Cheaper than a Fabric Store

[alexandra]

Hi Everyone!

I spent the weekend sewing -- using thrifted sheets and the like to make cushion covers for the dinette in our trailer.  This is far cheaper than purchasing comparable material in a fabric store.  The material the cushions came in is ugly -- but I also want to protect it, in case we sell or trade later.

At lunch, I picked up one long battenburg lace curtain panel and a set of regular size embroidered curtain panels (both 100% cotton by Martha Stewart).  There were a few stains that I will either wash/bleach out (non-chlorine, or a soak in a stain lifter formula detergent) or cut around.

The purchase (along with a small embellished craft box) was $1.94 -- less than what I'd pay for cheap bargain fabric, and far more stuff to work with than one yard.

I will be sewing more cushion covers out of this nice material. And I won't fret if it gets dirty -- since I got it so inexpensively.

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

[Josie Rosy Posy]

No matter when I go to the thrift store, there always seems to be awesome vintage fabric. I think that fabric is the most overlooked gem at thrift stores because so few people sew these days compared with fifty or even thirty years ago. Yet the prints on vintage fabric is what's trendy and desirable these days.
Ah, and yes it is always so cheap compared to newer fabric and in much better quality.
I also buy neat sheets at the thrift store to use in sewing. Since sheets are pretty thin, I used fusible interfacing to make a purse. Check it out!

[Other People s Junk]

I have found some great vintage fabric at the thrifts for very cheap!  If a person sews, it's definately worth looking for. 

Josie- I like your purse!  I have a picture around here somewhere of a purse I made recently.  It's out of the bottom of a jean leg and lined with some old green vintage fabric that has oranges all over it.  I love how it turned out- and it cost hardly anything at all. 

[Other People s Junk]

Here is a pic of that purse I made... The inside fabric was thrifted, the jeans might mave been, I can't remember.  I embroidered the orange motif to match the inside fabric.  And the trim on the bottom was new, since I couldn't find it in the thrift stores.  I have seen tons of that in thrifts, but the minute I decided I wanted to get some for this purse could I find any?  Nope!

[lustrouscoat]

i'm working on a duvet (or quilt) cover made mostly out of sheets, pillowcases, fabric, etc that i've thrifted. i'm lucky to have thrift stores close by that are cheap and have great craft sections. i even had a bit of good luck earlier today when i was shopping. last week, i saw a sheet i liked but couldn't see paying $4 for it when i'm just going to cut it up. so today when i went back, they had reduced the price to $2.

there are definitely good things to be found for the crafty at thrift stores.

[Cookie]

I love to sew.  I just wish I was better at it so I could do more projects in less time.  I thrifted our living room drapes from Savers, very nice vintage green drapes, and I made our kitchen curtains from fabric I got for $1.00.  There's even enough left over to make myself a matching apron.  I think everyone knows how great vintage fabric is because I always have such a hard time finding any at thrift stores.  It's almost as if some eBayer has already been there and gotten all the good stuff!

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

I'm totally with you all on this-- I've found some amazing sheets, table clothes and curtains at thrifts. And they come in handy for so many projects (and I'm not even much of a sewer! I'm more of a gluer/stapler-reupholsterer type gal :-)  ) The vintage fabrics are excellent.

Josie-- that bag is marvelous-- I haven't seen anything with that sort of pattern on it!

OtherPeople'sJunk-- I somehow managed to miss seeing your jeans bag before, so I'm glad you reposted. I like the little bit of embroidery that's on the pocket, etc. It really adds to make it extra special.

[ChrisMiss]

Love the bags that y'all have made!  Very creative and useful.  I'm going to keep this in mind.  I'm going to need to make a bag for myself soon to take my shower supplies with me.  I have a bag that I currently use but it's starting to come apart already.  I'd bought it new our first year living in our RV and it's already falling apart.  New stuff just doesn't last!

[Good Buddy]

When I was making cigar box purses in Arizona I used to buy dresses once in a while to cut up and use the fabric to line the insides.
I even found a HUGE section of pink fur that I lines dozens of purses with. The ladies loved that, it was one of the most popular choices

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Ya know, I thrifted some pinky-peach fur that reminded me of something Marilyn Monroe would have-- and now you've got me thinking it might be nice for lining something... A nice decoupaged purse with retro Marilyn-like images on it would be pretty cute.

...Er, I can't believe I'm responding to a purse post by Good Buddy. :-)

[alexandra]

Chrismiss, I carry a bucket with my shower supplies.  I don't bother carrying my clothes to the bath house -- I usually walk right down in my nightgown and robe!  And this week I picked up a new cotton summer robe.  After all, a girl must look her best when traipsing about in her nightclothes for all to see...

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

[Other People s Junk]

OtherPeople'sJunk-- I somehow managed to miss seeing your jeans bag before, so I'm glad you reposted. I like the little bit of embroidery that's on the pocket, etc. It really adds to make it extra special.

I was thinking I had posted about it, since the fabric was thrifted, but I think I just thought about posting it and then never did.  So you didn't miss it!   

I like your Marilyn Monroe idea... I bet it could be really cute.  You could add on some of those stick-on rhinestones, too!  ("Diamonds are a girl's best friend...")

[Good Buddy]

If you need some sourcing for purse hardware or handles, shoot me an e-mail and I'll give you some, sell to the public, wholesale links.

[Cookie]

...Er, I can't believe I'm responding to a purse post by Good Buddy. :-)

It was even weirder telling people that my boyfriend made my purse back when he was selling them in 2001.  Yes, you must make a Marilyn Monroe purse with pink fur and rhinestones.  We'll be waiting right here to see the pictures.