The Sunflower Mama Chronicles: Clothing Swap

Warning this post is lengthy!!

I can not believe that I actually got the opportunity to participate in a local clothing swap!! I joined my local chapter of Meet Up back in January looking to meet and mingle with fellow bloggers, thrifters and clothing swap enthusiasts. I missed the last clothing swap held a few months back and was so elated to have the chance to make this one. I decided I needed a refresher course in the art of swapping so, I enlisted the advice of Thriftanista in the City!! Whew, was she a big help to me! Thanks, Troy for your sage advice and support.

I just did a mini purge/donate right before the swap, so I had to sort of scramble to find things that I wanted to share. I gathered things of course that were clean and in great condition. I ironed and hung all of my items so that they would be attractive to the participants at the swap.

I ventured out to the swap location and managed to get lost on the way(poor directions), only to arrive to no parking!! I had to illegally park in a neighboring restaurant!! Shh, I tiptoed around the corner to the bar where the swap was being held as fast as I could with clothes in tow!!

It looked a bit helter skelter as I approached and I had to remind myself to keep an open mind about appearances. Well, I stepped up and the lady immediately took my $1 fee and began checking for the 10 item limit and then accused me of only having 8 because another volunteer swooped in and took 2 of my items into the swap!! I had to stand my ground and insist that I brought 10 not 8!! The volunteer returned and confirmed that I had in fact brought 10 items!! Whew, I am glad that got cleared up, because I know I can count higher than 10??!! Still reminding myself to keep my mind open.

I was then invited to go in and shop/swap for 10 items and check out and anything less than 10 would be $3 per item!! Well, what a dark, hot and steamy little spot we had to swap in!! It was crowded and hard to move around people and racks!! There was not a mirror in sight!! So, I was sort of on a roll and then....screech....the waiting and stare downs began!! We were waiting for more items to come in and waiting and waiting, in this hot box of death!!!! Ok, very dramatic but it is the South in August, in the middle of the day with only 1 ceiling fan barely rotating for a million women looking for the perfect dress, etc.

I decided that all I needed was 3 more items and I was out of there. It got to the point that I just grabbed clothing to upcycle for sewing projects. I had to pick through torn, dirty garments while watching my clean and pressed items go to happy homes.

I made a fast exit after gathering all my items, dead set on getting to sunshine and fresh air!! Oh, I made it to the check out and not a second too soon. The volunteer checking me out was very nice and happy to give me a flyer for the next swap in a few weeks!! I sure hope they have a mirror and at least one more ceiling fan for all of us sweaty, swappers!!

So, what do you think about my finds? Can you tell which ones might be reswapped? Used for sewing projects? Go to my daughters? Re gifted?