Creative Fabrics & Notions
Fabric and quilt
stores are not the only places to find really nice, high quality fabrics,
handbag hardware, and sewing notions. Garage
sales, estate sales and thrift shops are are a girl’s best budget friend. Here is a short list of things you can find:
Old
or Broken and Outdated Purses, Handbags and Gym Bags
What to look
for: good hardware that you can take
apart and reuse, straps, reusable snaps, decorative pieces, zipper pulls,
zippers, canvas for linings, good bag linings that can be reused, leather or
faux leather pockets.
There is usually
enough leather on a large man’s jacket to make a nice purse, tote, or bag. Carefully cut off any sewn areas and salvage
large pieces of the leather and the lining.
Also, save the buttons, and zippers if there are any zippers.
Linens
(Sheets, Pillowcases)
Use for linings, baby clothes
(Christening gowns), gift bags, and any other project that calls for a delicate
fabric. Look for lacy or handworked or
machine embroidery pieces to sew special gifts.
Outdated Wedding Dresses
Use for charity
projects, such as making burial gowns for infants, create beautiful bridal
bags, reuse beading and tulle, strip the lace for projects, and use for bag
linings. You can also make special
bridal pillowcases for the bride to use
the night before her wedding day (silk pillowcases keep your hair nice and
neat!) or a gift for a friend in the hospital.
Tablecloths
Rather than purchasing
oilcloth (which is a plastic coated fabric used for lunch totes, lunch tote
linings, etc.), pick these up for pennies!
They are usually large enough to cover a large dining room table, so
there is a lot of fabric in one large piece.
Curtains
High quality
curtains (especially) custom made curtains, can be cut up and unhemmed with
plenty of fine materials for creating nice bags, pillows, smaller curtains, or
cushion covers. Don’t overlook the
outdated prints, because those can be used as linings or making “fittings” (a
practice run on a project you intend to make with some expensive store fabrics).
Old Uniforms
Lots of uniforms
come with decorative pins, hardware, and fobs that can be taken apart and used on
other projects. Old military uniforms
make beautiful and sturdy duffle bags, travel bags, and purses. This type of canvas lasts many years. Make sure that if you are using military
wear, remove ALL stripes, pins, badges, etc. out of respect to the person who
owned the uniform. Also remove any
identification of the branch of service—what you want is the fabric—not the
identity (please be respectful).
Old Sweaters
Make your special
pooch a warm sweater using old (people) sweaters. Free patterns can be found online. Be careful about particular sweaters that
have a high tendency to ravel. You can
also cut these up and hand “knit” them together with a needle and thread to
make patchwork blankets. (I may have to
make one of these myself!)
Fleece Blankets/Old Quilts
Use these
(instead of batting) to make baby quilts.
Make sure you have them cleaned well and that they are in reasonably
good condition.
Old/Outdated Clothing
What to look
for: nice buttons, zippers in good
condition, reusable pockets, nice trim, etc.
Prom Dresses/Bridal Wear
Cut up and use
for linings for all types of bags.
Either silk, brocade or polyester works great for linings. These items also make beautiful remade bridal
bags using metal bag frames. Reuse any
decorative accents on these dresses, also, such as beading, zippers, rosettes,
etc. Here is a link with a beautiful
metal frame bag:
Decorator Fabric/Decorator
Swatches/Decorator Placemats
Decorator fabric
is a heavy duty fabric such as that used on upholstered furniture and
pillows. Swatches come in large pieces
and are sometimes freebies. These can be used for bags, and metal frame
clutches as well.
Jewelry Finds (broken and not broken)
Jewelry and
trinkets can be used for pretty zipper pulls for cosmetic bag zippers, jacket
zippers, etc. Here’s a great link to
show you how to use jump rings, tools and jewelry finds to create beautiful and
decorative detail to your sewing projects:
Be creative!
If you have some
great ideas about fabric and notion finds, please email me at beaserbags@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.
