fabric Swap
How to label your fabric before arriving
Please use a paper clip to attach a tag with the dimension and type of fabric. If you do not know the exact fabric type, make your best guess as to blend and label it with a question mark. Please include the category as well (see Display, below)
You may also make up a bag of smaller unlabeled scraps, sewing notions, buttons, trim pieces, and other small items. Please put these in a clear ziploc bag so people can see the contents. Please do not include scraps smaller than 2” X 4”
Checking in your fabric
When you check in your fabric, you will get to a ticket for every 1/4 yards of fabric or fat quarter brought in or scrap/supply bag. If you arrived with no fabric, you will get a chance to pick at the end. People who brought fabric may give away their tickets to others!
We will have some fabric available that was dropped off beforehand so everybody should hopefully get something!
The volunteer checking in will mark on the tag for what you’re donating how many tickets it takes to pick up.
How fabric is displayed
Fabric will be split up by rough type, starting with Woven/quilting cotton, knits, canvas and other heavy fabrics, and Specialty. We may make additional tables if we receive enough fabric to subdivide further. There will also be a table for mystery fabric where the donator was unsure of the type and table of bags of scraps and sewing supplies.
How you get fabric
You will have about ten minutes to look over the fabric before anyone may take any fabric. Figure out what your top picks. You will then draw a random number and then go line up, in order, by the table your first pick is on. If your top pick is gone when you are ready to go and your next picks aren’t on that table, you may switch to another table in the spot indicated by your number.
Once you have successfully picked up an item and handed an appropriate number of tickets to organizer, join the end of the line at the table for your second pick and so on. You don’t need to check numbers for your later pick.
Once everyone with tickets has made three picks, we will pause and have another shorter preview period so you can make additional choices. If we have less people with tickets than we have tables remaining at this point, we will let the remaining ticket holders do a free for all to keep things moving.
Once we have dealt with all the tickets, all fabric is free for taking on first come, first served basis.
What if I want more tickets or don’t have ANY tickets?
You may pay the organizer for a ticket when you pick up an item that you didn’t have tickets for during the ticket portion. Tickets are $1 and proceeds go to the Friends of the Library. Payments in cash only! Once we switch over to “no tickets needed” you don’t need any… but you can still make a donation to the Friends if you feel so moved :)
What if there is leftover fabric?
If any fabric is left over, you may first pick up things you donated and take them home. We, hopefully, will run another swap later in year! After that, the library has first dibs on the fabric for any of their craft programs. Anything they don’t take will be used as seed fabric for a later swap or gifted to a group doing charity sewing projects.