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You have a wonderful goodwill up there, that sells by the pound.
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Originally Posted by 3NorwichTerr
I visit Salvation Army to find all the differnt colored 100% cotton denim and some blue that I can find at the right price. Our SA prices pants and shirts from $1.99 to $5.99. Each week a different colored tag is 50% and 75% off. I also started looking for nice flannel shirts. I cut them up and make rag blankets with them. I think the denim from jeans has a lot more character than the new stuff. More and more they jeans have spandex in them so finding the colored stuff that is 100% cotton is a little harder than it used to be. I made my SIL a quilt of all colors of purple denim and have done several red, white and blue with applique stars. Does take awhile to cut them apart.
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I was at the local thrift store today and bought a Ralph Lauren wool skirt for the bottom of a country bucket I'm making and I also bought three wool sweaters and felted them when I got home so I can turn the sweaters into wool mittens. I spent $14.00 and I'll have left over wool from the skirt and enough wool for at least six pair of fleece lined wool mittens.
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Originally Posted by G-MaDiane
I was at the local thrift store today and bought a Ralph Lauren wool skirt for the bottom of a country bucket I'm making and I also bought three wool sweaters and felted them when I got home so I can turn the sweaters into wool mittens. I spent $14.00 and I'll have left over wool from the skirt and enough wool for at least six pair of fleece lined wool mittens.
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I don't really repurpose.
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I re purpose I believe in waste not want not :D
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I have made several denim quilts out of old jeans. some of them did have spandex in them but the quilts turned out wonderful. they are a huge hit with the teens!
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I used to freq the goodwill/trift shops for this very purpose.. but now , taht I have moved to MN.. they are expensive.. many shirts are $5 and up and dresses start at $10.00.....
I've made many quilts from womens 3x gathered skirts.... gues those days are gone unless I can get back to TX to shop... |
Love this as I do recycle clothing. I just cut up some shirts and some pants. I may use the tip on making the braided rugs. My husband used to make crocheted rugs from mens pant and ladies skirts. They were nice and warm on cold floors. We all may have to do some of the repurposeing before they do something worse than making the material so high so hardly anyone can afford it.
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same about prices here at Goodwill and Salvation Army. Difficult to find prices that we would consider to be real bargains.
One possible source is the local quilt shop. One near me has a closet where people bring their surplus fabric. Some can be real good while other fabric is not desirable for quilting. However, can be sorted. For instance one of the Churches get the dress fabric and make clothing for overseas. Some drapery fabric which is going to local shelter for curtains. It takes some sorting and maintance. but Check the local quilt shops. |
There is one source that I know of but the fabric might not be what one is looking for. There is a factory down in the upper part of Alabama. Name of the company is Hise (I believe) They have cuttings from medeical clothing, mostly scrubs. Lots of prints and colors. Last time I bought it was about 50 cents a pound and the pieces were suitable for quilting. Smallest was about 4" square and then strips. You can search on the net and locate them. They are in north east Alabama and do ship.
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What great ideas I had not used any of these things yet but I will now. Thanks for the tips.
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Originally Posted by jaciqltznok
Here is my #1 tip on buying shirts, if it has NO label, so not buy it, no matter how good you are at knowing fabric, feeling it alone is no guarantee that it is cotton.
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Thanks for all the ideas. I hardly go to our GW, its a new one and its expensive, but we have a small thrift store here, where I find all kinds of quilting magazines, and sometimes books. I love rummage sales for the clothes, cant wait for Summer to get here.
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I rarely go to our SA and we have no GW, but yesterday I went to the SA to check their prices. We have 2 privately owned thrift stores and one of them has done away with their bargain area. They used to take the oldest stuff and for the final discount (goes down each week) they would put them at $.25,,they stopped that...and their NEW prices are nearly double what they used to be. Seriously a 1970's style wool plaid skirt for $11.00???? They need a wake up call!
Anyway, the SA prices were also crazy! cotton shirts were at $5.00! Sweaters were at $5.00, jeans were $8.00! It is no wonder peeople around here are chomping at the bit waiting for warm weather and yard sales! Man..we are a rural community with a vast majority of low income families... OH, and furniture...brings in stupid USED prices... |
jaciqltznok, I love to repurpose also. What are your garden planting pots? I'm looking for ideas for our District Garden Club Convention to use for favors and/or table decorations. These sound interesting.
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Originally Posted by ejudy
jaciqltznok, I love to repurpose also. What are your garden planting pots? I'm looking for ideas for our District Garden Club Convention to use for favors and/or table decorations. These sound interesting.
I am taking denim skirts, using fabric selvages to tie up the bottom to make it more round, and will be planting potatoes in them! I figure if you can container garden potatoes, why can't the container be out of recycled item that is easy to clean out and store at the end of the season? |
I bought holiday scrub tops from a thrift store to make scarves for the dogs in the human society does that count?
I am not a scrappy quilt person , I love them, just don't like making them. |
Originally Posted by damaquilts
I bought holiday scrub tops from a thrift store to make scarves for the dogs in the human society does that count?
I am not a scrappy quilt person , I love them, just don't like making them. Great idea by the way! |
The people who lived through the depression and WW2 could tell us alot about re-purposing! My mother's favorite phrase was" make do".
I would love to see a tute. on making rugs. :) |
Originally Posted by jaciqltznok
Do you repurpose fabrics from clothing?
There has been a lot of discussion lately about the cost of fabric going up while the quality is going down. Here are some of the things I use fabrics from the local thrift stores for. I often only pay $.23 per item. I buy the man's all cotton shirts for quilts, woman's usually have spandex and too many darts to be of any real value. Out of the man's 3x long sleeve shirt you get over 1 yard of usable fabric. The cuffs, collar, pockets and yoke get donated to Girl scouts for crafting. Here is my #1 tip on buying shirts, if it has NO label, so not buy it, no matter how good you are at knowing fabric, feeling it alone is no guarantee that it is cotton. My #2 tip is this, the lighter the color, the more polyester it will have! Fact of life, lighter is harder to keep to clean so it has to be more durable..hence polyester. I only buy 100% cotton for quilting, but if it is really a neat print I might use it for a craft item! I buy the wool slacks and skirts to cut into strips that are used to make woven/braided rugs, wool blazers get felted and cut into sizes to make craft items to sell, wool blankets make batting. When the items have cool buttons they get sold and or collected, the everyday buttons get donated back to the thrift store as they also have a shelter and use the buttons when they to replace some on clothing given away. I buy silks that get cut up and then I save some for myself, swap some, and the rest are sold in scrap bags at crazy quilt shows! Denim skirts and jumpers are being used to make garden planting pots, jeans get made into shopping bags. They all have a RE-purpose! |
I've made what I call "back door" rugs out of denim. Some of my denim is stained (ie manure/grease stains), these I cut into squares and make a rug like one would make a rag quilt, but 2 layers of denim. To avoid intersecting seams, stagger the rows starting with a rectangle unit. Number of squares needed depends on how big the squares are and how big the rug is to be. A 3 x 5 foot one works great on my mud room floor. This time of year the snit melts on the rug not my floor. Then I throw the dirty rug into the washer with DH's dirty jeans. I have to watch these though as they have been known to dry off a newborn calf, grace a wet tractor seat, etc!
We also use cloth towels to clean cows teats before milking. Old sweatshirts, t-shirts, and sox work great for this task and last through many washings of hot water and bleach! |
Thank you for sharing your tips. You have provided some very useful information.
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Originally Posted by oksewglad
I've made what I call "back door" rugs out of denim. Some of my denim is stained (ie manure/grease stains), these I cut into squares and make a rug like one would make a rag quilt, but 2 layers of denim. To avoid intersecting seams, stagger the rows starting with a rectangle unit. Number of squares needed depends on how big the squares are and how big the rug is to be. A 3 x 5 foot one works great on my mud room floor. This time of year the snit melts on the rug not my floor. Then I throw the dirty rug into the washer with DH's dirty jeans. I have to watch these though as they have been known to dry off a newborn calf, grace a wet tractor seat, etc!
We also use cloth towels to clean cows teats before milking. Old sweatshirts, t-shirts, and sox work great for this task and last through many washings of hot water and bleach! |
In any way, shape or form; fabric is fabric. I love re-purposing.
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