How to save (sewing) money: tips & tricks

We have already written a lot about sustainability and saving money. There are many tips & tricks and 'best buys' on this website. Sewing is a wonderful hobby, but sometimes it is not easy to buy all the things you need. If you want  to make clothes for yourself, interior items or Cosplay costumes for your children, you need at least fabrics, threads, linings, buttons etc. etc. and a sewing machine....

We love to 'spot' cheap stuff, we love to discover useful tips and we love to keep our ears and eyes wide open. Therefore, especially for you, our the best tips & tricks!

All about buying beautiful (and cheap) fabrics:
Seamstresses are always looking for beautiful and affordable fabrics. Some seamstresses are more than confident enough to buy exactly the right amount of fabric needed for their sewing project. They really look for the most beautiful fabrics and linings for their 'Chanel-style' jacket and the costs are not  important. Their argument: the selfmade jacket will be a fraction of the price of a Haute couture jacket anyway.

Other seamstresses prefer to buy a little more fabric, in case something goes wrong while cutting and sewing, and do look at the price tag or what the jacket may cost in total. The lining material, the buttons, a possible zipper and even the interfacing are carefully budgeted and collected as cheaply as possible.

And other seamstresses buy fabrics to build up supplies, for several sewing projects at the same time. Or they buy a fabrics because they are beautiful (or cheap). They might be usefull later in time when you want to create  a jacket or a dress. A stack of fabrics and haberdashery in stock, is a wise investment.

The best tips:
1. Guest blog written by Elena Tran, Baudekin Studio: How to find great items in a thrift store.

2. Take a look at 'Sale' on online fabric stores. These stores may have 'Deadstock' which are worth buying.

3. Buy without thing about the seasons. Buy Bouclé fabrics in summer and summer fabrics in winter. You are guaranteed to run into the best offers and build up a nice stash of fabrics, which are seasonal but also  'timeless classics'.

4. Patchwork, patchwork, patchwork! Look especially in store and on websites of fabric stores for the coupon. Buy coupons in stock and once you've found beautifully 'matching' fabrics together, you can make whatever you want. Patchwork is trendy and cheap & sustainable!

Where to find cheap Haberdashery?
Most people always think of the market when it comes to buying haberdashery. But they are often not as cheap as you wished for. They do have a lot of stock and sometimes nice offers. 

Our golden tips:

Start your own haberdashery collection!

In addition, we would like to note an attentive reader pointed out the following:
"Also look in furniture stores and do-it-yourself stores in the departments where textiles and curtains are sold. Here you often find coupons and haberdashery which are reasonably priced."

Good and affordable sewing machines:
You have probably bought a very cheap sewing machine in the supermarket. The box was located in the aisle with a large orange sticker on it. A real bargain for less than hundred euros. Yess! At home the sewing machine seemed fine at first. Until you started to fiddle with the thread tension or with the cheap overlocker: you became completely horrified by the threading schedule  which did not work...
Eventually the sewing machine disappeared into the closet or ended up on a marketplace. Too bad, too bad, too bad.

You may be lucky with very cheap sewing machines but in general they are very cheap because they are not made for 'quality sewing'... Do you want to make face masks and you have no further sewing plans. The sewing machine might be right for the job. But if sewing is your hobby, save yourself a lot of trouble and buy a sewing machine that will make you enjoy it better and longer.

In our product reviews we have tested a few sewing machines for you. From cheap sewing machines to the real luxury 'workhorses'.

Tip: Ask the dealer if he or she has a showroom model, a sewing machine trade-off sewing machine or a sewing machine which had a damaged package or is damaged itself. Sometime the damage is just a scratch and it could save you a lot of money.


Best buy:
We would like to point our: the sewing machine BERNINA 335. Ideal for the novice seamstress!
This BERNINA sewingmachine is the best start you could have! It is strong, it has many options:

BERNINA B 335 Sewing machineNew design, easy to use and best quality

• Bernina quality
• Bright LED lighting for precise work
• Mirror function; you can turn the stitches so that you have even more stitches
• Many innovative and extra features
• Easy, breezy buttonholes

That is why you choose a model from the 3 series:

• Slide-on extension table for more workspace
• Clear screen where you can follow everything
• The freearm provides 6.3 inches of space to the right of the needle
• The semi-automatic threader makes threading easier than ever
• Stitch length adjustable
• Stitch width adjustable
• Save stitches in memory
• Variable sewing speed for precise work
• Sew at fast speeds of up to 900 stitches per minute

The LED light ensures optimum visibility for night owls who love to sew.

• Creative stitch selection, put together your own stitches
• Select stitches easily at the touch of a button
• 115 different stitches, sewing, quilting and decorative stitches, and also a lot of buttonholes
• Sew buttonholes automatically; quick, easy and precise - all with the same length

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A small budget
If you have a small budget for the sewing machine there are some other options which offers quality for a good prize.

Bernette Sew & Go nr. 5  (239,00 euro)

Bernette 37B  (494,00 euro)

Summarized:
Sewing is a wonderful hobby and does not have to be expensive. Get creative with your purchases and you will enjoy it even more.

Keep an eye on our tips & tricks blogs because we are informing you about super deals. We just love bargains, sustainability, deadstock and the latest trends.