CHARITY SHOP HAUL
OK, I know I said I was going to use up my stash before buying any more… Hmmm. Guilty as charged. I bought some more.
Last Thursday we had an appointment in Newton Abbot in the early afternoon and decided to make a day of it, combining the appointment with lunch out and some shopping. It is so rare that I get the opportunity to go shopping and Newton Abbot is a lovely little town for shopping – everything is well laid out and accessible and none of the distances are too far, and there are some interesting shops too. On this occasion my focus was charity shops and in the end I visited only three, making the bulk of my purchases in the first one which was an animal shelter one, and which was full of brilliant stuff.
There were three people working there – an older man and lady, and a young lady, all of whom were quite charming. When the man saw my baggie (Bonnie Baggie No. 2) he called the others to see it and they also saw Bonnie Baggie No. 1 and were equally delighted, which was very nice and encouraging for me. I told them I was in for things to cut up and upcycle. The young lady turned out to be a cat person so we exchanged photos of our kitties and had a lovely chat with all the staff in the shop.
The joys of charity shop shopping
I was mainly looking for interesting fabrics, trims and lace, and I wasn’t disappointed. I got a lot of bang for my bucks. With the exception of the coat which was £20, nearly everthing else was under £5. If you think about the yardage of material and the trims, buying new would have cost a fortune.
What I love about charity shops is that you not only get incredible bargains, but also you never know what you are going to find – unlike regular shops where there are racks of identical garments. In addition, you are supporting a good cause by purchasing from the charity shops.
Clothing
Here are the articles of clothing I bought. In the past I’ve overlooked anything I couldn’t see myself wearing, or which was not in my size, but I have expanded my horizons now and look at things as being raw materials suitable for altering, dissassembling and upcycling. I bought quite a few things that were not in my size, and even if they were, I wouldn’t be seen dead in them!
The most expensive item was this full-length man’s leather coat which looked as if it had never been worn. At £20, for what it is, it was a bargain. It will yield quite a lot of quite large individual pieces of leather, trims, cords, and a gorgeous gold-coloured lining, and even some (albeit rather thin) quilting wadding.
This white lacy top is the only thing I thought I might add to my wardrobe. I shall probably add more lace to it and alter it a bit. The sleeves are much too long on me (I have rather short arms) and I think they would be better at three-quarter length. I may remove the lace and use it either differently on this top, or on something else. This top is made of some soft crepy material and it fits me well, apart from the length of the sleeves.
The lace is very pretty.
The first of several lacy tops in different colours. There is a lot of lace n these, which can be used in larger pieces, or cut into individual motifs.
This green one is not lined. The ribbed neckand and cuffs are rather stretched and worn but the bottom band isn’t too bad and could possibly be used. I bought these lacy tops just for the lace as I wouldn’t be able to wear them even if I wanted to.
I think this red lace garment is called a teddy – I wouldn’t know because I’d never wear such a thing! (Quite apart from the fact that it is about half my size!!). Lots of nice red lace, though.
I bought a couple of synthetic tops – I didn’t much like the feel of the material for wearing, but the patterns and/or embellishments were great for upcycling. This one in particular is lovely – huge on me so I wouldn’t wear it, and anyway, it’s not my best colour for clothing. The background pattern has a hand-dyed look and the geometric print is fabulous. The front panel is embellished with sparkly bits. There is plenty more of this pattern around the hem and on the back.
The other synthetic top is pretty horrible actually, but the front neck embellishment is very sparkly and silver. I may use this embellishment as-is, or take it apart as it’s a good source of both sequins and beads. The photo makes the embellishment look really dull but in real life it is very shiny. The fabric is horrible en-mass and rather slimy, but cut up and applique’d it may not be so bad. I really bought it for the embellishment, anyway, so I’m not so bothered about the rest. It is another one that is huge on me, even if I did want to wear it, which I certanly don’t! Fabric like this can be quite useful cut into narrow strips and stretched, which makes it curl at the edges. It can then be used in fringes and tassels, and the different blocks of colour in this could be quite interesting, I think.
These two men’s shirts are made of fine pure cotton which feels fabulous. They look unworn. Each was under £5. The fabric will be great for lining bags or for album covers. They co-ordinate quite well together and the bottom one will certainly co-ordinate with the ticking that I bought a little while ago.
These two pierced leather belts, at just over £1 each, will make nice handles. The top one has a very pretty pierced pattern and the bottom, dark one, is pierced with hearts. They have good buckles on them.
Washing the pieces
Everything sold in British charity shops is washed and clean, but the trouble is, they are usually washed in horrible detergent which really stinks. I have mild chemical sensitivity with my ME and I can’t stand the smell of many synthetic perfumes and try to avoid household products with these in them. My hubby has a sensitive skin and can have an allergic reaction to certain detergents so we always use ones that are as natural (and biodegradable) as possible – this was also esssential where we used to live, which was not on mains drainage but had a septic tank and you had to be very careful what you put down the drain. The garments I bought (with the exception of the leather coat and the non-clothing items which are new, or virtually new) all smelt horrible. I washed them out and hung them on the airer but they still stank, so I hung them outside for a day. This certainly helped a bit but the two synthetic tops and a couple of the lacy ones still smelt of the stuff so I’ve washed everything again and hung it out. The smell has mostly gone now but it lingers in those two synthetic tops, unfortunately, so they will need at least another wash.
Household linens
I was hoping to find another large lace table cloth but without success. I do have one to be going on with so I don’t mind too much. They also didn’t have any crochet doilies, which are very useful for lace embellishing.
This bedding set was very cheap with loads of lace on it. I haven’t unfolded it yet to see how large the duvet cover is, but it feels pretty big. There are two pillowcases and everthing is trimmed with wide lace. The edges of the lace are a bit worn in places. There is plenty of fabric here for lining or backing things. I may remove the lace from the pillowcases and use them as they are, as some of ours are rather worn now.
The young lady in the shop had recently got married, and she had made a series of burlap and lace table runners for the wedding, which she then put in the shop. I chose this one. It’s really long with plenty of lace on it, and wide enough to make the basis for several bags, or to cut up and use for other things.
Beside the table runners on the shelf was this pack of burlap trims which I thought was fabulous – I’ve never seen anything like this before, let alone in a charity shop. There looks to be quite a bit of each one.
I haven’t yet unfolded these curtains to see how long they are. If they are long enough, I shall use them to replace the bedroom curtains which are now very worn and the linings have ripped. They were here when we moved 10 years ago so I’ve no idea how old they are. If these ones are suitable, I shall cut off the headers and sew on Rufflette tape to go on the existing curtain track. I am hoping they will be long enough for me to remove the decorative trims as well, as these are lovely. I thought the large metal rings at the top would be useful – they are far enough apart to separate and use. I can see them as bag handle attachments, or on the flap of a bag, to hang embellishments from.
Haberdashery and crafts
They had a small basket of miscellaneous haberdashery at the back of the shop, including several reels of sewing thread. I’ve got a box of these but it’s always good to have lots of different ones to get the right shade, and I don’t usually need vast quantities at any one time. I also bought the pot of silver embossing powder – the young lady said they are thinking of expanding the craft section, which I am glad about because I’ve got a box of redundant stuff from my studio and didn’t know what to do with it. Over the years I’ve been given various things, including a lot of rubber stamps that I shall never use (I’m not into cutesy!) and various other bits and pieces. The shop didn’t have anything else in the craft section that would be useful to me.
Jewellery
Finally, the jewellery. I really wasn’t going to buy any more, having just purchased two junk jewellery bundles off Ebay, but these necklaces and bracelets have so much potential that I couldn’t pass them up.
Some of these decorative beads will make fabulous inclusions into tassel tops.
Beginning to dissassemble the stash
I have now taken the coat apart and am still working on individual pieces, trimming them and tidying them up. The leather is incredibly soft. These are the larger pieces stacked up. It is mostly black, with some brown pieces, mostly from the inside of the coat.
I have saved the cuffs and the pocket flaps and tabs, and also the zip fasteners (although I shan’t use them as fasteners but for embellishments). From the front placket and hood band I have got some very nice long narrow pieces.
There is quite a bit of cord, with toggles and fasteners which I am saving.
The lining is synthetic, but it feels like silk.
The coat was quilted between the leather and the lining, and I have managed to retain most of the quilting wadding. It is quite thin but it will be useful for smaller items.
Several years ago I bought a large counterpane/bedspread from a charity shop with pink machine embroidery on it, from which I made components of the Tudor gown I created for a Tudor banquet. This counterpane yielded a huge amount of good quality quilting wadding which is in a large box in my stash. This stuff is expensive to buy, and I probably spent under a fiver for that bedspread. I used the lining to line my Tudor gown – yards of the stuff! If you keep your eyes open in charity shops, you can get a lot of good quality fabric in quite good lengths for a song – bedding, curtains, etc. etc.
I have another white top in fine cotton with some embroidery on it which I bought many years ago, and which has never fitted me properly, as it’s too wide and short. I couldn’t bring myself to part with it as it’s very pretty, so I think I am going to take it in, and add more lace to it to make it more boho and individual. If I make a success of this, I might actually enjoy wearing it at last, and if not, it’s no great loss – I shall take it apart and use the bits for other things.
I shall be posting photos later of all my purchases after I have taken them apart, so watch this space to see the results, and ongoing, how they get used.
Crochet thread
The other day I spent some considerable time on Ebay and Amazon looking for coloured crochet cotton for making bag handles, and couldn’t find anything suitable – there were no mixed bags of colours that weren’t too thick or too thin, or waxed, which I don’t want. Eventually I found this beautiful collection of colours on Ebay from a lady destashing her craft room. They are new but without bands, and the colours are fabulous. If they turn out too thin, I can always double them up. Anyway, there’s plenty there to play with, and I can also twist them into cords if I want.
I bought a new phone case last week, to replace my old one which was beginning to fall apart. It is very attractive, in teal artificial leather with mandala motifs tooled into it. I wanted one with a wrist strap and the strap on this one wasn’t nearly as substantial as the one on the old case, and within a week it has broken. As a temporary measure I have transferred the somewhat manky-looking pink one from the old case, until I can make a new one. I intend using the turquoise crochet cotton from the above collection to make a pretty crocheted strap, using the same swivelled lobster claw clasp from the old strap. I shall probably add some tassels and other embellishments as well. I’ll post some photos in due course.
More conjoined twins!
Really, I think there must be something strange in the environment these days. Nearly every week now, I am getting conjoined twin vegetables in my grocery delivery! This week it is an extraordinary mushroom with two stalks!!
Whaaat?
You couldn’t make it up. Quite bizarre.
