I love thrifting, though I haven’t been in quite a while. One needs a keen eye to cut through the clutter and find those diamonds in the rough. My mind needs to be in creative-mode to be able to envision the reinvented polished piece instead of simply seeing the wrinkled, slightly stained, pile of fabric tossed before me. Fewer kids in my cart basket helps keep me in that creative-mode.

Maybe thrifting was bred into me. I remember many childhood afternoons wandering the cluttered aisles of dusty, musty ”antiques.” It was so boring. I think I was into new and shiny back then. My parents wandered to and fro, searching each shop for that gem waiting to be discovered. Occasionally, they’d make a purchase, lug it home to be dusted off, refinished, and placed in that special corner of our rather eclectic home. I mean, were else but a mostly forgotten antique shop would you find a wooden toilet seat to adorn the walls of my parent’s home?

Antiques in these parts of Virginia are “real”, thrift stores many times give you the same feeling that you are hunting for a hidden treasure. As an adult living in the suburbs, I’ve found thrift stores are one of the best places to purchase fabrics for making items for the home. This blue and taupe striped cotton fabric was a curtain in a former life. I needed dish towels and this pattern looked homey enough. This fabric is the perfect weight to be draped over bread rising in the oven, cover pastry dough, and dry off dishes.

I cut rectangles, folded the edges and folded them again to sew a large finished edge; and presto, some ultra cheap kitchen towels.

A couple of pointers about this project…

*If you were to make your own dish towels, search for linen or cotton fabrics. Look at the tag to check the fiber content. When in doubt, scrunch the fabric in your hand. If it wrinkles, it is a natural fiber. If it flattens out, it is likely a synthetic polyester.

*Be aware of the colors of your home decor. Don’t simply pick up that fabric because it is a good price. Buy it because you would love to see it hanging in your home.

*To create repurposed dishtowels, stick to curtains, table cloths, and perhaps think blankets. There is a lot of fabric yardage per the price.

*Sew on a loop to one corner, or use a grommet, to hang your dish towel creation.

*Always, always, always launder your fabrics well as soon as you bring them into your home.

This project should only take a couple of hours to complete. It took me six months because…well, I was pregnant and had a baby, and because usually you can’t clothe a baby in a dish towel.

P/S

That biscuit is not a gluten free biscuit, so don’t ask. Pillsbury has got the recipe and it was for a family who just had a baby and we were bringing them dinner. But my kiddos got to it first. And yes, the fabric was laundered clean before the biscuit was placed there.