Frugal Friday: Sewing on a Budget Part 2

Some of my recent fabric acquisitions.

This is a continuation of last weeks post, where I covered acquiring a sewing machine. And I want to welcome again readers from Biblicial Womanhood. This week I'm going to cover buying fabric and notions for CHEAP!

First I want to say I got some GREAT comments with tips for sewing on a budget. PLEASE keep them coming I'll do a compilation post at the end and would love to include a bunch more tips! So on with the series...

What are the main things you use when making a project? Fabric of course, thread, and needles. Fabric will always be your main expense, and getting it frugally can be daunting when you walk into your local Jo-Ann's, Hancock or the like and it seems like everything is $4 or more per yard, and you know you need 2, 3 or 4 yards for a project. Let's start small, I have various sources I use for acquiring fabric for everything from small projects like wallets and headbands to bigger projects like quilts.

• Yard Sales-always a biggie with any frugalista. It's spotty, and never guaranteed, just like finding anything else, but I've gotten lucky 3 times this summer with fabric finds. I didn't hit nearly as many yard sales this year as I normally do either between moving and a new baby it just hasn't been possible. The first time was a HUGE bin of vintage fabric for $15, you can read about it here. Then I found a sale where someone was getting rid of a quite large fabric collection for very reasonable prices, I spent $10 on about 20 yards of various fabrics, mostly 1-2 yard pieces but some a bit smaller as well. Then a couple weeks ago, I got about 4 yards of fabric, plus a pattern and some felt for .50 (yes, 50 CENTS!). It's hit or miss, but when you hit, you usually hit good!
• Thrift Stores-Can be a treasure trove. Check out my previous post on this one here.
• Retail Stores-we all know most Wal-Mart's are phasing out their fabric departments which is super disappointing. Their $1 table can't be beat for finding fabric to do mockups cheap and sometimes you can find really nice fabric on there for projects. Other than that..make use of remnant bins, sign up for store mailing lists so you'll get flyers and coupons in the mail. Joann's for example is having a really good sale this coming week on fabrics and notions, I found that out when I got the flyer today which included 2 50% off an item coupons and one 40% off coupon.
• Fabric Coops- Didn't see that one coming did you? There are groups online at yahoogroups that work similarly to any other coop. They take group buying power to get things cheaper, in this case, fabric. On average, you'll get fabrics from Robert Kaufman, Alexander Henry, Amy Butler and the like for $5.50-$7 a yard. Much better than retail. I know I couldn't afford the variety I've been getting if I had to pay retail! If you want more information on these, please email me at bokamo at gmail dot com as I don't want to post all the information here.

As you can see, there are lots of options for acquiring fabric and notions inexpensively. What are your best ways of getting them for cheap? Leave 'em in the comments so we all can learn!