Thrifted Fabric Finds and BYWA Bag Designs

So I went to the Jarrett Centre - which is a goodwill-type thrift store in the city about an hour from where I live. I had to take my eldest to the orthodontist and it's just up the street. I found a nice cream colored 100% cotton sheet that I'm going to use as a quilt backing and I also bought a quilted mattress cover to use as batting. You know, the kind that you put on the mattress and holds on with elastics in the corners... anyhow, the mattress cover is also free of any markings and has all of the batting in it - as well as being quilted, it is a light weight fill for the quilt and I think will work perfectly for the Sew Scrappy Quilt I've been working on, in fact, I was tempted to buy a couple more to use for other quilts I'm working on. I'm so excited about using this stuff to make something that will hopefully last for years!

I really like thrifting for supplies. I find that you can re-purpose quite a few things and lower the impact on the environment with just a bit of creativity. I usually find GREAT deals at this place, they sell their bedding, linens and fabric by the pound, so it usually ends up being extremely well priced and the planet loves you for it! Today, apart from the sheet (without a mark on it I will add!) and mattress cover, I bought 11 meters of a lovely red silk-polyester and a 80% wool/ 20% mohair loosely woven fabric in a gorgeous flame-orange-red ombre color. All of that for $12.86. Now that's what I call a deal!


The person who first inspired me to think about thrifting for fabric and re-purposing items in creative ways is my friend Gwen. She lives in Langley, BC and when I first met her she had made a commitment not to buy herself any new clothes for a year, but to make it all herself out of thrifted fabric etc... At the time I didn't know anyone else who was doing this, now it's all over the blogsphere, but she opened my eyes to the possibilities. Since then, she's created Bywa Bag Designs Their motto is Live Creatively : Carry Change. I LOVE that! All of her bags are made of reclaimed fabrics like leather from old jackets, she uses things like leftover laminate flooring underlay from construction sites as interfacing/stiffner for the bags. She is soooo creative and her bags are INCREDIBLE!!! Here is just one example of her bags and a bit of the description;



This gorgeous red leather shoulder bag was made entirely from reclaimed materials, minus the thread of course. The exterior is made from a recycled deep red leather coat. The interior is a vibrant reclaimed red/grey/black patterned fabric. (I like to think these fabrics were from an old forgotten project that has been sitting all sealed up in the back of the closet just waiting to be remembered and made into something fantastic!) The stability of the base was created using reclaimed flooring underlay which also helps create a water resistant base to protect all your belongings.

Check out her website and buy some bags!!!