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 – Fabric, yarn, art supplies, home goods, hardware, and small furniture https://www.reclaimitpdx.org/

• Scrap, 1736 SW Alder St Portland, OR 97205 - Yarn, fabric, and sewing notions, paper, scrapbooking supplies, greeting cards, gift wrap https://portland.scrapcreativereuse.org/

• 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

• 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 from the film industry, theatre, manufacturing and individuals. https://oursocialfabric.ca/

• Swansons – a Massachusetts based community fabric and fiber craft store stocked with the unused items of other sewers 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/

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

• 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/