Once a week, Mum and I have lunch and then we head out to explore a Salvos Store. For those of you who don’t have these in your area – the Salvos Stores are thrift shops (we call them “op shops”), run by the Salvation Army. All the goods on offer are donated, and in a typical week, the charity will provide 10,000 meals to those in need. For us, it’s a happy compromise, Mum likes browsing, and opshopping is the only retail therapy I can tolerate. Plus an afternoon’s entertainment rarely sets us back more than $20.
This week we decided to check out the Moorebank store. It’s not particularly flashy (although all the china and kitchenware are surprisingly expensive) but there was still lots to look at. As usual, I headed straight to the sheeting section.
I spied a couple of homemade quilts in a large bin filled with blankets and towels. There was a ticket on the item, but no price.
“How much are these?” I asked.
“Oh, they’re the ones in poorer condition – that’s why it says ‘Dog’ on the tag. We keep them for folks to use as dog blankets. They’re $2 each”
$2!!!! For handmade quilts!
So, much to my mother’s dismay, I bought them, plus two Australian made vintage woollen blankets. All were a little grotty, but as you all know, I love a rescue project! Mum was truly appalled that I wanted used, stained, quite stinky manchester (as we refer to bed linen here), but offered to buy them for me nonetheless. She’s completely adorable like that, but I told her I was good for the $8 outlay…
I brought them home and showed them to our friend Mark, the oracle on all things vintage fabric related. The peach coloured one was badly stained and had significant shredding, so Mark suggested tacking down the loose patches to help it survive the wash…
I spot treated the numerous stains with Dynamo laundry liquid, then gave it a looong soak in Napisan Vanish. The water turned a murky brown as years of dirt was dislodged…
The second quilt was simpler in construction but in much better condition. My genius friends Amanda and Tania were able to date both of them by their fabrics – the checked one was probably assembled in the late 1970s and the sampler one around the mid 1980s.
The quilts were given a 40C hot wash followed by a tumble dry. And they both came out ALMOST SPOTLESS.
I’ve mended the checked one (some fraying at the seam lines between pieces) using sashiko thread from The Sewing Basket Balmain…
It’s now repaired, completely stain-free and good to go…
The peach coloured quilt is a much bigger project but I’m hoping to patch it with a vintage sheet that I picked up from another Salvos Store a few weeks ago (also for $2). I’ll report back when it’s done…
Funniest bit of the story? My mum now can’t stop raving about how good they look!
As I said in my previous post, I’ve learnt to always look twice at old textiles, even if they’re stinky or badly stained. We can’t rescue everything, but I’m always amazed at how often a grotty piece can be rejuvenated with just a little bit of time and effort. And it was incredibly rewarding to be able to breathe life back into two old quilts that had been relegated to dog bedding!
Hmm…an addendum: please don’t think I’m judging the Salvos Moorebank for putting these items into the dog blanket bin. On the contrary, I’m incredibly grateful to them for trying to give these textiles a second life – most op shops discard any donation that is stained, torn or musty because they lack the capacity to clean and repair items. In fact, I’ve never seen this bin in any other Salvos store, but I wish they’d all offer something similar!
What are you working on at the moment? I’d love to know about your latest rescue or restoration project if you have one on the go! ♥
Long ago I rescued and lovingly repaired a vintage pure wool british blanket in a fabulous Dress Stewart pattern. I wrote a post about it. I was so happy to have it, sadly at some point pesky moths killed it despite the lavender.. I was so sad.
Nice that you rescued them! It’s a pity that plenty of good quality vintage pieces go to waste unnecessarily.
Thanks for sharing.
Love this story! It’s so rewarding to find the hidden treasures.I live in Los Angeles and am finally vaccinated so I’ve gone to the thrift store for the first time in a year, so exciting!! I’ve been buying thrifted sheets for rag rugs and am amazed at how difficult it is to find all cotton sheets, so many are pure polyester and they shed threads so bad when I tear them into strips.I’m currently working on sewing zipper pouches with vintage fabric and lining them with cute thrifted sheets. I’ve made so many I’m running out of sew-worthy people to give them to.😆
As a quilter, Thank You! For myself, I have on my worktable three pairs of the Husband’s workpants that needs the seat patched… again. I keep a basket of patching material on hand for exactly this purpose, cut from the legs of pants where the backsides are simply too far gone. Also there are 7 of my old summer shirts which are either too threadbare to mend (again) or too small. Their fate is to be cut up into fabric to use for quilting, using the bits that are still sturdy. Since they’re all well-worn and beautifully soft, I think they’d make a lovely baby quilt, but as there are no imminent births anywhere in my circle of family or friends, I guess I’ll find another use for them. Maybe a quilted jacket for myself? Winter’s coming, Quilt Faster! (Sorry, GoT joke…).
I love that you rescued these and gave them new life. Sadly, so many beautiful handicrafts end up as dog blankets… but even then they are much loved. Diesel-dog inherited 3 crochet rugs from my previous dog… I stashed them away for 13 years… and I’ve added 4 more to his collection [he has 3 beds!] courtesy of various op shops and market stalls. Doonas are practical… and my old doona + covers are still on the bed after 20+ years of use and patching but I just love old blankets, they take me back to my childhood. All the better if they aren’t perfect and shiw and little wear and tear testimony to their years.
OH, that Peach quilt is just lovely, just the kind of thing I love! great job. thanks for the encouragement…….
I too have rescued badly stained blankets, faded quilts.
Years ago there were expensive feather quilts on kerbside collection. They were mouldy. I soaked them for days, changing the water frequently. No way after they were cleaned would you know.
Had the original makers sewn their names onto the quilt? Hope you’ve sewn yours and dated your repair. They look wonderful.
I have the twin of that pastel blanket – does it have lambs on the label? I bought mine around 13 years ago at the now sadly gone Salvos on the corner of Broadway and Glebe Point Road.
And thank you very much for the heads-up on The Sewing Basket! I dropped off a large box of fabric and other craft supplies to the Balmain store today. I’m so glad to free myself of some items and donate to such a great cause.
Yay! Thank you for supporting the sewing basket! And no lambs on the label – it says “Waverley pure lambswool”
I have an almost identical quilt to that blue one that I picked up at the salvos last year. I could swear it’s the same one
What treasures they were for just $2 each!
I have the same blue checked quilt too! They were sold at Kmart in the early 2000s, so not exactly hand made nor as old as your friends guessed, but fun nevertheless.
I love the way you have lovingly repaired thee and laughed that some people may think they were old.. the 1970 and 80s were my hay days.. loved the peachy one such delicate colours.