Sewing on the Cheap: Estate Sale Finds

Good Morning, Friends!  I hope it is warmer where you are than it is here in Indy.  I may be complaining about the cold for the next six months so please forgive me.

Today I want to talk about how I keep my sewing habit in check money wise.  In case you haven't noticed, this sewing hobby...lifestyle...obsession, can get pretty expensive.

This weekend my husband and I stopped in to an estate sale, about 30 minutes before they were closing up.  I offered $10 for all the sewing stuff on the table, and they happily took that...no haggling.  Here is what I brought home from the sale:

Pre-sort:  Three totes and 2 large boxes.  That is a Zayre bag...who remembers Zayre?

I truly had no idea what I was buying, but at $10 I was willing to take a risk on the whole lot of it.  We did a swoop and scoop and got it all home.  I was sure there was going to be a good bit of quilting fabric and what have you that I wouldn't be interested in, but I knew there was also some decent cuts of fabric, and I would be happy to share my bounty with some ladies I know who quilt for the local children's hospital.

In addition to fabric, there were notions, patterns, electric sheers, a clapper, all sorts of interfacing, two finished dresses, and 15 WIPs.  How sad is that?  Fifteen fully cut out and interfaced projects that just needed some thread.  If they had been my size I would have finished them (there were three great wool skirt and jacket sets cut out), but I am donating them to the local girls club that has a sewing program. 

I ended up with over 60 yards of fashion fabric, not including the interfacing.  Here is some of it sorted (I stopped taking pictures after 40 yards):

Sea foam green double knit, and black wool crepe

Check out that beautiful piece of tartan, and that corduroy!

I am a sucker for seer sucker, and that top piece is silk.

Something warm WILL be made from all that great large wale grey corduroy.

Figuring there was 60 yards of fabric at $10, I paid roughly 17 cents per yard, and got the clapper and electric sheers (don't know if I will actually use these) for free.  The notions, stuffing/filler, and interfacing I am also counting as free.

I donated a black trash bag full of quilting and home decor fabrics (there were over 20 yards of home decor fabric), and a box full of WIPs that I hope will give some young girls some great sewing experience.

I should note that these fabrics were well kept.  No smoke or dustiness, and the wool pieces were 100% moth hole free.  I have skipped on deals before because of smokiness or strange smells, and pet fur.  Please don't think this is an exceptional score either.  I have a hoard collection of vintage zippers in all shapes, sizes, colors and materials that I paid less than a penny for each zipper.  I have more bias tape, hem lace, piping and other notions that were again less than a penny each.  I find great sewing deals at estate sales, garage sales, and thrift shops.  I end up donating a lot of stuff, and I feel good about that, but I also keep some amazing treasures for myself.

So get out there, do some digging, and become a thrifty sewer.

What do you do to keep your sewing spending in check?  Have you ever had a great thrifted sewing find?

Deconstruction of a Skirt

In my last post, I was discussing my current sewing inspiration and a little about how I intend to get to the finished product.  If you missed it, just click here and have a read.

I made mention that I will be using a thrifted leather skirt for the black leather trim on the inspiration piece.  In order to keep this sewing hobby from breaking the bank, I scour the local thrift shops for pieces that can be refashioned or upcycled.  I am a real sucker for leather and suede skirts.  Did you know that the back side of leather is suede and vice versa.  Granted, most suede doesn't have very pretty leather on the back side.  It is usually blemished or it has a weird grain, but occasionally I get lucky and find a real gem that is gorgeous on either side.  I rarely pay more than $2 for any garment I buy at my favorite local thrift store.  If it is more than $2 I try to wait til it goes on 1/2 price color of the week.  I should also mention that I have found some amazing crafting buys at my local thrifts and I will do more postings on some of those finds at a later date.

Back to the leather at hand!  Here are front and back pictures of my skirt before deconstruction:

She really feels like butter!  The fact that she is is a patchwork skirt doesn't bother me, because they are decent size patches, and they are well constructed so I won't even separate them when I need pieces, I will just cut them as is.

My first step in deconstruction was to remove the waistband.  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture at that step.  Deconstruction of garments is something I think everyone who is learning to sew should delve into.  You learn so much about how garments come together when you are taking them apart, and often that experience will help you to understand pattern instructions a little better.

My next step after removing the waistband was to liberate the lining.  I will be holding on to the lining, because it is a decent lining piece, and a thrifty gal always holds on to the bits from a deconstruction.  

Removing the lining...see the suede on the back of the leather?

From the lining I moved on to removing the very heavy duty zipper.  Then I split the seam that ran from the skirt vent to the zipper insertion point.  Now here is what I am left with:

For $1.98 and 30 minutes of my time (I deconstructed while watching It's Sew Easy on PBS) I now have a 56x36 inch piece of leather, an 8 inch heavy duty zipper, and a lining piece the same size as the leather.  I should note that though the waistband is pictured it will be getting pitched.  It was made out of pleather, and that my friends is not a good thing.

Tomorrow I will post sketches and dimensions, and depending on if I have the time to get it done, maybe the final product.  Until then...

My Latest Sewing Inspiration

Do you follow Carolyn over at Diary of a Sewing Fanatic?  Right now she is sewing a tri-colored ponte dress inspired by one she saw on the St. John website.  I am going to be honest with you here in that I have never heard of St. John before.  Where have I been?  I guess I have been drooling over Marina Rinaldi dresses for too long.

When I saw the dress that inspired Carolyn I had to go check out the rest of the collection from St. John.  I was especially smitten with St. John's Leather Channel collection.  So without further ado, here is the piece that has inspired me (click on the picture to head over to Nordstroms, with whom I have no affiliation, and have a better look):

Photo from www.nordstrom.com

I have a cobalt ponte in my stash that is screaming to be made in to this "Leather Border Milano Knit Wrap".  I thrifted a beautiful long black leather skirt a few weeks back for $1.98, but in a size 10 there was no way I was going to be wearing the skirt.  It's butter soft leather is destined to trim quite a few projects this Fall, starting with this beauty.

This will be a self drafted pattern as it is basically a big rectangle, with a smaller rectangle cut out for the neck opening.  I will post details once I get her made.  I suspect it will be a quick project and I am really excited to get my Necchi machine out for sewing the leather, because she doesn't get nearly enough love.

BTW - I call my Necchi machine Ne Ne.  She is a hard worker that is her best when her back is up against the wall, but she can be a real biotch when she wants.  She's got attitude, and if she doesn't like what I am sewing she will let me know by throwing a fit.  She love, Love, LOVES leather though!

More details to come!!