Last week we talked about finding fabric for your projects for less money by looking in the remnant bin at fabric stores. That’s pretty standard. You need fabric, you go to a fabric store. But today, it’s all about taking on a new perspective. I want you to start looking at fabric in a whole new way.
What if the next time you are needing fabric, you go to a clothing store instead. But I don’t want something that is already made! I want to make it myself. I thought we were supposed to be creative and make our own stuff. That’s true! But don’t turn away yet.
Say you need a yard of fabric for a dress that you are making for your daughter. You could go to the fabric store and get something from there. Maybe it’s on sale. Maybe not.
Or, you could go to a department store and look at the adult clothing and see what you can find there. I guess you could call this repurposing, but I want you to think about it even more than that. I want you to look at not a shirt or a skirt or a dress, but I want you to look at it like it’s a bolt of fabric. Look at each piece of clothing closely. Do you like the color? the pattern? Is there some kind of embellishment on the piece of clothing that you could incorporate into the dress you are making?
Head to the clearance section. You can get items for even 90% off sometimes. Look in the larger sizes and think about how much fabric you are getting out of it. If you have a pattern, bring in your pieces and see if you could lay them out and fit them on the fabric.
Mom and I took a trip to Kohl’s the other day and did our own fabric search. This is what we found:
White shirt…or maybe a sleep sack. Orange dress…or maybe a curtain for the playroom. Long sleeve patterned shirts…or maybe some cute sundresses.
We spent $26.65 and got approximately 7 yards of cotton interlock fabric. That kind of fabric at a fabric store would have cost $12.99 (not on sale). We saved $64.28! What a deal! We are excited to use these items, and we will post them on some upcoming Transform it Tuesdays.
We found even more items that were either not quite the price we wanted to pay or didn’t have an idea yet for how to use it, so we left them at the store. However, we wanted to share some of the perspective we had when looking at these pieces.
The long maxi style dresses have a lot of fabric. This skirt has a lot of fabric but look at those buttons! A card of buttons alone can easily be a few dollars. Lots of potential in oversized sweaters.
Lace fabric can be pretty pricey. This first pic has lace on top and sweater material on the lining…two in one! This lace dress has a lot fo beautiful lace AND comes with an accessory–the belt!
Next time you are at a clothing store, don’t look at the shirt or dress, look at the fabric! It’s brand new, but could cost less than a yard of fabric at a fabric store or just be a style or pattern that you wouldn’t find there.
Check out all the Let’s Talk Fabric posts:
Today I was checking out a new thrift store that recently opened in my town and was thinking that some of the the curtains, blankets, throws, table cloths and table runners that I saw could easily be repurposed. Some of them looked like they had never been used. Prices ranged from a dollar to maybe ten dollars. I didn’t buy anything at the time, but after reading your blog I just may have to go back and look again.