Budget Fabric and Upcycling

I haven't had a chance to SEW during the last few months that I have been learning about AVON. What I also have been doing is going to various thrift stores to find shirts and baskets and other items for Avon. I found my bag that I use for my Avon brochures & samples at a thrift store.

BUT my fabric stash meanwhile has quadrupled. Are you aware that thrift stores often carry unused, uncut flats of fabric? And lace ? And trim? But at a thrift store you are not limited to fabric - look at the sheets from a king size bed - they can be really pretty fabric. Even plain sheets are helpful if you are fitting a new complicated pattern and just want some fabric to sew up before you use your expensive fabric.
In an earlier post, I used sheer curtain fabric to make a shirt.

I have also picked up several yards of blue jean fabric that had been made into curtain panels. I don't know exactly for what I am going to use all the jeans fabric, but my first thought is to use it to try to make a cheap corset as jeans fabric is just a heavy twill like the expensive coutil fabric that is used to make corsets.

Last year we bought a "new to us" RV. I needed to make new covers for the windows in the area over the cab (class c). Well as you know blackout material is very expensive. I found some blackout material made into 84" long curtain liners at a thrift store - four liners at $1 per liner. I then bought some horse scene fabric & velcro & ribbon - after several days of hand sewing I had 3 window coverings which can be rolled/folded up if wanted & that will block out the sun. Much cheaper & cuter than what I could buy.

I also found at a Salvation Army 7 black aprons that were brand new for $1 each.  I also found some flannel sheets with an outdoor theme on them.  So I cut out several scenes from the fabric (flannel), used fabric adhesive sheets from Hancock Fabrics, adhered them to the apron bibs, and then used my sewing machine to satin stitch around the edge of the scenes.  Bing, bang, boom -- another customized apron.

I am thinking about making 2 of these aprons into Avon Aprons.  So I would have one to use and another one to put on a customer while we are playing with makeup and skin care items.  My ideas would be to use the pink flannel fabric that I picked up (also in a thrift store) and use a letter stencil on it to spell out A V O N.  Then I'd adhere it to the apron and satin stitch around the edges.  Then I'd either sew on some type of beauty applique (lips, lipstick, mirror, etc) or create an applique of my own.  What do you guys think?

Cindy aka Gato
www.youravon.com/gato
www.facebook.com/fouracesmercantile