University salvage is a treasure trove for those with well-trained "what-can-I-do-with-these? eyes!" (In this case...my husband!) He called me today from work asking if we could use some sheets. "Sure," I said. Sheets do come in very handy, even if you don't use them for bedding. What I found, however, when we opened the huge bags, were not sheets, but tablecloths! Now, they are not in perfect condition...hence their presence at salvage. Most have small holes, stains, rips or tears...but all are usable in some form.
Because I'm a seamstress at heart, I always think in terms of "price per yard." Fabrics come in differing widths, and is purchased in linear yards or fractions of yards. So, one yard of fabric is a piece of fabric 36" long, by whatever the given width is. For example, 45" and 60" are common fabric widths. But there are many more, depending on the type of fabric.
For the sake of calculations, I took the sizes of tablecloths and converted them into widths of 54"...a common width of home decorating fabric.
OK...here's the fun part.
The bags contained the following:
54"x54" tablecloths...quantity 8,
54"x120" tablecloths...quantity 17,
90"x90" tablecloths...quantity 21.
Converting the "fabric" contained in the tablecloths to 54" wide fabric yields a whopping 173 yards of fabric!
My husband paid $5.00 for this haul. If my math is correct, that means that he paid $o.o3/yard. Pretty good, I'd say...actually only FREE would be better.
Not all the material is usable...but a quick look-over of all the articles yielded many pieces that will be suitable as tablecloths, after some holey or ripped areas are removed, and the edges re-hemmed. The other ones will be used in various ways...to be determined as ideas come to mind. Some initial thoughts are nighties for me and Camryn, cloth napkins, the really bad ones will become drop-cloths for our new building project, summer dresses embellished with different trims, totebags...any other ideas?
I thought it would be fun to document all the uses I find for this stash, so I will post projects as they are completed. How far can I stretch $5? I'll keep you posted.
Added: There were actually 6 other tablecloths in the bags...4 very large oval ones and 2 large round ones...they are heavier polyester and I'm not sure what I'll do with them...perhaps cut off the bad spots and use them as intended.
3 comments:
you could always get some dye and then you'd have other colors...our favorite for gigantice pieces of cloth...a tent
Mom-ster...I thought about that, too...the only thing is that they're cotton/poly blends...not sure how they would dye, but certainly worth a try!
this is so IRONIC because I was planning a post on this very subject (how to get frugal fabric). You will be VERY busy!
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