Uses of an Old Bedspread

Sell or Donate

• If your bedspread is chenille, Matelasse, crewel or a quilt, someone else may want it. Some fabrics are still available, but others, especially those with handwork, are becoming rare. Mid-century figured chenille spreads in bright colors can sell for hundreds of dollars. With a bit of repair from a seamstress, a handmade quilt can be worth nearly as much. Use online sales sites or advertise in antique and collectible publications. If the spread is in good condition, it might bring top dollar; even if it is torn or has a blemish, however, you may still recoup part of the original price from a crafter at a flea market or rummage sale. Even a spread without resale potential has value when donated to a homeless shelter, Red Cross or church mission.

Reuse

• Designer Bob Mackie set the stage for reusing household fabrics when he draped a velvet curtain and drapery rod over comedienne Carol Burnett. Thousands of bedspread ghosts trick-or-treat on Halloween, and dozens of college kids hang inexpensive bedspreads in their apartment windows as drapes or cover dumpy sofas with them. Short of making bed jackets or reupholstering an occasional chair, several other "green" uses for old bedspreads exist. Trim off stained or torn sections of bedspreads and coverlets and fold them over to form throws for chilly winter nights; line thin fabric with cotton quilt batting before binding three sides together. Old spreads may also be about the right size to fashion into futon covers; make giant slipcovers by sewing along three sides and making button holes along one flap of the fourth to catch large buttons attached to the other flap. Fold and re-fold a bedspread until it's just the right size, then bind the edges together with wide seam binding or fabric to make a completely washable dog bed for the car.

Use It for Parts

• Cut a bedspread up to get pieces that are still perfectly beautiful. Start or add to a collection of quilting squares for you and a child to assemble, or use fabric for crafts for the holidays. Edge 10-by-18-inch pieces of fabric with seam binding or bric-a-brac to make place mats; use longer pieces for table runners. Remove fringe and other decoration from spreads to use for crafts. Dye spreads a new color and cut them up to piece together new covers for worn-thin bed pillows, or to make square throw pillows for a den or an antique chair. Add the castaway fabric to the rag box to replace those synthetic wipes and paper towels; old, worn fabric is generally lint-free--perfect for dusting furniture, washing glass or sewing up a pair of silver polishing gloves.