People are grabbing a bargain this morning as they delve through the hundreds and thousands of items at the Sew Retro sale at Historic Village on 17th Ave.

The event has been running for five year and aims to raise money for mental health services.

Millie Cole, 11, with her new dress. Photos: Tracy Hardy.

Alex Gorman, 8, and his mother Nicki trying out ties to go with his new hat.

Event coordinator Rose Webber says the event is going very well.

'There were a crowd of people waiting outside when we opened the doors. People were here at 8.30am waiting but we didn't let them in until 9am.

'It's all donated goods.”

Rose says the prices are so cheap, like 10c for a tie, so people can buy things like ties and make things out of them.

'Buying at tie at $5 it becomes a bit pricey, but at 10c each you can have a ball with it.

'A lot of people buy the clothing to upcycle them and some buy items to wear straight away. One lady bought more than $70 worth of floral sheets this morning and she has some secret project she is making out of those.”

At $2 or $3 a double sheet she can afford to do that, says Rose.

The event wraps up at 3pm.

Rose expects most of the items to sell by the time they close the doors.

Money raised will go towards Turning Point, a mental health recovery service.

The service supports people with mental health issues through art, crafts right through to career support.

'My role deals with what kind of career they want and how to get them into it,” says Rose.

Diane and Glenda Moore with their purchases.