Bag It. Amen.

First weekend in March has become one of our favorites, and the reason is simple:

Church Rummage Sales with One-Price Bags!

Not that we didn’t enjoy the other church rummage sale without bags to stuff…but we didn’t buy anything there. Though we did check out all the merchandise.

The sale at Morningside Methodist is one we look forward to all year. Well organized, the stuff is clean, super nice ladies running the show. It’s big enough to find some treasures but not so huge that you’re overwhelmed and just want to run away. (Though I suspect it might be overwhelming for the organizers!) And for $5 they hand you a Trader Joe’s bag to fill as you will. If you ever want to try upcycling clothing, this is the kind of sale to watch out for.  

So what went into my Morningside bag? I started on the textiles aisle (told you it was well organized!) and into the bottom of the bag went this gorgeous piece of embroidered fabric.

Over four yards, already washed, and the fabric itself is either all cotton or a cotton and linen blend. It's probably a decorator fabric, but not so heavy it can't be used for apparel. I’m playing with ideas for it.

Next I found a set of four brand new Crate & Barrel placemats in an interesting cotton weave. Three of them had an inexplicable cord attached to one end, I suppose so you can roll them neatly for storage.

But then you have this cord on the table or making a lump if you hide it under the mat. Cords have now been removed, but they are cute. I'll use them for something else.

A vintage table runner of filet crochet was buried among the bedspreads and pillowcases. Hoping to use it in an upcycle, because I love the donkey!

On to the racks and tables of clothing. (I apologize for all the wrinkles in the pictures. Things that have been stuffed into bags come out that way!) We like to support local industry,

so into the bag went a buttery yellow linen vest and floral skirt. (I'm getting ready to start combining several linen things and see what happens.)

Found a cute shirt of lavender cotton that fits (but didn’t get photographed) and another linen shirt to play with.

A soft, creamy turtleneck sweater went in. 

The fabric tag said it was made of “55% seide & 45% kaschmir” and while I don’t read German, I figured that much cashmere couldn’t be bad. Turns out ‘seide’ is silk!

I love the beadwork on this sweater vest. My original thought was I’d upcycle it somehow, but the darned thing actually fits. So with total disregard for what is considered fashionable, I plan to wear it.

My bag was getting pretty full by now. Judy had found only a pair of flipflops, so in they went. And then one last cruise of a clothing rack revealed a fabulous painted jacket.

Probably too wild and crazy for many people, but I love it! In fact, I like it so much that bright and early Saturday morning I did some remodeling on it for a more comfy fit. Added orange vintage buttons, then pulled this scarf from my stash 

and went to work making it into a pleat in the back. I didn’t even cut the scarf, just doubled it since it's such a lightweight piece.

In all, my bag held 11 pieces. No, make that 14 if we count the placemats separately. Which averages out to about 35¢ each. Hooray for bag sales!

I would have been more than happy with that one sale for the weekend, but another church had a huge sale on Saturday. We’ve been to this one before, and it truly is overwhelming. Thousands and thousands of items, hundreds of people, and noise like you wouldn’t believe (made worse by the loud rock music they insist on playing). But because we’ve been here before, I knew the last two hours they cut prices to half…and that you can stuff a bag with clothing for two bucks. Of course they give you one of those little plastic grocery-type bags, but with the proper techniques you can get a fair amount in one. The proper technique is to tightly roll each piece, and the amount I got in was 11 pieces!

Even though things were pretty picked over when I arrived there were still hundreds of pieces of clothing. I found a cotton shirt for the hubs,

some sweaters for upcycling, including a Ralph Lauren lambswool

and a cashmere blend sweater set.

I just have to find a way to re-use this piece. Those squirrels!

Another linen shirt for upcycling.

A heavy linen eggplant-purple shirt that fits as is, but I have some ideas for embellishing.

This linen tunic is a European brand and looks unworn. Its retail price was likely about $70.

I thought I was finished, then found a rack of scarves near the exit. Most were pretty sad, but the large red and black ones went in my bag

And somehow no one had picked up the luscious raspberry-and-cream colored cashmere and silk.

So, two bucks divided by eleven…about 18¢ each.

Amen to that!