Frugal Friday: Sewing on a Budget Part 3

This will be the last post in this series, and I certainly hope you have found some useful tips from the previous installments which you can find here and here. Today, I'm doing a "tip roundup". There were some great tips left by readers in the comments on previous posts and I want to make sure they don't get lost!

• Quinn said - "Homeschoolers can sign up for a Joann's teacher discount card through PEAH. You don't have to be a PEAH member either - peah.com/joann.php gives instructions. The card will give you an extra 15% off anything you purchase in the store. You'll also be signed up for their flyer that has at least a 40% off coupon off any item, or 5 off 35. " (I am not familiar with PEAH, so if someone would enlighten me or leave a link I'll edit and add that to this as well, thanks!)
  
• Sunshine said - "...I am going to take a sewing class for beginners through our local 4H. It's $10 and personally I think that's a bargain since no one in our area (major city) even gives lessons to adults anymore. I wanted something to pass onto help them when they are living on their own." (So check around what's available locally, you might be surprised. I'm going to find out if our 4H offers anything like this!)
• Elaine made sure to let us know "One thing I would like to add is that if you buy a basic mechanical machine the odds are very great that you will have a machine for years to come and all you will have to do is to oil it and take the lint brush out and clean it now and then. The reason is that the mechanical have METAL gears which don't break down like the plastic gears, which are costly to replace!" (which is great advice!)
• Aine mentioned one source that I completely forgot in last weeks post - Craigslist! I haven't had much luck with ours locally, but I'll admit I'm not as good about checking there as I could be!

Another thing I am checking out today is that I heard that Joann's also offers a small business discount of 15% if you can provide documentation of your business. I'm going today and going to check it out since I now have all my official paperwork in hand.

While sewing is a very enjoyable hobby for many people, it's very easy to get caught up in the buying of pretty fabric, nice machines, and the latest notions. Maintaining our frugal ways can still be done though, with the same discipline we apply to other areas of our life. Using those skills not only to create new items, but mend and maintain the ones we have is just good stewardship. I really hope you've liked this series, and will come back next week for more Frugal Friday!