Hi, friends!
This week on the blog we’re going to be talking about something I am very passionate about when crafting: repurposing materials.
How often have you gone to the craft store and dropped more money than you wanted to just to complete one project? Perhaps after you buy all these new supplies, you realize you already had some at home? I’ve been there and it honestly just creates a lot of unnecessary waste.
One of my favorite things about embroidery is that a lot of the supplies have a long lifespan before you need to replenish them. Additionally, a lot of the time you can thrift or repurpose some of your embroidery materials to make your projects more cost effective and sustainable. Here are some of my recommendations or ideas of little changes you can make to repurpose materials for your projects.
What Materials Can You Reuse?
There are some base embroidery materials that have a long lifespan. It might cost you money upfront, but will be cheaper in the long run because of the use you’ll get out of it.
Needles can be reused until they break or become dull. Some needles recommend changing after 10 hours of stitching times, but other needles (e.g., chrome needles) are stronger and last a lot longer. If you take care of your needles, they can last you for a long time.
Additionally, embroidery scissors can withstand continuous use. Like any scissors, they benefit from regular maintenance. If you clean and/or sharpen your scissors regularly, you can make them last you years. This is an easy material to thrift as well. Lots of antique malls and thrift stores have small scissors, you just might need to clean them up.
Transfer pens or pencils can be repurposed for a long time. In my opinion, the best way to store pens is to put the pen-side facing down with the cap on so that the ink doesn’t dry out. If you take care of your pens, you should get a lot of use out of them. Additionally, regular pens or pencils can also work for transferring designs if your transfer pen runs out on you mid-project.
While you will most likely need to replace all these materials at some point, they have a longer lifespan, which makes the investment worth it.
What Materials Require Maintenance?
The two most frequently used materials are your fabric and embroidery floss. Unlike the other base materials, these are not as sustainable. Once you use these materials, they need to be replenished. This is where costs can add up as you embark on more and more embroidery projects. These materials also have the most potential for you to thrift and/or repurpose supplies!
Thrifting Fabric
Before I go to the craft store, I will always look to see what I just have laying around. In the past, I have sourced fabric from old t-shirts, denim button downs, and old pillow cases. Some of these materials worked better than others, but all got the job done for a project. You’d also be surprised with just how many resources you already have at your fingertips.
Here are some great things to look for when thrifting that you can source fabric from:
- Bed Sheets – not only can you find great deals on cotton or linen sheets, but just one bed sheet will yield so much fabric. It’s a great bang-for-your-buck deal!
- Pillow Cases – if you can’t find a whole sheet, or do not want that much of one fabric, pillowcases are a great alternative.
- Cotton/Linen Shirts – a great way to get some fun fabric with different colors and patterns.
- Handkerchiefs/Bandanas/Cloth Napkins – these are fun to embellish as-is, but they are often the perfect size and shape to get 1-2 projects out of.
Additionally, you can sometimes find actual bolts or scraps of fabric at thrift stores. Estate sales and tag sales are also great places to look. Same with online spaces like Facebook Marketplace.
My favorite part about sourcing unique fabrics is that it gives it a new life!
Thrifting Embroidery Floss
In my opinion, embroidery floss is the harder thing to source second-hand. Harder doesn’t mean impossible though!
I have actually received a lot of embroidery floss second-hand through friends and family over the years. Oftentimes, it is because someone found an old craft box or they no longer have use for it. Asking around to see if anyone has supplies they’d be willing to donate can be fruitful.
Additionally, you can find old craft boxes at estate sales. Even second-hand craft stores should carry embroidery floss. You need to hunt a little more for embroidery floss, but I have managed to thrift a lot of my favorite colors over the years!
The Takeaway
There are always opportunities to make crafting more sustainable, and this is something we should strive for. The less waste we can create the better, and I find that projects where I spend little to no additional money tend to be the most rewarding.
Be resourceful, be intentional with your choices, and get stitching!
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