With our focus on kids and birthdays this week, I found myself dwelling on fabric designed for children. Kids have an amazing, and often vivid memory for details of clothing, bedding, curtains, books and wallpaper. Ever try to skip a page when reading a book to a child? I can still visualize the circus wallpaper in my room that my mother tells me was gone by the time I was three. The light aqua background and colorful tents and animals left its mark, and I'm still partial to the mix of pale aqua with brights. It makes me realize that choosing fabrics your child likes may create a life-long happy memory.

I always assumed that 100% cotton fabrics were the 'good guys' of the textile world – all fresh and natural. It's only recently that I've learned that cotton covers 2.5% of the world's cultivated land, yet uses roughly 25% of the world's pesticides – more than any other single major crop. Yikes!

Surprisingly, until World War II, cotton had been grown successfully for more than 5000 years without the aid of chemicals by planting at lower densities, rotating with other crops, and considering pest cycles in planting and harvesting. After World War II, things were different. Neurotoxins such as DDT were considered to be a cheap way of controlling pests, and dependence on chemicals became the rule.

The good news is that organic cotton crops are increasing. According to the Organic Exchange Farm and Fiber Report 2009, organic cotton is now grown in 22 countries worldwide, with India being the top producer. Organic fiber sales in the United States grew more than 10 percent over the previous year. Today, unlike just a few years ago, organic cottons have found a growing spot on fabric shop shelves. And, they are not the rustic, pale textiles you might imagine...

If you ask traditional quilters about quilt finishing or quilting (finishing is the fancy term for creating stitches all over the quilt top to keep the layers together), they will most likely tell you the threads used for finishing should match the fibers used in the quilt itself. So, if your quilt is made of cotton fabric, all of the thread used to hold it together should also be cotton. This is good advice if you're planning to make a quilt that can stand up to a large amount of wear and tear. There are, however, a wide range of really fun textures and colors of thread available, and part of the fun of sewing is trying new things!

When I was first introduced to outdoor sewing, I have to admit I wasn't very enthusiastic about it. (And, no, I didn't think it meant taking my sewing machine outside.) Why would I want to put all the time and effort into sewing home décor items and then leave them outside in the weather? I'd seen what happens to cloth items that get left out on the deck overnight. I was missing an important piece of information. There is a whole array of great looking fabric designed to be left outside. They're called... wait for it... outdoor fabrics. If we can put a man on the moon, we can make great looking fabric that doesn't mind being outside.

How many sewing rulers should you own? If you had asked me that when I first started sewing, I might have answered, "I dunno... maybe three." After you get a yardstick, a basic metal ruler and a tape measure, what else do you need? I have a sewing friend who probably owns more than 20 sewing rulers. I say "probably" because I lost count, and I don't think she really knows how many she has. Before you conclude she's either obsessive-compulsive or a shoplifter, you should know her projects turn out beautifully. The rulers are the reason.

This month, we're devoting the entire Love That Fabric! column to Rural Jardin. It's a grand fabric collection from French General for Moda. If you want to add the tranquil elegance of French farmhouse-inspired textiles to your home, look seriously at this collection. The selection is vast, with muted shades of blue, red and aqua; plus toweling and 54" cotton/linen yardage that is perfect for upholstery or slipcovers. It's an ideal choice for home décor with lots of well-imagined variety. If I think about it much longer, I'm going to have to redo my house in this fabric.

It's easier than ever to find retro-style fabric. These are fabrics reminiscent of the styles popular in the 1950s through the 1970s. The nostalgia for the time has created a wonderful resurgence of period-style apparel, furniture, appliances and home décor. In fact, you will have no trouble recreating an authentic looking period room just as if you stepped into Mister Peabody's WABAC machine and set the dial back 50 years (credit: The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show of the 1960s). Like many people, I've been loving the prop and set decoration in the AMC series Mad Men where the early 1960s are recreated so faithfully. If you lived through the era, you know the style instinctively; but retro style is popular with all ages for its uninhibited bright, zany color and fearless bold designs. This week, S4H kicks of a new series we call "Retro Fun" starting with a trip back to a 1950's kitchen, and a toddler's project apron. We'll move forward in retro years from there with additional projects to come.

More and more people are evolving their passion for sewing into a business. Craft and market fairs have popped up in even the smallest communities, including upcoming seasonal Farmer's Markets, many of which are expanding to include handmade products along with their famous fruits, vegetables and flowers. Online creative storefronts, like etsy.com, artsefest.com and silkfair.com have exploded in popularity. If you're thinking of selling your creations, you should label them. A professional label adds the touch that says, 'I mean business!' We recently discovered two great online label options: Cruz Label and All Things Labels - sister companies from Los Angeles. We gave them a test run with a set of three Sew4Home labels, and were very happy with our results.

Scanning the list of materials for your next project tutorial, you suddenly come across a term or two that causes you to stop and scratch your head: Fat Quarters, Charm Packs, Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes, Honey Buns. Have you accidentally clicked from a sewing site to a recipe site? All these items sound just delicious, but what the heck do they have to do with sewing? They're the names for various types of fabric pre-cuts. And though not edible, they are great time and money savers.

If you're anything like us, the fabric store is your personal wonderland. The colors and textures of the fabric just scream for new projects to be made. Which got us thinking... if we love fabric so much, shouldn't we know more about it; like how it's made, and what is what? An educated shopper is the best kind, so we set out to understand the differences between weaves of fabrics, and we're sharing our results.

This month, Sew4Home kicks off a new monthly feature: Love That Fabric! Finding the perfect fabric for a project is immensely satisfying and often the difference between so-so and so-fabulous results. We look at a lot of fabric when planning S4H projects, and reluctantly have to bypass gorgeous collections because we just can't use them all. Each month we'll post a few new fabrics that really caught our attention and had our project wheels turning. They are all 'stash-worthy' – fabrics worth owning for their future possibilities. If you love them, get them while you can. Because like fashionable apparel, popular fabrics come and go; at some point even the most amazing fabrics are no longer in stores or online.

Fasteners are generally not the most glamorous notions on your list, but they are very hard workers and necessary to many projects. Sometimes you just need a functional closure; other times you want a cool way to attach one thing to another, like a fancy buckle on a pillow front, or an innovative tie-back for your curtains. We've compiled a list of commonly found fasteners to introduce you to the potential of these all-around accents.

One of the places I spent a bit of time during the CHA Craft Super Show was Hancock Fabrics' big booth. They always seemed have a fun tutorial in-progress, and there were lots of new products on display. While there, I met and talked with M'Liss Rae Hawley, one of quilting's most popular designers and writers. She's recently begun a partnership with Hancock Fabrics and is coming out with some beautiful fabric collections ... that you just might see here at Sew4Home in the future. M'Liss introduced me to a couple new products I thought were interesting: Fusi-Boo and Shape-Flex.

Here's another fun find from my wanderings around the floor at the recent CHA Craft Super Show in Anaheim California. The show featured many, many, many companies devoted to scrapbooking. Most of these I motored right on by in my quest for home décor ideas and inspiration. And then I came upon the Alexx Kesh booth. Maybe it was the fact there was shelf after shelf of the cutest little rolls of ribbons in all kinds of colors and patterns. Maybe I was drawn to the rows of tiny cups of beaded felt flowers, or the display of amazingly different mesh, interfacing and crepe. Maybe it was the fact I hadn't eaten all day. Whatever it was, I suddenly realized, 'Hey! You could use this scrapbooking stuff to embellish home décor!'

While at the recent CHA Craft Super Show in Anaheim, I spent a little time walking the exhibit floor looking for cool products our Sew4Home visitors might find interesting and helpful. This is the first of several articles about what I found.

We've featured a number of tutorials that incorporate appliqué or start with unique shapes, like a heart or small circles and squares. Often, the most time consuming part of the whole project is drawing and cutting all those shapes. And they just never seem to turn out as smooth and even as you'd like.

New Product Find: The AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutter, which die-cuts layers of beautiful shapes with the turn of a handle.

The Serger. Many who are new to sewing view this machine as mystical, and maybe slightly sinister. Judging by the name, you could confuse it for something (or someone) found in Marvel Comics. Even its other, more British name, gives it a wonderfully super-hero edge: The Overlocker. Sews by Day, Locks Seams by Night.

It’s true this machine can perform magic – at least watching one work gives you that impression. Don't be alarmed by the multiple thread spools or racing speed. With a few basic instructions, you'll be well on your way to learning how to use this versatile and fun machine. Plus, once you feel comfortable with a serger, you won't believe the time it saves in your sewing room!

So, you've been following our Embroidery Week articles, and now are excited to get started with your own fantastic embellishments. The next step is finding all those awesome designs. You'll be amazed at the amount of pre-digitized designs available and the many ways you can access them. Actually ... overwhelmed might be a better word. There are thousands of options; thousands-squared if you decide to learn how to create your very own designs. Read on to get a taste of just how easy, inexpensive and fun machine embroidery can be.

Mesmerizing. That's what it's like the first time you watch an embroidery machine stitch out a design. Sure, you have to get everything set up and threaded, but once you push that Start button, whoa ... it just takes off on its own. Imagine if all you had to do was put ingredients in a bowl, then step back and watch them become a frosted three-layer cake. Whatever your task, having the right tools makes your work easier, and your success more assured. The most crucial accessory to successful machine embroidery is the hoop.

Shopping for a first embroidery machine can be a little intimidating to the uninitiated. There are quite a few options to choose from at a wide variety of price points. Fortunately for you, we did our homework in preparation for Monogram Week, and have broken down the necessities to a few top-level considerations.

Like any sewing project, using the correct materials is crucial to success. Monogramming and embroidery use their own special set of notions, which aren’t necessarily used in other types of sewing projects. We created a list of the materials you'll need, with an explanation of their use to help you become an educated shopper – before you start your first monogramming project.

Once you discover the rotary cutter, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. Seriously, this thing is like the sliced bread of sewing. I suppose, if push came to shove, you could use it to slice bread, but that's not my point. My point is that it is a wonderful tool, and can make the chore of cutting faster and more exact. When first confronted with its use, you may find it a bit inimidating. But following a few simple pointers will help you use this tool safely and easily.

You've caught the bug and there's no getting rid of it. Congratulations! The sewing bug is one of the greatest around. Of course, now that you spend all your spare time sewing, you may realize you want a machine that can keep up with you. There's a lot to choose from, in fact it might seem overwhelming when you see all the features you can choose from as you move beyond basic. We've put together a list of the top ten features to look for on more advanced machines, so you can figure out exactly what you want and have the confidence to shop with knowledge.

"There's more than one way to stuff a pillow." I've never actually heard that used as an expression. But when I look at all the materials now available for filling pillows, it really rings true.

From natural fillers like feathers and fiber to the latest high tech fluff, you can choose a stuffing that's perfectly suited to your situation.

Bias tape is a great and much-used accent for all types of home dec projects. But how many of us have braved the hours of tedious folding to create a good amount of it, or burned our fingers trying to iron the perfect crease? Well, snuff out those burnt fingers, because there is a great tool for dealing with this: the Bias Tape Maker. Here we share a few hints and tips to make using it easier.

Stroll through many antique shops and you're bound to find a sweet and colorful yo-yo quilt. First made popular in the 1930s, the small, gathered circles that create a yo-yo are super easy to make, and the resulting fabric puff is a fun embellishment for pillows, blankets and more. Make them by hand or use a simple tool. They're great for using up small scraps, and perfectly portable – make them while sitting on the beach, waiting for the train, anywhere.