On Friday I went into Home Depot to get some heavy metal washers to use as pattern weights. On my way out there was a big display box of "curtains in a box" on clearance for $5 each. I went to take a lookie as my kids rooms could use some curtains. They had these awful polyester polka dotted ones and then these 100% cotton white ones with either a black strip at the top or a purple one. I bought three sets and happily made my way out of the store very pleased with my purchases.
When I was putting them in my car I opened one up to see and feel the fabric because a funny idea was developing in my head. Each box had two curtains each 42"x84" long. Quick math showed me that each box would yield me nearly 5 yards of 100% cotton fabric most of which was white and most probably would dye really well. I went back for the rest of what they had..... This morning I separated the black and white fabric from one set and the white is in the washing machine right now. It feels like a really nice not too heavy bottomweight cotton.
I'm pretty sure it comes out the way I think and hope it will. I'll leave it white for now but when I have a project to make I'll first cut out the pattern pieces then dye them to whatever color I want and then sew it together. I probably should make a practice run, maybe this week? :)If you are interested in dyeing or in some great white cotton for $1 a yard run to your home depot before they sell out! They are not getting them back in again and there's not much left. Oh you can buy them too if you just need some nice curtains LOL.
Also I trace all my patterns and have been using Kwik Sew/ Kwik Trace dotted pattern fabric. I love it. You can use it to drape, you can iron and wash it and it holds up so much better than pattern tissue paper. Well...... I'm almost out. I didn't really feel like spending 7.99 plus shipping on only 5 yards of it and besides I don't need the dots anyway so I started brainstorming for a cheaper option. The fabric is very much like light sew-in interfacing so I looked into buying some of that but it's pretty much the same price or more. Then I stumbled across this on eBay.
Two giant rolls of toilet paper!!!!....no just kidding ;)
Its sew in interfacing. I emailed the seller to ask her if she thinks this is stable enough to use as pattern fabric and she emailed me that she's used it for that as well as stabilizer for appliques and embroidery. The roll is 6.25"x125 yards. I bought both rolls she had and it worked out to an equivalent of 40 yards of the one I've been using. and the price including shipping was 20 and change making it about 50 cents a yard as opposed to almost 2 dollars a yard for the other stuff.!This is especially perfect for making the kids patterns as they are not huge pieces to begin with. I can just cut a few pieces in the length I need and sew them one on top of each other to make a sheet the size I need. It will also cut out a lot of waste.
Happy sewing!
Two amazing finds!! I love the curtains (they're hanging in my girls' room now!
ReplyDeleteHome Depot carries "soil separator cloth" which works really well for tracing patterns. http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xgl/R-100154781/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
ReplyDeleteIt was hard to find in my store, they had the rolls upended in a box right in front of the large drainage pipe display. At $.30 for a yard it's the cheapest thing I've found and the roll will last you quite a while.
The curtains are a great idea too!
Oh cool Thanks for that great idea!
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