17th annual World’s Largest Textile Garage Sale set for Saturday, April 22, 2017

2,000 artists, students, crafters for charity, and bargain seekers
to descend on this celebration of fiber and thrift

A warehouse-full of fiber goods will be donated on Thursday, April 20, and then sold back to eager shoppers Saturday, April 22, in this ultimate in recycling events

From Thursday, April 20, through Saturday, April 22, more than 2,000 people will take part in the World’s Largest Textile Garage Sale, starting with donation day on Thursday and culminating with the big sale Saturday, all held at the University of Minnesota ReUse Center, with proceeds benefitting Textile Centers year-round programs.

As donations arrive all day Thursday, April 20, from 10 am to 7 pm, more than 200 volunteers help sort, price and stock the heaping shelves. Lines of cars arrive at the ReUse Center as people drop off donations of fabric, yarn, thread, books, magazines, buttons, beads, looms, sewing machines, knitting machines, notions, and more! The volume of merchandise is phenomenal, and the event runs like clockwork thanks to experienced Volunteer Captains who share their expertise when it comes to pricing and categorizing the immense volume of materials that are delivered to the warehouse.

For Friday night’s ticketed Preview Sale, April 21, from 6 to 8 pm, die-hard shoppers get first dibs on all the Garage Sale has to offer, including the new “Oval Room” of premium merchandise, looms, and sewing machines. With music by D.J. Rey and refreshments, the Preview Sale is a truly festive affair.

More than 1,500 shoppers are expected for Saturday’s sale (Saturday, April 22, from 9 am to 4 pm); many line up outside the doors by 7 am. Two vast ReUse warehouse aisles are piled high with goods. At 3 pm everything must go with the popular Bag Sale … all that fits in a paper bag is a mere $2.

This is a highly anticipated, unique community event in the fiber art community. Artists, crafters, students, church groups and textile guilds shop for reasonably priced goods they can use in the year for their creative and service work.

Donations of goods are tax deductible, and proceeds support Textile Center programs. It’s a zero-waste event—the ultimate in recycling as tens of thousands of dollars-worth of materials are found new homes rather than thrown into landfills.

Garage Sale human-interest stories abound:

• Marcella Joy Edmund came upon inexpensive fabulous fabric at last year’s Garage Sale, and used it to create a runway-worthy garment that was featured in the Handweaver’s Guild of America’s Convergence 2016 Milwaukee Moving Forward Fashion show and exhibition.
• Each year a group travels from Lindström to buy low-cost sewing machines on behalf of Hannah's Arms of St. Bridget's of Sweden Catholic Church, and this program in turn gives them to parents who take more than 20 hours of lessons to learn how to sew blankets, pajamas and other clothing for their children.

Admission:

Friday Preview Sale advance tickets: $30 / $25 Textile Center members.

$30 at the door

View for more information and advance tickets: http://www.textilecentermn.org/garagesale

Saturday’s Big Sale: $2 admission fee.

TEXTILE CENTER – A NATIONAL CENTER FOR FIBER ART

Textile Center is unique as America's national center for fiber art. A nonprofit arts center, Textile Center’s mission is to honor textile traditions, promote excellence and innovation, and inspire widespread participation in fiber arts.

The Center’s facility includes exceptional fiber art exhibitions in four galleries, an artisan shop, the region’s only accessible professional-grade dye lab, A Garden to Dye For natural dye plant garden, and one of the nation's largest circulating textile library open to the public. Textile Center produces more than 200 classes a year for all ages and skill levels, the Youth Fiber Art Guild™, and the Jerome Fiber Artist Project Grants. A dynamic hub of fiber activity for 23 years, Textile Center brings people together in community to learn, create, share and be inspired by fiber art.

For more information, visit: http://textilecentermn.org.