Way back when, nobody wasted anything. My great-grandma would save the smallest of leftovers because “You never know when you’re going to need it.” Having grown up in the Great Depression era, she and her family were constantly saving whatever they could to get by. There could be three baby carrots left and she would put them in the fridge to use for tomorrow’s meal. With fabric, I’m the same way. I hate wasting something that I’m either so in love with that I will keep the smallest scraps around, or I paid a little extra for, so I want to squeeze out every penny I paid for and to save money while sewing.
I don’t know about you, but I have swatches of fabric from old projects that is enough to do something with, but I just don’t know what. They’re usually mismatched, and I just keep telling myself, “I’m saving it for something,” because I really like this fabric, but there’s also just not enough of it to make a big project. Well, why does it have to be a big project? There are easy sewing projects that require less than a yard of fabric, and for the very special swatches that are around a quarter of a yard, I know I have to make something special.
The point is, is that we all have that pile of extra fabric hiding in a corner somewhere. These DIY sewing projects are some helpful ways of getting rid of that pile and creating something useful with the stuff that has been accumulating all these years. You can make an easy tote to take with the beach with you, or the copycat Kate Spade bag to fool your friends with a designer bag. The possibilities are endless for what you would have thought were just scraps! Everything can be used again and finished off. So stop throwing your money away and start making these simple sewing projects with less than a yard of fabric.
10 Easy DIY Sewing Projects
Printable Baby Sewing Patterns
Passport/Wallet Sewing Project
What do you do with your scraps of fabric?
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Fabric scraps have an amazing way of turning up as accents on children’s clothes. sometimes there is enough for the whole garment. Other times it may be only a pocket or applique. Of course there are the quilts I “plan on” making with all the LITTLE scraps! If I ever get around to that, I could cover the whole town!! Now that I don’t sew as much, I don’t accumulate as many scraps to have to figure out what to do with. If I ever have to move again, I think my dear spouse will insist that they go in the garbage- or goodwill at the most. What a waste of good fabrics. If only I could use stuff as soon as I buy it. I have a piece I got for a particular pattern-to make it just like the picture on the envelope-back when I was in school. I’ve been out of school for more years than I care to admit and married for 26 years. So what am I saving that chunk for? Maybe I’ll finally lose enough to fit the pattern again and still make it. Would that be considered a use for scraps?
I made a double wedding ring quilt out of the light scraps and a Dresden plate quilt out of dark ones now that I am retired. I moved some of the scraps about 10 times. Some were left over from the girls 4h sewing projects. Lots of happy memories. I figured that I needed to get it done before the arthritis gets worse so it came to a now or never. But the fabric was pretty with memories.