During this time when visiting our favorite fabric shops in person may not be option, I have a few a suggestions for where you might discover some great fabric sources in your home.

If, like me, you have been using this “staying put” time to do some deep cleaning and sorting, you may have already come across some hidden treasures. Check out a few of the projects I have made using fabric from unlikely sources.

I have written about alternative fabric sources before. For even more inspiration, see “Sources of and Inspiration for Unintended Yardage.”

Note: If your local fabric shop has a virtual shopping option, I highly recommend using it and continuing to support the business, until it is possible to get back to the brick-and-mortar store.

Check out the scarf drawer

I love scarves but find that they seem to hang around long after whatever I was wearing them with has been sent on to the thrift store. There are always a few that have fallen out of rotation, but not out of favor. Just moving them from the closet to the sewing room gives them a whole new opportunity.

One of my creations started out as a long chiffon scarf trimmed with silk satin. It was almost too big to wear as a scarf.

I turned it into a dress-up top.

I loved the colors and stripes on the scarf below. When it moved to the bottom of the dresser drawer, I decided it would get more wear as a summery tank top.

I found this scarf in a museum shop. It is old silk sari fabric layered and hand-stitched together, à la kantha cloth. Because it has great body, it was a bit overwhelming as a scarf. It now is a silk vest—and a reversible silk…