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.

a little bit of thrifting, some picked by me, and some treasures collected by Sydney (an avid thrifter in the making.)

another thrifting find, Come Follow Me by Gyo Fujikawa who is one of my favorite child book authors. (The Oh, What a Busy Day was given to us by Ammy.)

A little bit of upside down.

A make-shift garage which doubles as a letter desk organizer…

Gluten-free yummy blueberry muffins, with sugar on top…

An ominous January sky…though on a 56 degree day.

Gratitude for a hint of warm weather in the middle of winter.

And wonderful mud puddles for jumping in.

That is January here at home.

I began reading about various sewing projects a bit back, and found the idea of working with simply natural fibers very appealing. We tend to consume so much that is manufactured, produced, and synthesized these days that I feel I have lost touch with “real, natural, and pure.” So, I started felting wool sweaters for my sewing projects.

I find sweaters to recycle primarily at thrift shops in my area. Go on the Internet and Google “thrift store” and your locality. I frequent 4 stores near me. Each thrift store has “sale days”. On Monday’s I get 25% off my order at one store, and on the fourth Wednesday of every month, sweaters are $1 each at another store I love. So, go on sale days…it makes every project cheaper. Oh…and go early…sometimes I arrive 5 minutes before opening only to find a line of customers waiting outside!

I head straight for the men’s sweaters first. XXL size. You can reclaim the largest fabric pieces from these large garments. Pull-overs are best, and remember cardigans give you smaller pieces. Select sweaters that are 90%+ wool, are relatively hole-free (or at least have only holes you can “work around”) and are stain-free. Sweaters that are less than 90% wool will not felt as well in the wash. Too many holes is a sign of moths and you don’t want to be bringing these into your home. The stains, well, if they are there, they are probably going to stay there. If you can applique over them, or cut them out, buy it.

Secondly, I head over to the woman’s sweater section. I usually find more cashmere here and more varied vibrant colors. Cashmere, I am told, doesn’t technically felt, but it does shrink and fluff-up very nicely in the washing machine. Woman’s sweaters are usually more expensive, and smaller, so select your fabrics budget-wisely. I like to use one nice bright color to accent a darker grey-black piece. The bright read sweater may have cost $6 where as the other three grey-black XXL sweaters may have cost $2.50 each. All together, it turns out to be a very spend-thrift blanket/throw project.

* * * Thrifty recycling and budget-friendly sewing…I love it! * * *

Other places to find sweaters:

• Your grandmother’s attic…or your closet.
• Your friend’s closet. I tell everyone I am sewing recycled sweaters and that I want theirs…but somehow I don’t seem to know too many people with cashmere they are bent on getting rid of…
• Yard sales, consignment stores, church sales.

Do you have other secret places you thrift?

Next up….a sweater felting tutorial (for those of you out there that want to start sewing your newly thrifted stash asap.) Keep organizing, and keep creatively crafting.