wraez

I am all for repurposing fabrics etc, from jeans, skirts, and t-shirts to men's shirts.

If I find ugly or thin fabric that I wouldn't use for a quilt top or back, I WILL use it as a foundation (instead of paper) for string blocks.

I also have a few mattress pad covers that are in great condition but the material that is supposed to stretch down under the mattress tore and I am not into repairing it. I plan on using the mattress cover part as batt.

Grace MooreLinker

I use sheets all the time they work well. I use them for linning, bindings and in the patterns if they have what I need at the time. thrift and goodwill stores I can find new
ones very cheap. used one if near new ;always put them in the laundry before they enter the inside of the house. washer/drier are in my garage..

thomp116

I use the thin stuff for string quilts, too, and always check out the thrift store for men's 100% cotton shirts (plaids)and fabric. The other day, I got 6 unused homemade pillowcases and a panel for $1.00! The pillowcases are made from quilt store quality fabric! Also bought 3 men's shirts (very large, so lots of fabric) and a Singer 3314 (needs a few parts - new foot, spool holder, button for reverse knob), but sews really well. Total cost: $12.36!

Rhaorth

Nice to know I am not alone :)

(at this point I am not making quilts to sell, and even if I was, I don't see a problem with using material from a thrift store, as long as the material is not obviously worn out)

These pieces are like new... some are new.. (as in never used, such as the panels and non sheet fabric pieces)

Wish I knew how to test fabric, so I could determine if the ones that did not have labels are 100% cotton

Rhaorth

oh and I saw sewing machines with cabinets, but sadly the cabinets were not in good condition :(

miriam

If you want to get cotton and no poly, crease the fabric with your fingernail. If it stays creased, it is probably cotton. A few cottons won't stay creased. You can also do a 'burn' test. Burn a scrap of the fabric. If it melts it is synthetic. If it burns it is natural. Wool leaves an ash you can crush - synthetic leaves a solid bead. be careful. If you read the tags enough you will learn to tell the differences in the fabrics by feel most of the time.

I gotta tell you all... I used to do a lot of burn testing. So someone gave my DS (9YsO) a cannon fuse. You guessed it, one day I smelled something so I asked him if he smelled something. No, he didn't. Well, I DID. I started checking around. He had tried to burn test the cannon fuse... He couldn't get it to go out so he finally threw it in the toilet... but not before he left a trail of burn places in the carpet. So even if they aren't small, don't let the kidos see it.

You bet I re-purpose. Been at it for years. I love to re purpose blue jeans into bags, skirts, quilts, what ever. When my daughter was little we didn't have much money so I got a pair of holey pants for a dime and sewed kittens - looked like they were climbing all over the legs and covered the holes. Then I got sweat shirt for a quarter and sewed more kittens on it. She was a hit. I have done the same for the grand daughters with hearts on theirs. Good way to reinforce the knees.

We do historical camping, I used to make a lot of stuff out of old linen table cloths before they got popular and hard to find or too expensive. I used a cotton shower curtain to make a shirt once too. When you can find a pair of linen curtains for a couple bucks - it's a lot of material - why not. Linen is comfy to wear.

Sheets have a LOT of material for the money but some of them have funny texture don't they?

Suzi

I L-O-V-E shopping the GoodyStores .............

Debbie C

I go to the thrift store for old, well broken in flannel shirts. I make quilts/throws out of them. The folks they go to really appreciate them.

Judith1005

how exciting, good luck with the job. :-)

butterjoy

I recycle everything that is fabric. Shirts, jeans, sheets, blankets, everything I can because I cannot afford to buy pretty fabrics. You have heard the saying "beggars cannot be choosers" well, that is me. :)