free shopping...what its all about?

Welcome to my world of fabric, paint, hats and all. My first post! and i'm wondering whether the world is ready for what's in my mind. 

So every week i make a trip to the free shop...what's the free shop i hear you ask eagerly. Here in Christchurch there are a whole load of free shops all over town, otherwise known as mary's meals or the charity barn, called so because they have a certain section you can take stuff absolutely free of charge! And the rest of it is so cheap it may as well be free. Bargain hunters paradise it is! It began as a paint exchange a few years back where people could take half tubs of paint and exchange them for different colours and the like in a bid to keep more out of landfill and it has grown to be several giant warehouses full of 'stuff' from clothes to furniture, crockery and mattress's. It's the big wad of clothes that keeps me going back every week to find my bargains. Fill a black bag for a fiver!! the catch you ask is that you literally have to climb on top of the giant pile of clothing and mine it! like mining for gold but also like 'mine', 'mine', 'mine', 'mine'. Once i saw a lady sitting in a giant hollow, she'd actually reached the bottom of the pile, which was now looming above her, while her partner was sitting unhurried on the sideline where she was throwing all her finds out to. I counted 5 black liners full, that would be her whole family clothed for winter i'd guess. I dont know how long she'd been there but she was still there when i left.

Now the trick is patience and time because within this pile there are undoubtedly at first glance some hideous pieces of fabric and some nasty polyester pieces that should never have been allowed to be worn! however with a bit of foresight, a creative license and some effort it is indeed a gold mine! I've found retro hippy waistcoats, vintage dresses, perfect fitting (unbelievably) new jeans from maya never worn, beautiful batiks, jackets, coats, woollens the lot. Chuck them in the machine and there we have some stuff to get busy with or simply a new wardrobe.