Thursday 13 March 2014

Thrifting

I seem to have had a couple of weeks of being out on errands that have taken me right past lovely Charity Shops. On each occasion, clearly, it would have been rude not to pop in briefly and have a rummage! And each visit seems to have been very lucrative, here are my favourite finds:

Lots of real bargain, wool finds...

You can never have too many wool blankets!

A lovely wool cardigan - to cut up obviously!
It's felted up nicely in the wash, and has lots of really interesting texture too.

2 more wool jumpers.

I especially like the colours in this one.
And last up for the wools, this suit.

Another lovely colour, I haven't got round to chopping this one up and throwing it in a hot wash yet.
Next up, some other fabric bits and pieces:


A couple of remnants of vintagey fabric.

A large rectangular table cloth, that really didn't photograph well on a round table - sorry! But I'm thinking this might work as the back for my vintage embroidery quilt.

And staying on the vintage embroidery theme - a gorgeous tablecloth.


With tiny, beautiful, cross stitches. I can't imagine how long this would have taken. 

It must have taken so much love and patience.
Sadly there are several stains that I don't think will come out.

But, if I can bear to cut into it, there are so many areas that would work beautifully in a quilt or other project.

And another beautiful tablecloth.


With amazing embroidery.


 And lastly, a couple of different, interesting finds:


Theo got very excited when he saw this, he thought I had plans to get a parrot as a pet!

I've seen quite a few different ideas for repurposing bird cages. This one isn't a gorgeous, aged, metal one, but I like its shape and I think, with a bit of paint, it could look really good,. I can't decide what to do with it yet though.

There are lots of lovely ideas for using them in the garden, perhaps like this:

Found here


But I've also seen them used beautifully indoors. This one is a favourite for instance:


It's in this book, which has lots of lovely projects.
On Amazon here

What do you think? How would you repurpose a birdcage?

And last of all, a very boring, bedside lamp for Venetia's room:


Venetia and I have very definite plans to pretty this up, so watch this space.

That's it for tonight,

Sally.

3 comments:

  1. Wow, some lovely finds. I love finding wool blankets at the thrift shop :)

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  2. Oh, I absolutely LOVE the embroidered tablecloths...I would probably use them on my table, regardless of the stains. They are beautiful! The wool blanket was a great find too...I always snatch them up when I can find them, and they birdcage...what fun you will have with that! Great shopping spree!

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  3. Those are beautiful! That will be my goal this summer. I'm starting a 4 months unpaid sabbatical this summer (until october) and since funds will be tight, I've promised myself I would make my children clothing and that I would salvage fabrics to do so. :-) I'm looking forward to flea market season!

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