Question:
Thrift shopping has always been part of my sewing fun. I find
ultrasuede, as well as leather skirts, cheaply priced, and cut them up
for patches, vests and grandbaby
deluxe clothing.
Good buttons are getting harder to find, but I picked up some beauts
today.Bought a mohair blend sweater made by Fenn Wright & Manson,just
for the 6 large black dome-shaped fancy corded buttons.[$3.60].
I also found two nice quality black cotton sweaters, very dressy; one
is heavily embellished with gold beading and colored stones, the other
lavish with gold soutache braid twisted into fancy designs.
Not my style of clothing, but I can visualize either an evening bag, or
very fancy sofa pillows made from them. The work in each is quite ornate
and well-done. Each one was also $3.60.
The racks in this re-sale store were full of bright, fancy
woven-design sweaters.
Some of the knits were too coarse [the
woolens] to make pillows from them.They were bright and eye-catching,
but the comfort level would suffer. I considered cutting some up and
backing them with a stable fabric for fancy pockets for toddler clothes,
and was racking my brain for other ideas,[since said toddler lives in
Florida, cutting the sweaters down and re-sizing would be silly.]
Has anyone got some brillant ideas?
I think the idea of re-making some of them into a serged afghan is not
real feasible, given the size of an afghan and the number of sweaters
required. Plus color co-ordinating might be a problem.
Answer:
-I too believe in Thrift shops or rather Charity shops as we call them in the
UK. They are a great source for sewing items. The below is a list what I
have found to date.
Dressmaker's Dummy, brand new in my size.
Eighteen cones of overlocker threads in various colours also new.
Five tubes of new buttons.
Several brand-new dressmaking patterns.
Eleven pieces of fabric, the smallest being 2 metres long.
Various remnants that have come in useful.
Books galore, several of them well-known and sought after.
Tin of buttons.
Sewing threads.
Mohair yarn for knitting (I hand knit as well).
- I agree - thrift store shopping is like treasure hunting... good,
cheap fun! You can wash wool sweaters in the washing machine with hot water
and soap, even put them in the dryer. When they are shrunk and felted they
can be cut without raveling and are now washable - although I would not give
them the hot water/agitation/dryer routine again for fear that they may
continue shrinking, but they can be gently washed. You don't need to turn
them into boards, just felt enough to prevent raveling but still maintain
some "hand". You can then sew or serge them together for an afghan, stuffed
toys, vests, all kinds of things!
