Editor’s Note: Please join us in welcoming guest blogger and Goodwill shopper Amanda Aileen Fisher of Verabelle! Amanda will be stopping by regularly to share her insights on vintage shopping and crafting.
As a maker of redesigned vintage clothing and accessories, I spend a lot of my weekends selling my handmade goods at craft fairs far and wide. My line features vintage items at its core, but I find ways to give new life to these things through reconstruction, embroidery and embellishments.
Often, I find inspiration on my Goodwill shopping excursions, flipping through the racks of things donated by others and imagining the new life that I can give them. Something I have recently been inspired by is vintage sheets.
Many of my fellow crafters like to take vintage sheets and cut them up to re-purpose them for something new. Over the past several weeks, I’ve seen everything from purses and tote bags to dresses and skirts to table coverings and quilts. But I love these soft panels of feminine florals for what they’re meant for–bedding. You really can’t beat vintage sheets for their soft, broken-in cotton and the range of vibrant colors. But if you love thrifting like I do, you know that it’s difficult to find a fully intact set of vintage sheets to use on your bed at home.
It has always made my vintage-loving heart a little sad to see those lonely, lost sheets split up from their family of fitted, flats, and cases, so I decided to start collecting and make sets myself, coordinating the lovely patterns and colors. From my new line of redesigned vintage housewares, my “remixed vintage sheet sets” feature all those random singles that I’ve picked up from Goodwill over the past year. My favorite Goodwill location to shop for vintage sheets? The Goodwill Outlet on Freedom Drive.
Honestly, I like these even better than if I had found the whole, original sets. They’re so lovely that you don’t even need to make your bed when you get up in the morning. These sets will debut in my online Etsy shop in the next several weeks.
I’ve also used some pieces from my sheet collection to create a vital addition to my craft show set-up–my portable, collapsible dressing room! At only a few dollars per sheet, the ideas for what you can make with these panels of fabric are endless!
So do tell, crafty readers: what’s your favorite thing to make with a vintage sheet?
-Amanda Aileen Fisher
This post was written by guest blogger and Goodwill shopper Amanda Aileen Fisher. Stop by our Contributors page for more about Amanda.
I love it Amanda! I have seen sheets in Good will before and wondered what I could make before as well but this really triggered some inspirations! I got some ideas just by reading it! I also use Good will for my line as well. my “green products” such as tshirts making them into things and sweaters for teddy bears etc! there is so much you can do with things we already have! So glad to see that others are passionate about the same! with the idea of renevating what we already have. I love it! thanks for sharing!
Brilliant! Repurpose vintage sheets… Can’t wait to get some on Etsy. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the comments, Nikki and Amanda! We found another vintage sheets DIY in our Goodwill Hunting group on flickr this week, too. Check it out: http://bit.ly/cnodFq.