Frugal Fabric Ideasby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 19 Mar 2008 02:14 PM In my earlier article about low budget decorating: Decorating on a Penny, deedee1231 left a great comment about how she repurposes second hand sheets and large drapes to make curtains. She is currently in a dilemma, though, because her daughter's room has five windows, and she can't find enough fabric to make all of the curtains. She asks for ideas. Well, deedee1231, I have to applaud you for your frugality and creativity with the curtains. Here are some of the ideas that I came up with that might help you find some frugal material for your curtains. Hopefully, there are others out there who will help out with some ideas of their own! My first idea is to create coordinating curtains instead of matching ones. Could you find two fabrics that could be combined? With five windows, an uneven number, this might prove a bit difficult. Perhaps one window could be an accent window? Hmm, moving on. My next idea was to find new fabric that would still be frugal. Since deedee1231 is open to using sheets for curtain, purchasing two or more new sets that are on clearance might still prove very cost effective. A third idea for frugal fabric is to shop the discount bins at your local fabric shop. You probably already knew that, right? Well, I think the secret here for real savings is to find fabric stores that have a lot of competition, as well as frugal customers. For us here in Pennsylvania, there are a couple of fabric shops that are located in Lancaster, Pa and run by Amish folks. Other Amish folks shop there, and the prices are very low. The shop isn't advertised, and we only found it through word of mouth. Perhaps you could check with local quilters to find out if there are any hidden gems in your area. My last idea is to scout out people who might have old drapes that they no longer need. Companies that make their living clearing out other people's homes of clutter and those who run estate sales might be a good source for fabric. Very often, unless the drapes have historical significance, they are discarded. Can anyone help deedee1231 with more suggestions? Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: Do What You Can and Save Money Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments  deedee1231 (4030) 20 Mar 2008 09:25 AMThank you for the ideas. I actually hadn't thought of looking at new sheets in the clearance bin. I will check into that. I would love to browse around an Amish fabric shop but our nearest Amish community is in the middle of the flood plain that is currently underwater. I will have to look into that as well, after we here in MO dry out a bit! StBridgit (322) 20 Mar 2008 09:27 AMSome more suggestions: 1) Find a fabric wholesaler. This can be a great way to get heavier fabrics at a great price. 2) Use a neatral color as the base for the curtains, and add on coordinating fabrics. Sheets serve as a great neutral base, and you can usually buy flat white or cream sheets on clearance for very little money. You can also find them at thrift stores, but it's probably easier to find enough matching fabric on the clearance table. 3) Buy remnants that coordinate with the base fabric, and don't be afraid to mix remnants. You can either do a country-style quilt block around the edges or just the bottom edge, or you can do bands of coordinating fabrics across or down the curtains. 4) For trim, don't be afraid to experiment with clearanced trim items and fabric dyes! You can usually dye trims easily, as long as you pick a darker color than the original color. If you have one dark color in your fabric, this is a great way to get expensive looking trim at a deep discount. You can easily dye even bright colors like orange or fuschia to a dark blue or brown, and then you have a gorgeous coordinating trim to edge the curtains. StBridgit (322) 20 Mar 2008 09:49 AMOne more comment on fabric--unsewn fabric remnants are a great way to change out the seasonal look of your throw pillows. Just fold over the unsewn edges, then tie them around the pillows as if you were wrapping a package. You can tuck in the ends and have an instant new look for throw pillows. This works whether you are covering the whole pillow or just doing a big fabric band around it. If you don't like the look of the tie in the middle, flip the pillow over to show the smooth side of the new fabric. deedee1231 (4030) 20 Mar 2008 09:37 PMThanks for asking after us, Mary Ann. So far, we are fine here in Kansas City. Most of the flooding and subsequent deaths (5 deaths in MO) have been to the south and east of us. St. Louis and Cape Girardeau have both been hit hard. I do have some family in some of the more rural areas of flooding (near the Amish community I mentioned, about an hours drive from here) but all are safe. Our governer, Matt Blunt, has declared 70 of our 114 counties disaster areas and the National Guard is on the scene, along with FEMA and the Red Cross. In 1993 the flooding did make it to parts of K.C., and we had relatives here in the city whose houses were underwater. We also had restrictions on our water usage because of contamination. I am hoping it doesn't get that bad again. For now I am just praying that no more Missourians will risk their lives trying to cross flooded roadways, and for several weeks of no rain here in the Midwest!  Mary Ann Romans (26876) 21 Mar 2008 05:18 AMI'm so glad that you are well. I will add my prayers to your own! Community Tags Fabric, frugal, home, sewing, thrifty Discuss this article
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