After Blue Genie (where I was a working tornado) I found myself with a ton of fabric scraps. Most of them were misprinted fabric pieces. I was able to sort through most of the issues I was having with printing and I learned alot and refined my process, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to throw away the misprinted fabric which was unique and interesting in it’s own way and that was the result of my hardwork and effort. So, I decided I would try to use most of the fabric scraps and combine the best pieces to create interesting color combinations. This is how I set about doing it.
1. Get Organized!
Stack fabric by color and approximate size
Sort fabric by size. Then color. Then decide on the best sizes and cut in-between sizes to the next smaller size which allows for more variety in color for each size. While this process is a bit tedious, you end up with delicious stacks of fabric that can really jumpstart your imagination
Store fabric scraps together and keep them handy for projects
2. Decide on the best use for each size fabric scraps you have.
I pieced together several scraps to make this cool belt
I also made this wrist cuff that my daughter immediately swiped from me.
For larger peices, I decided I would make zipper pouches. For the smaller pieces, there are many, many options. The most common include Quilting and Applique.
I appliqued circles to this linen to make a cute tea towel
Use matching thread to accent the fabric color
For the tiniest, pieces I decided to use them as labels. Print the design using a Gocco printer or a rubber stamp and then use fusible seam tape to attach to the your projects!
I used thin short pieces to make iron-on labels
I also had some really small pieces that were too pretty to throw away and too small to make into labels so I decided to just use fusible tape and a single stitch to make this fabric ring. My daughter also tried to steal this from me but I wouldn’t give it to her. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen for a couple of days….hmmm?
This small scrap made a lovely fabric ring
I secured the ring with a single stitch
Long, thin strips of fabric, can be turned into bias tape or be used as ribbon.
Scrap fabric strips can be used as embellishment, bias tape or ribbon
I used this long strip to create this cool ruffled ribbon embellishment
3.Have fun and get artistic!
I never would have imagined that I would be able to find uses for some of the ratty pieces of fabric I have but sometimes the combined affect of the fabric is really pretty. I used the selvedges to create a pretty display tea towel. The tea towel itself was a dye stained piece of linen that I had leftover. I used the fabric to cover up the dye stains.
I used these ratty selvedges as embellishment
Some other ideas for use of scraps included using pieces to make fabric covered buttons and key chains. I used scrap bias tape strips that I’d made for another project to make the loop.
I made this keychain and button too!
