Green is definitely the new black - it seems to us that almost everyone out there is jumping on the eco-friendly bandwagon these days. But few stores seem to take sustainability to heart as much as Ambatalia does. Proprietress Molly de Vries has filled the cozy Mill Valley store with a well curated selection of sustainable fabrics that includes everything from hemp and hemp blends, silks, Japanese cottons, and vintage fat quarters, proving just how beautiful green can be.
Favorites like Amy Butler, Echino, Hable Construction and Galbraith & Paul can be found next to small designers and imports you may never have heard of before, while above the door a hand painted sign reads "There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and poverty - Gandhi."
For de Vries, sustainability and community go hand in hand, and everyone who walks in the door is treated like a long lost friend, leaving us with a shopping experience much more like hanging out in your cool sister's sewing studio than any big chain could ever hope for.
While the one-room store isn't huge, the stock is so well selected that we could spend hours running our fingers over each and every piece of cloth - a practice that is encouraged.
While you're there make sure check out the handmade bags, quilts, and table linens that Ambatalia carries, all of which are made locally with sustainable materials.
(Thanks, Elizabeth!)
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Thank you for featuring Ambatalia! There is simply no place on this whole earth like it!
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