The Life of a Fabric Donation: From Drop-Off to New Home
Ever wondered what happens to your donated fabric after you drop it off at Our Social Fabric? Whether it’s a bag of quilting cotton from a home sewer or a bolt of end-of-roll linen from a local designer, every donation goes on a journey - carefully sorted, processed, and rehomed by our dedicated team of staff and volunteers. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how your fabric donations help keep textiles out of landfill and find new life in creative hands.
Step 1: The Drop-Off
Fabric donations come in from all over - home sewists, fashion schools, local designers, TV and movie productions and Vancouver-based manufacturers. Whether it's one bag or a carload, every donation makes a difference. We even receive large industry donations by the pallet!
Step 2: Sorting and Quality Check
Once a donation arrives, our team of staff and volunteers gets to work. Fabrics and notions are separated and sorted individually. We assess each item for fibre content, type, and quality - grouping similar materials together to create curated collections for our shoppers. We double-check that fabrics are clean, usable, and large enough to work with. While we ask donors to sort and inspect their fabric before dropping it off, every piece is reviewed again to ensure it meets our standards. This careful process helps us make sure only high-quality materials make it onto our shelves - and into your projects.
Step 3: Measuring, Folding, and Pricing
Once sorted, fabric is measured, neatly folded or rolled, and labeled with size and price. Then it’s ready to hit our store shelves or go online. Our team works hard to keep the store stocked with a rotating selection of apparel fabric, quilting cotton, notions, and more - at prices that make sustainable sewing accessible to everyone.
Step 4: A New Home
From there, your donated fabric might be picked up by a beginner sewer, a quilter, a costume designer, or someone teaching kids how to sew. It could end up in a wedding dress, a textile art piece, or a treasured first sewing project. With your help, these materials are kept in circulation and out of the waste stream.
Why It Matters
Every donation helps us fulfill our mission to divert textiles from landfill and make sewing more affordable and sustainable. When you donate fabric or shop with us, you're supporting a circular economy - and a passionate community of makers.
Have fabric to donate? Check our donation guidelines to see what we accept and how to drop it off. Thank you for being part of the story!