Secondhand Resource List for Makers

I've been craft shopping secondhand for years. As a non-wage earning stay at home parent for the last decade, I would often try to spend the least amount of money pursuing my growing list of hobbies: sewing, jewelry making, knitting and crocheting, paper crafting, drawing, painting, woodworking...

I am cheap and concerned about waste.

Both of these qualities impose something that a consumerist society is bad at: constraint. We need limits. We can't always expand, sometimes we need to work with what we have, and personally, that is where my creativity thrives. There are so many materials just ripe for plucking out there in your local thrift shop. Here's a list to get you started.

Note: this is, and will always be, a living list. If you know of any resources to add, send them to me: julie@jfrevivalstudio.com

Sustainable Crafting Resource List

Portland Area

• ReClaim It, 1 N Killingsworth Portland, OR 97217 – This amazing gem of a place salvages materials directly from the Metro Central landfill (over 1 million pounds since 2014!) and estate junk hauler partners. You will find fabric, yarn, art supplies, home goods, hardware, and small furniture - everything you need for that next creative reuse project and more. The fabric area is growing! Check out IG for the truck unloading videos: @reclaimitpdx, https://www.reclaimitpdx.org/

• Scrap, 1736 SW Alder St Portland, OR 97205 - Yarn, fabric, and sewing notions, paper, scrapbooking supplies, greeting cards, gift wrap. Stay tuned - they are moving to the east side! IG: @scrapportland, https://portland.scrapcreativereuse.org/

• Disco Fibers – your online local source of secondhand yarn, IG: @discofibers, https://www.discofibers.com/

• Goodwill, various locations – did you know they get BOLTS of upholstery fabric? Every store is different, check them out https://www.goodwill.org/

• Estate Sales, definitely an underutilized resource. Stop by one any weekend of the year. Check out this handy finder: https://www.estatesales.net/OR-WA/Portland-Vancouver

• Buy Nothing (Facebook group) – These groups exist in your neighborhood. Find your local group on Facebook (search Buy Nothing)

Local Remnant and Industry Waste Sources

• Pendleton Woolen Mill Store, 8500 SE McLoughlin Blvd, Portland, Oregon 97222 - With bins and bins of creative potential, for years Pendleton Mill has offered their trimmings, selvages, and headers to local crafters while working towards their goal of zero production waste. You can order online or head to the store and dig through the current offerings sold by the pound! https://woolenmill.store/mill-ends/

• Mill End Store, 9701 SE McLoughlin Blvd, Milwaukie, OR 97222 - Just down the street from the Woolen Mill, Mill End has been serving customers since 1918. They have a large section in the back of the store with tons of bargain remnants. Be sure to look through the whole store too. Remnants are often scattered around the store like tiny bundles of treasure waiting for the right person to discover. Tip: Follow them on Instagram for current offerings. https://millendstore.com/

• Josephine's Dry Goods, 2609 SE Clinton St, Portland OR 97202 - Great source for high quality deadstock. https://www.josephinesdrygoods.com/

Online and Elsewhere

• Nacho Anns Fabrics - an online fabric thrift and creative reuse store with delicious fabric delicacies. I dare you not to find something fun. If you happen to live in Southern California they also have some fun in person workshops and hang outs. One day I will journey down south to join the Dirty Art Brigade. IG: @nachoannsfabrics , https://www.nachoanns.com/

• Who Gives a Scrap - a women-owned business in Colorado Springs, Colorado that offers used arts + crafts supplies to the Colorado Springs community. They are also online (eBay and Etsy), but bonus points goes to you if you visit in person. IG: @whogivesascrap , https://whogivesascrapcolorado.com/

• A Thrifty Notion - Secondhand fabric shop with a robust online storefront and brick and mortar in Ogden, Kansas. They sell secondhand fabric, books, patterns, yarn, notions and tools related to textile crafts. What a gem in the middle of the country! IG: @athriftynotion , https://athriftynotion.com/

• FabMo Inc - I personally love using industry design samples in my art practice. If you do too - check out this wonderful non-profit. Based in Sunnyvale, CA, FabMo rescues approximately 70 tons of discontinued designer samples such as fabric, wallpaper, tile, and carpet EACH YEAR and makes them available to the creative community for reuse. They also have an online store for local pickup and an eBay store that offers shipping. IG: @FabMo , https://www.fabmo.org/

• Seattle ReCreative - a non-profit based in the Georgetown and Greenwood neighborhoods of Seattle, this creative reuse store has fabric finds and notions and lots and lots of art supplies. They offer classes and a makerspace. IG: @seattlerecreative , https://www.seattlerecreative.org/ Interested in furniture and home goods sourced the same way? Check out their partner Ballard Reuse: https://ballardreuse.com/

• Austin Creative Reuse - a vibrant creative reuse center in Austin, TX that sells used creative materials donated from individuals and businesses. They also host workshops and other community events! A year ago they collaborated with Who Gives a Scrap to create a comprehensive list of creative reuse centers around the country which makes this list look puny. I can't find it unless I scroll through the gram...anyone know where that list lives? IG: @austincreativereuse, https://austincreativereuse.org/

• Our Social Fabric – a Vancouver, BC based non-profit fabric store selling donated deadstock fabric and fiber arts supplies online and in person. Their stock includes clean, unsewn fabric and sewing related materials salvaged from film industry, theatre, manufacturing and individuals. IG: @oursocialfabric , https://oursocialfabric.ca/

• Swansons – a Massachusetts based community fabric and fiber craft store stocked with the unused items of other sewers IG: @swansonsfabrics , https://www.swansonsfabrics.com/

• FabScrap - based in Brooklyn, NY this organization was founded to meet New York City's commercial textile recycling needs. Materials come from high level design studios including Marc Jacobs and Oscar de la Renta. They are pre-consumer materials that are often in perfect condition https://shopfabscrap.org/

• Thred UP (fashion) – Why start from scratch? Buy something from this online thrift store and alter it to your liking. I’m looking at you, cosplayers! https://www.thredup.com/

• Reverse Garbage - I have a dream that one day I will visit this non-profit in Sydney, Australia. They are Australia's largest creative reuse center and a mecca for materials, education and community. If you happen to live in Australia, you must go and tell me all about it! IG: @reversegarbage, https://reversegarbage.org.au/