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I don't make my own clothes, but this topic interests me.
The last time I was in a fabric store (maybe two years ago to buy some sew-on reflective tape) I saw acres of gaudy, polyester fleece. We know now what a curse that stuff is to our waterways. The only cottons I saw were 50/50 blends, and none of it organic.
I did a quick Startpage search for organic cottons by the bolt, and was happy to see there are such sources online.
My grandmother quilted. She used fabric from clothing that people in the family no longer wanted. I have a quilt she made that includes fabric from the first dress I ever made for myself (age 13), and fabric from a pregnancy smock that my mother made for herself when she was pregnant with my brother. No amount of money can buy you something like that.
I combine the best of two worlds. I buy nearly all of my clothing second-hand and taught myself to do alterations. You can find excellent gently used clothing from the finest brands by thrift-shopping at a fraction of the cost. I purchased a new Brother sewing machine for $75 a couple of years ago. Now I alter all of the suits, sport coats, pants and shirts that I purchase second-hand to give them a perfectly tailored look - https://splurgefrugal.com/altering-m...-before-after/
Combining thrift shopping (and buying online on eBay) with doing all of my own alterations reaps enormous savings and allows me to wear top quality clothing without the cost.
Beautiful work!
And I'd add that one of the advantages of learning how to sew is that you learn what quality fabric really is. Much department store clothing is made with mediocre fabric and mediocre technique to match. It isn't designed to last much more than a year, because "they" want you to buy new stuff.
Being able to sew helps you fix the stuff you buy at the thrift store that doesn't fit quite right.
Yep, I spend a lot more time altering my thrift store finds than I do sewing from scratch.
I don't find the price of fabric or patterns to be that atrocious...you learn to work with the coupons.
But I"m not so great at sewing that I can guarantee my results will be worth my efforts.
Plus, I dress casually most of the time so t shirts and jeans are sufficient for me.
However, I do enjoy sewing...never really did it to be frugal, more because I'd have an idea I wanted to see come to fruition. i still have a few drawers of fabric I love and want to make into something cool.
Considering all the clothes in thrift shops or at goodwill, making clothes doesnt make sense for most. Makes more sense if you want an item you cant find, or typical clothes dont fit right.
I used to, but fabric got so expensive that it's not cheaper anymore.
This.
Unless you are operating exclusively with donated remnants, etc., textile handicrafts are not something you do to save money... they're something you invest in as a hobby. Supplies and equipment are costly.
I sew my own skirts. And it's actually cheaper, as far as just the cost of fabric. I can buy fabric for under $6 a yard at fabric.com. I use Folkwear's Walking Skirt pattern, which takes 6 yards for me. If I try and find a place that sells skirts like this, they typically run closer to $90.
I can't do thrift stores as I take larger sizes and all they have is cheap knits. It's hard for me to even find clothes I want to buy. My long skirts are comfortable. I've found that I don't enjoy sewing on electric machines, but I have several treadle that I use. I like to be able to dress the way I want, in colors that I like and in a style that makes me look good. I've always had problems doing that with commercially made clothes. (And FYI, as someone that used to work in sewing factories, much of the clothes you see these days are really poorly made. I've even had a commercially made skirt come apart, because the cloth was shoddy.)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zenstyle
I don't make my own clothes, but this topic interests me.
The last time I was in a fabric store (maybe two years ago to buy some sew-on reflective tape) I saw acres of gaudy, polyester fleece. We know now what a curse that stuff is to our waterways. The only cottons I saw were 50/50 blends, and none of it organic.
I did a quick Startpage search for organic cottons by the bolt, and was happy to see there are such sources online.
What is the deal with that? I shop at JoAnn Fabrics several times a year, for projects, most recently a baby quilt I was making. Aisles and aisles of fleece, in ugly colors and patterns. I think fully half the bolts of fabric were fleece, and everything else was everything else, and that included all the upholstery, quilting, formal dress fabrics, etc. Who's using all this ugly fleece?
But let me clarify. I do not buy it at a fabric store, I buy those crazy cheap fleece blankets, the type that I think folks keep in their cars for emergencies. For five bucks, I get about three yards of fleece (that is absolutely horrible to work with, btw. Lint all over the place...) I make teddy bears with it . And I made a bunch of chickens with a nice bright yellow one. And I found a couple of them once that had a very close match to African animals (zebra and giraffe) so I used them to make stuffed zebras and giraffes. It was fun. And cheap. But a lot of clean up..
As far as the topic of this thread, I agree, thrift store is cheaper. When I was working, I had what I thought was a great wardrobe from our local thrift store..
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