I love going to thrift stores with my DD's. It is like a treasure hunt for me.

I have recently started buying 100% cotton blouses and shirts. I have found some of the prettiest color and pattern combinations. I enjoy cutting them apart and starching and ironing the pieces. I hope to make a scrappy quilt from them as soon as I get a good amount of them. I even tease my DD's that I may even "shop" for cotton blouses in their closets. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Does anyone else love to re-purpose clothes this way? I also am adding to my ever growing button collection at the same time. :mrgreen:

Yes, I have three favorite shops I go to on a regular basis. I have even developed a route through each one. I hit the women's long dresses and skirts first then the men's shirts and if I don't have a large batch by then I cruise past the women's tops. Thrift store shopping is the best.

Yes I am a convert!!!!! I like to make traditional blocks with old fashioned fabrics. It is quite a challenge waiting for the right fabrics to come along but I have several quilts I save for/on the go at once. I iron on a little stiffening on the back if I think the fabric is a little worn just to give it more support. I like my quilts to have that well loved and lived in look right from the beginning! The well washed fabrics are a dream to hand quilt too! I also shop for anything 100% cotton, I try to keep all the same weight fabrics together or I just make a utility quilt with all the odd ball fabrics I have left over, colour is my main focus, so as long as the colours and fabric work together ....bingo. I do not have a stash as such just an ever growing pile of op shop finds to work from but I love the challenge and when I get better at quilting skills I won't mind treating my self to some new fabrics once in a while.

Gal

All the time! There is a Salvation Army near by, and every 2nd Tues. of the month, you can get 5 pieces of clothing for $5.00! I love the wool's & cotton shirts and dresses/skirts! It really is like a treasure hunt, and I look forwards to it!

I do that also, although not as much anymore, since I have 6 very large plastic totes full of scraps. LOL

I am planning on making a quilt for my hubby from mens plaid shirts. Crazy Mom Quilts blog has a perfect manly quilt made from shirts. Shirts at our Salvation Army stores go from $1.00 to $2.00. Tomorrow is half-price day at one of our Salvation Army store and I plan on getting several shirts for his quilt.

Wow! you are all so inspiring. Are there any scrappy quilt pattern you would recommend for a beginner? I think I may shop my own closet for some fabric. I have a horrible habit of spilling things on myself. and I have ruined a lot of my shirts. i wear a lot of cotton. Also my mom's husband is a farmer, and I think he has worn out his share of flannel shirts. Wow! you people are great!

I love the quilts with flannel on one side and blue jeanson the other. They are SO warm!!!!!!! I dont even use batting, just cut squares, same size of each, and put them together. You dont finish the edges, so they unravel a bit.

Carrianne,
Do you make it like a rag quilt?

We have Goodwill pound store (where you purchase by the pound) there have been many times I have bought something there to re-purpose it. Children's clothing do have some really cute prints and fun colors.

tdgiffin-try quiltville.com for all kinds of scrappy quilts.

I look for jeans in the Goodwill stores because they don't make the kind that I like. It's hard to find jeans that are not low riders..............

I just started shopping for mens shirts at the local thrift shop a few weeks ago. Every week they have a tag color of the week -- every item with a certain color tag is $1. Just the back of a mans XXL shirt is almost as much fabric as a FQ. So far I'm finding a lot of dark plaid and stripes - wish I could find more solids and lights. The only part I don't like about taking them apart is removing the breast pocket. I plan to make a rag quilt for my DH when I have enough.

I like buying kids' jeans (usually size 4 or smaller) and making "booty bag" purses with them. It's a blast to decorate them.

I use adult-sized jeans to make denim rag quilts. Boy are they warm! (And HEAVY! LOL!)

hi justwonderif you couldn't leave one or two pockets on as part of the pattern,or pockets for remotes cell fhones etc ? nope this helps,dar

I cut a square a 1 1/2 to 2" around the pocket. I have a pretty full box right now and I'm planning on making a pocket quilt. I'll probably put sashing around each one to make the squares the same size and pull it together with one color. Some have buttons some don't. I think mixing them up will be fun and it will make a nice quilt for any guy.

Making a pocket quilt is a good idea! If the pocket is double stitched to the shirt - I leave it on - too much trouble to remove those!

Save your shirt pockets. I have a friend who saves them for me. I make wallquilts for the kids and sew the shirt pockets on the wall hanging so they can put pen, pencils, erasers, etc in each pocket. I usually have some larger ones at the bottom for address books, and notepads things like that. My oldest GD keeps pictures in the pockets and labels them. She 3 hangin over her bed and is asking for a 4th for this Christmas.

What a wonderful Idea, my DH has about 50 shirts hanging in the hall closet and when I was just on a shop hop I found a cut of fabric that is chalk board. I am planning on making a wall hanging for several DGD's and I could use the pockets to hold chalk & eraser

Great idea. I also have a handfull of women's shirt pockets with girly material. Think I'll make a wall hanging to go next to my sewing machine :thumbup:

How many jeans does it take to make a throw, and how many flannel shirts does it usually take? Do you have to get a special sewing machine needle to use on denim? I will not be able to sew through that with my hands. I have an arthritis problem, and it will aggravate it.Do you ever sew other fabrics to the jeans, or do you just use jeans on the one side?

Also do you use a different kind of thread on jeans? I am sorry to bombard you with this many questions, but I am eager to learn all that I can, and this idea of your intrigues me. It is not easy for me to afford quilting materials right now, and I am looking for all types of ways to be frugal and still be abel to do this and enjoy it. It gives me a positive focus.

Thanks so much!!! :)

I love the salvo's and other op shops they have lengths of material for sale very cheep and often have bundles of scrap pieces for $1 or $2.00 often labeled as craft bundles. that is where I got most of the material for my mums lap quilt also look for matress protectors as they are often quilted and make good batting at a fraction of the cost of batting. and of course dresses skirts and shirts and a wonder land you just nead a little imagination

The thrift shops in my area are having big summer sales.
Selling out for school and summer.
They had racks and racks of 50% off. :lol:

In never thought about cotton dresses! I will add that to things to look for. Thanks for all the wonderful ideas!!

My sister goes after the wool skirts. It is so pretty and a nice cheap way to make a very warm quilt.

Sounds to me like people are getting back to the way quilting was started....... guess that is why I love scrap and crazy quilts... It is taking what is discarted and making something special from it. Happy quilting everyone.

I know. IUtn't tjis awesome? The only vintage quilt I won is my babysitter's old quilt. It is made from her old clothes, and I feel close to her when I look at it. Thanks for all of the wonderful ideas! Our Goddwill wants $3.99 a shirt so maybe they will have a sale sometime, and I can get some cotton. Thanks for the batting idea with the mattress covers - awesome!

I LOVE my thrift shops? I have several that I visit every Tuesday, 25% off for seniors! Love to get my tops and pants, they are already soft! I know they won't shrink any more! Most of the stuff is not cotton, but every so often I make out lie a bandit!

Yikes - $3.99 a shirt? I am sure that you could do much better (cheaper) at garage sales or rummage sales at churches, etc.

HTH

I decided as I was folding laundry this weekend that at least two of my son's shirts will be repurposed into a quilt once he outgrows them.

Cheers, K

Our Goodwill has shirts for $4.76. They use color coded taggies on their clothes and certain colors are half-price. I usually buy shirts that are half price, unless the shirt has a pattern or color I really want. O

You can also use old ties to make quilts, I haven't made one but have seen pictures. I have made Neck Tie Angels from old ties. They are cute!

Oh yes....I bought two shirts and a cotton dress with a full skirt today and spent a whole $1.25!! I look for the largest I can find for the most fabric. I have enough to make a quilt. I love to recycle fabrics!! :-D

Lets see some pictures of those neck tie angels.
Sounds interesting..............

My son is a clothes fanatic, loves shopping and buying, and he takes2 oe 3 bags full to GW two or three times a year. I never thought about keeping them for quilts, and I will now. He only buys all cotton or ,linen, no polyesters!!

We went to several yard sales this weekend and to one thrift shop where I got men's plaid shirts at 3/$1.00 and at the yard sale they were a quarter.

I keep a bag with several shirts and scissors ready to go to work on cutting apart when we are going to be in the car for a while.

Do you have any pictures of things you have made from these clothes?

That is ingenoius! A teacher would love to have one of those too!

I've been doing this for years. Actually, I do better at yard sales - great finds of 30s and 40s cotton clothing fabric, cheaper than thrifts.

Gosh $3.99+ is a lot for a shirt, where I shop $2 for the good ones all others $1 and once a week they have a 50c day on selected items giving everything a turn eventually. There is always a 50c table with all kinds of clothing on it too. I also get fabric scraps and lengths for a few cents, nothing over $2. Some places are much more expensive of course, I just shop around. The place I go to is the Salvos, when I was in Australia (Bunbury)) the Salvos was the dearest place so I did not shop there. I go to garage sales and markets and ask all my friends to save old clothes for me if they are just going to chuck them out!

Gal