Sewing your own home decor is an affordable way to get a custom look, but sometimes great fabric is not budget friendly especially when you need lots of it. Here are seven unexpected ways to find fabric to use in my home sewing projects.
1. Duvet Covers
If I am sewing curtains for a room with lots of windows or large windows I often look to a duvet cover for fabric. For you non-sewers, you can clip the duvet cover, hang it, and call it a day. For the sewing-inclined, choose a duvet cover with the same fabric on both sides. Simply use a seam ripper to take apart the two sides. A king sized cover will give you 100 inches length and 96 inches width. This is perfect solution if you need two panels for a large window. For smaller windows, you can even get four curtain panels by cutting each of the two sides in half.
2. Tablecloths
You can find tablecloths for good prices at your favorite stores. You can get these in lengths of 60, 84, 104, and 120 inches. These are perfect for curtains but also for floor pillows, throw pillows, upholstered headboards, and other fun DIY projects. The floral patterned table cloth and blue chambray table cloth from Target are less than $20.
3. Bedspreads and Blankets
These are perfect for curtains, large pillow shams, poufs, and simple upholstry projects. The left photo is Ikea’s Sommar Bedspread. This could be the non-sewer’s dream for curtains. They are already hemmed on all sides, ready to be clipped. The largest size is only $17. I love the color and texture of the left blanket also from Ikea.
4. Rugs
You can make a pouf, a pillow, or upholster chairs and benches with a rug. You can find vintage rugs online or go buy a new runner or rag rug. I am loving these affordable rugs from H&M Home.
5. Scarves
Vintage scarves have the greatest designs and colors. I love that the fabric is unique. These are great for pillows and DIY art, and are usually less than a dollar at thrift stores and estate sales.
6. Sheet Sets
This is another way to get large fabric on the cheap. These are great for curtains and DIY duvet covers. I find that the best places to find patterned sheets are kids stores or junior sections of home stores. Both photos above are from PB Teen.
7. Old Clothing
You can find some really fun fabric in vintage dresses at thrift stores. I am also in love with these pillows made out of sweaters.
If you think outside the box your fabric projects can really be affordable. If you want more resources for finding affordable fabric check out this post on Curbly.
