help me think of some more good "alternatives" for fabric!

I just finished some baby bibs - wanted to use terry, but at the fabric store it was 1. too scratchy and 2. too expensive.  So I went to Big Lots and bought the softest, plushest bath towel I have ever felt - for $5.  I was soooo happy with the results!  Here's a pic from my blog...

http://pleasedaspunch-rh.blogspot.com/2010/01/more-baby-stuff.html

So anyway, this got me thinking...there must be a ton of alternatives to "fabric store fabric" that are a lot less expensive!  Some other things I've used:
a shower curtain (Tar-jay clearance!) for throw pillows & curtains
a painter's canvas dropcloth for my couch slipcover

What else?  I'm feeling creative!!!

Rachel

I bought some cool retro scarves at a garage sale that I plan to use for pillows in my livingroom.  I recently bought a $5 scrub top that I want to cut up and use for a fabric basket like this http://ayumills.blogspot.com/2008/05/tutorial-fabric-basket.html. 
What else?

Blankets, any bedding or curtains in an off-price store or thrift shop can be a lot cheaper than buying yardage for a big project. I made my first couch slipcover out of two $10 blankets.

Check your closets, you may have bedding or clothing that is not being used that could be turned into something else. I've made several tee shirts and even dresses for my kids out of good tee shirts my husband never wore. My mom used to turn her old dresses into dresses for me. They've lasted long enough for my daughter to wear them now. A pair of men's dress pants may have enough material to make a stylish pencil skirt for a woman or two pairs of cute pants for young children.

Thrift store clothing, especially old wool sweaters and dress coats are often very good quality and can be reused as is, embellished, or made into other things. Old prom dresses can easily be transformed into great dress-up dresses for little girls. Wide satiny skirts can be cut up into flags and streamers for castles or race flags, etc.

Old jeans make great bags. Same with cargo pants. You can often reuse the pockets in creative ways.

Remember in the Sound of Music when Maria made the children play clothes out of the old curtains? The sky is the limit!

I completely lucked out recently at Goodwill and found a flannel duvet cover for just $2!!!  The best part is that there's double the fabric of a sheet since it's a duvet cover.  This one has the same print on both sides and I'm planning on making flannel pajama pants and a flannel robe for myself.  If I've got enough (which I think I will), I'll make some pajama bottoms for my girls too.

I also have used a dish towel to make bibs as well as a bath towel.  I found some cute dish towels at Target for $1 that had cute little embroidered designs on them that I kept but just changed it to a bib.  Turned out pretty cute!

Any old clothes that I would donate, I look at before hand to see if I could make anything out of it.  I've never tried to sew sweaters before even though I've seen people on line making hats and such out of them.  I haven't gotten to that yet but that may have to be my next project

Wow, there are some amazing ideas here!

This category is my favorite type of
sewing lately!

I love using old sheets and table cloths.
It seems the ones I have are solid so they
are easily dyed.

Lately I have used some old, heavy linen table
cloths that were stained and worn in a few places.


MARKETBAGS

I was able to make a ton of MARKETBAGS (inspired
by a post I saw here on this site.)

SCARVES

I used another light weight linen and dyed it with
jello-this was fun! I did it with my 12 yr. old niece
who wants to be an artist.


PLACEMATS?

I used a bunch of old tee shirts and cut them into
about one and a half strips of fabric and then knotted
the end when I had to join them together.
I crotched them and it made the prettiest popcorn
looking stitch!

If I made more than one, they would be placemats.
Right now, I have only had enough for one, so it
is more like a large doiley- and it is one of the
most favorite things I've ever made.

VEST
I used some old  scraps we had saved from the arm rest
of my granmothers couch. The tapestry was lovely and
I was so excited to be able to finally do something
with that fabric, which was to pretty to just be sitting
in a drawer-unadmired.

Here are some pics from my blog to inspire!!!

http://elainebarnett.com/?page_id=330


and this is on the jello-dying (fun to do!) project:

http://elainebarnett.com/?page_id=326

Thanks for the ideas!
Elaine

Elaine you are very thrifty and creative.  I love it!  I am going to take an old foam mattress topper, take the foam out and cut it into rectangles,stack 3-4 and bind together somehow.  Then make a pillowcase type covering, sew up all fours sides though of course.  Viola!  A memory foam pillow.

I also made a wallet out of some old place mats too.  Came out really cute; )

Sara,
Thank you!

I love your idea for the wallet and for
the pillows!

I have some foam that I could use. I've
been wondering what to do with it-I'm
going to cut it down to pillow size.

Thanks for the kind words and ideas!!!


:)Elaine

I got a Martha craft email today that suggested making cloth napkins out of old Henleys. I thought that was a fabulous idea!

Another good place to buy this kind of stuff is name brand discount stores. TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Ross, etc. have designer pattern and quality bedding and housewares at really good prices.

Hey Ebenko!
Yes, those are super places to get
some unbelievable finds.

I found some gorgeous placemats that
were way marked down. I used them to
make some very expensive looking
makeup/lingerie bags. I got them at
HomeGoods, but I have also gotten some
amazing things at all those other stores!

They were maybe a dollar or two each and
were sewn in maybe an hour or less. My best
finds are always at the end of the season.

This makes me want to go shopping y'all!!

:)Elaine

some great ideas here!  I'm always checking out the thrift shop for sheets, pillow cases etc like someone else mentioned.  One day I want to go to Ikea too because they have $5 sheets (100% cotton) that would work great for quilting (or so I've heard).

Ooh, 5$ sheets-that could be
great lining material for lots
of projects, as well as being
suitable for sheets!


Thanks for the info- I did not know
that about Ikea!

:)Elaine