Are you a sewer or quilter? Do you have lots of small pieces of material left over? Don't throw them out, but recycle them. You can make fabric bags in various sizes to use for gift bags, jewelery, cosmetics and even to put your keys inside your handbag so you can spot them quickly when needed. I have made many of these little bags over the years.
Approximate Time: 30 minutes
By linn from Nova Scotia, Canada
I have a ton of fabric pieces in fairly large sizes. I purchased a ton of them for using as clothing on my sculpture art dolls, I'll never be able to use it all up on those! I am just learning to sew on my machine.
I would love to use them up in sewing projects. I have two daughters so it would be great to get some easy sewing ideas to create some fun things for them.I have a suede waistcoat made of scraps. The scraps are of different colours and patterns, and most folk who saw it said it looked neat. You might need to do a fair bit of hand stitching, though, to join the scraps together.
Draw your pattern first, then make the panel out of scraps. Make the panels with a decent margin, say, 5cm / 2". Don't cut the excess material off until you have stitched all the panels together.
You can make almost anything - bags, lampshades, and so on.
How old are you daughters? Yes, you can make lot of things for small girls with scraps. I made mine some tops in the shape of almost 3 corners with a draw string at the top & strings to tie in the back, also some shorts.
You can make scrunchies. Sew a tube about 10 inches long with the fabric inside out, then turn it, pull elastic through it pretty tight, then sew the ends. You could also make throw quilts, with a large piece of fleece or soft material as the back. We have lots of these snugglies around our house.
Thank you for all the tips :) my girls are 10 years old and 8 years old :) I love creating things for them but I'm still fairly new at machine sewing lol. I love it so far. I can hand sew a little but love learning on the machine :)
I love the idea of quilts I've always wanted to try that. is it difficult to do? especially for a beginner?
*recycleable gift bags
*make appliques by ironing onto fusible web and cutting out then fusing on to clothing etc.
*napkins
*make strips and sew together to make fabric "yarn" for knitting or weave for pillow covers.
One of my favorites is making pot holders with scraps. You can purchace a special material to go in the center that is heat resistant but I use old thick wash cloths and towels instead. I have also made dog toys with them.
Apron, very easy to make, can be made for birthday present too. With tiny scraps, fill-up cushion with them; perfect for yoga and exercises.
These DREAM alphas were made from an old shirt I liked the print too well to toss it into the "rag bag".
I didn't have a handkerchief or tissue handy when I needed them the other day, so I used an offcut of flannelette from sewing. It was really soft and easy on my nose, which was sore and chapped from much blowing.
Don't throw out those small pieces of fabric that are leftover from other projects. Save them for new projects, such as this cute pencil holder made from a tin can.
Here is a fabric bird lined with a dryer sheet and fringed with beads. The photo shows the craft clockwise from start to finish.
How do I make my own appliques, from fabric, for my sewing projects? I am trying to make them for purses, bags, etc.
By Marilyn Steckly from SW Ontario, Canada
I had a storage cube that I was using for my pills and vitamins. I also had a lot of long fabric strips. I put the two together by trying bows through the holes and the result was a fluffy version of what I had before.
I am looking for ideas (with instructions) for crafts and other uses for fabric (large yardage to scrap-sized pieces). Thank you and God bless.
By Erin813 from Seffner, FL