With its miles of yarn and acres of fabric, the Minneapolis Textile Center’s bi-annual garage sale has attracted thousands of bargain-seeking makers for the past 25 years.
Those attending Friday’s preview fundraiser will get first crack at two floor looms, 60 sewing machines and enough secondhand textiles and notions to take over nearly the entirety of the nationally renowned fiber-arts center. And the weekend-long sale is poised to draw even more eco- and budget-conscious crafters now that the Joann fabric chain has shuttered.
Unfinished objects, known by fiber artists as UFOs, are among the most intriguing items, said Erin Husted, the Textile Center’s director of operations. For this sale, someone donated a partially finished quilt inspired by the pioneering Minnesota-made computer game Oregon Trail. (Hopefully its creator wasn’t derailed by a bout of dysentery.)
Husted said that one of the sale’s most popular buys is filling a grocery bag with fabric for $15. This year, she’s especially excited about a nice cache of natural-fiber yarns. “I’m trying not to go into that room because I’m worried I’m going to buy too much yarn,” she joked. “People are really generous with their donations.”
Tickets are still available for the Friday ($35) and Saturday sales ($2-5), Husted said, warning that the line of shoppers can wind around the block for Sunday’s free entry, when everything is 50% off.
One of her favorite aspects of the sale is the crafter camaraderie it generates. Shoppers brew coffee on camp stoves while waiting for the doors to open and put on impromptu fashion shows in the checkout line to flaunt the half-finished sweaters and funky fabrics they’ve found.
Those who can’t make this weekend’s sale can shop the Textile Center’s new year-round secondhand supply store, the Stashery, when it reopens Oct. 1. The Stashery, which is stocked with reasonably priced donated fiber-art materials and grew out of the garage sales’ success, has doubled the center’s attendance numbers, Husted noted, introducing even more fiber fans to its gallery and classes.
