I have been consigning again lately and today I thought I would share one rule I follow about buying and tweaking.  When I am shopping consignment sales or thrift shops for new clothing or household items I make it a rule to only buy things that look nearly brand new.  I know this seems obvious, but it’s surprising what people will try to consign.  Dirty, ripped and worn clothes seem to always find their way into the racks of nicely kept items and it’s very frustrating to those of us searching for a deal we can actually use.  Having come home with a couple of stained and ripped items from sales in the past I know how much of an annoyance it can be.  There are other times when I see people loading up their carts with heavily worn clothing simply because they want a “deal”.  Believe me, it’s no deal if you have to do a lot of additional cleaning and/or altering to make the item work.  While it is fun to make tweaks once in a while it can be overwhelming when everything you bring home is unwearable until it has been fixed.  Nothing like a full mending basket to make you want to avoid sewing altogether.  ;o)  However, there have been times when an item presents itself badly because no time or care was taken to spruce it up before slapping a tag on it and sending it out the door.  Sometimes these end up being my favorite finds because the seller (Consignor or thrift store sorter) often cannot see the potential through the wrinkles and they typically price it low.

That’s when I come in and look for the potential through all the crumples and rumples.  This baby shirt was one of those finds.

When I first grabbed it I thought it was cute, but noticed the flowers were all pilled up and smooshed from washing and drying.  It gave the otherwise decent item an old, dingy look.

As I started to put it back on the rack I realized the flowers were made of felt and, for the super low price, I might be able to save it. After washing and line drying I simply snipped the pilled edge of the flowers with a pair of super sharp embroidery scissors.  That’s the beauty of felt, you can trim the edge without the fabric coming unraveled.

Wholla!  It looks nearly brand new.  So, next time you are about to skip a cute article of clothing at the consignment or thrift sale because it appears to be damaged be sure to take a closer look.  Sometimes the worst looking things can have the most potential.  It’s also sometimes worth asking for a discount if the item looks really bad.  What’s the worst they can say, “no”?  ;o)

Have you guys ever “saved” anything in your closet or that you found on the cheap with a simple tweak?

Erika