beautiful fabric and I LOVE the sustainability side of it. I’m going to check out her shop now 🙂
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I’m so happy I could introduce her! She’s wonderful and so is her fabric!
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Such a great post and so important. I really hope ethical and cruelty free fabrics become more commonplace in the future. Wish I could get my hands on these knits. Xx
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I really hope so, too! It seems much more common in hand knitting yarns, so it’s only a matter of time before there are better fabric options, I hope!
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I’m excited that these sweater knits are cotton, as I am allergic to wool. Love that they are locally grown and the dye is grown in too. I definitely will be placing an order this fall! I also love your last name, Olgalyn!
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You’re the second person to comment with a wool allergy! I’m glad there are options for you guys! 🙂
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Thank you for this great introduction to Olgalyn and her amazing beautiful knits! I love love sweater knits and would love to try to sew with some! The ethical origin of these fabrics is wonderful!
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I’m so glad you like the fabrics! Olgalyn is such a cool person and I’m really excited that she’s offering these fun knits!
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Wow such great and beautiful fabrics! I think it is so neat that the colours are natural. Thanks for sharing this interview!
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In my textiles class we’ve been learning about the dye process, and man, those dyes are TOXIC. So I’m hoping that undyed and unbleached fabrics become more common!
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Lovely. Thank you for sharing this!
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My pleasure!
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Catching up on my blog reading – yay, holiday weekend! Great seeing Olgalyn featured here! I also really love the fact that she’s an artist working in Soho. It’s so nice knowing that creative people are still working and living in that area. Anyway, it was great getting to know Olgalyn a bit better and to learn about how she sources her materials! She’s amazing.
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I know, right? I guess the Wall Street-ers haven’t completely taken over Soho! Olgalyn really is the coolest. I hope this venture is a huge success for her!
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i silently devoured this last week, much like i silently devoured all of olgalyn’s knit posts when i first stumbled onto her amazingness…i think that’s called awestruck ;)))
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