I started my upcycling quest with fabric I had laying around - old clothes, socks with holes and linens from my parents house. Then I made my first ask on the neighborhood sell/barter/trade Facebook page. At that point, I was looking for some fabric to make colorful patches to use in mending. wo neighbors obliged with a couple bags of scraps.
I had wanted to make a braided rug for decades and sometime last winter I decided to host a fundraiser for Saint Paul Youth Services. The plan was to have a house party in May 2020 where I "sold" things that I had to made to encourage zero waste practices and to support this racial justice organization. In order to purchase supplies for both projects, I went to a Goodwill Outlet to buy t-shirts to cut into strips for the rug and fabric to make bags for zero waste kits to take to the coffee shop or restaurant.
I made several kits with thrifted silverware and a mason jar mag. Of course I never hosted that fundraiser and you can't bring your own mug most places nowadays so those kits are sitting there until we are all vaccinated.
Then I started looking on Facebook Marketplace for fabric that people were selling, I bought a lot of upholstery fabric pieces. Now my neighbors are offering me fabric without my asking. I have taken some like some like some old jeans and have had to turn down some offers.
I received the mother lode of all fabric lots a few weeks ago. Many of the Goodwill organizations in the United States offer items through online auctions. I bid on a few fabric lots, but I was always outbid. then of course I bid something like $35 on a 38-pound lot of patterned fabric and I was the high bidder. A few weeks later the box arrived.
The above my picture is my guest room right now. It is going to take me awhile to use all that fabric!
