Sew you have a sewing machine – now the fabric

 

If you’ve read my last post, then you’ll know I’m busy sewing a few additions for my children’s Spring/Summer wardrobes. Drawers are thinned of outgrown clothes and I’m starting to sew.

I love to sew. I love making something unique. It’s my chance to be creative. I do get a bit of a kick from making something wonderful, that would cost much more to buy. I am a self professed fabric and fibre fanatic. Given the chance, I will leave fabric shops with bags of fabric and my head full of good intentions. It is easy to let the costs build up. Like any hobby.

One question I get asked a lot by friends is, whether sewing clothes is really cheaper. Not so much phrased as a question. More of a statement. It’s true. It can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. The price of fabric varies. You can pay £30+ per metre for some fabric, but also £1.50 for others. You can get it free, or for next-to-nothing. The key is to keep your mind open to options.

How much it will cost, depends on what you are making and what you want to use. Like everything, designer fabric is pricey, but there are plenty of cheaper options too. For instance, I picked up a Ralph Lauren curtain fabric for £2 at a charity shop. Two years on I still think it looks fabulous in my bathroom. I was at the right place at the right time and saw the opportunity.

So here are some tips on how to keep your fabric costs down:

Buying

1. Think about your choice of fabric. Last year I bought fabric for a dress. I needed 3 metres. I fell in love with a floral cotton fabric for £5.75 per metre. Further along the aisle, there was a plain cotton version for £2 per metre. One version of the dress would cost me £ 17.25 in fabric. The other version just £6.

2. Check the bargain buckets in fabric shops. Remanants are usually priced at less than they would be, per metre, on the roll. You may not find enough fabric to do a whole outfit, but if you put thought into a clever cutting out layout, you can eek it out. Where you don’t have enough, then by adding other fabric, you can achieve the look you’re after. Maybe by using the other fabric for sleeves, the hem, or bodice.

3. I like buying online. Firstly, I’m less likely to impulse buy. Secondly they often have end of rolls or discontinued range for cut down prices. Usually a metre or two, which is enough for most projects.

4. Go to car boot sales. Not always guaranteed of success, but its amazing what bargains you can find. Ferret through linen boxes too. I’ve found some wonderful tablecloths in the past that can be upcycled. Big boxes of buttons for only a pound or two. Collections of reels of threads that are started, but not finished.  As ever with car boot sales, it is the luck on the day.

(duvet covers upcycled to bean bag covers)

5. Visit charity shops. Look for fabric you like, rather than the whole garment. There is a lot of reusable fabric in an extra large skirt or dress. Double check clothes that were originally cheap as sometimes they are not cut on the grain properly. Leads to less usable fabric.

Also dive into the rails to find garments with interesting trimmings. A lacey border on a terrible top, can be cut off and used to add interest to your  sewing project. Don’t forget to look at the bedlinen section. I bought two duvet covers and made covers for the children’s beanbags, one Christmas.

(Toddler dress becomes girl’s skirt)

For free

6. Ask relations and friends. Get known as the person who sews. My mother hands on a lot of fabric, in one form or another, for me to craft. Often people are only too willing to declutter something from their collection that they will never use. If you talk about sewing, people will think of you next time they have surplus-to-needs fabric.

7. Join your local Freegle. In amongst the dead lawn mowers and oversized shrubs for rehoming, you sometimes find craft fabrics, if you are patient. Also worth putting in a Wanted notice asking for fabric. It is free, but be prepared to pick it up.

Someone, in our local one, put a repeated request for a caravan, for what seemed like a year. I really thought she was on a lost cause. Then one day she got one. Free! A towable caravan in need of a little TLC. Inspiring.

8. Check out your own fabric stash. If you are new to dressmaking, you probably don’t have one of these, yet, but most fabric addicts eventually build up a useful collection of odd bits of fabric. Ranging from several metres to the odd scrap of favourite fabric. Before you go out and buy purple fabric for a skirt, make sure you haven’t already got some in your stash.

(Old trousers of husband become exploring trousers for eldest daughter)

9. Use existing clothes that you no longer need. This is a favourite of mine. If it’s in the recycling bin, its fair game, as far as I’m concerned. I’ve used many of my husband’s old trousers to cut down and make trousers for children. I have dyed old dresses to give them fresh lives. I’ve appliqued tshirts to make them wearable again. My children have all got puffins appliqued on tshirts when I went through a phase two years ago.

(Old trousers of husband become fun trousers for youngest son)

10. Have a swap party. If you have a group of dressmaking friends. Get together and swap the fabrics you no longer want. Everyone has something in their fabric stash that they no longer want. Maybe their children will no longer wear that teddy fabric, but would gladly swap it for a neon orange fleece that your children hate. It’s worth a try.

(Not just for children. This tshirt is husband’s upcycled tshirt)

  Next time, I’ll share some ways to source ready made patterns without costing an arm or a leg.

Last note on second hand fabric. If fabric has been stored for some time, there is a chance that some unwelcome visitors may be cadging a lift. Sometimes these bugs will love your home, multiple and refuse to leave. Before I bring older fabric into the house, I isolate it and air it outside if I can. If that’s not possible, then wrap it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer for a few days. All fabric is then washed. I add white vinegar and either teatree or rosemary essential oil. Maybe its over kill, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. Freshens it up as well.

Over to you. Anyone got any other tips for buying fabric? I’d love to hear.

Joining in with Thrifty Thursday.