Scraps! Scraps! Come Out Wherever You Are!

I am constantly amazed at what can be made of those fabric scraps – down to the smallest of pieces!  I have so many scraps, as most seamstresses, crafters and alterationists do, that I could sew for years!  However the thought of new fabric pieces and scraps intrigues me, so I look for them in the most uncommon places.  As an example, a few weeks ago I noticed a yard sale ad in our local newspaper, and among the items listed was “fabric”.  I made sure I was among the Early Birds at that sale and got several super 2-4 yard pieces of fabric for $1.50 each.  I asked the lady if she had any scraps she wanted to get rid of — she said she was just going to throw away what she hadn’t used.  I whipped out my picture of our 2 1/2 year old quadruplet grandbabies, and explained that I make a lot of toys for them as well as use scraps for appliques, etc for clothing.  She brought out a small bag of “scraps” and just threw them in with my fabric at no extra charge.  I want you to see what I got, just for asking a simple question about her scraps.



You’ll notice that the red in the upper left corner is what was left of the scrap fabric that I used to decorate one of our jean purses for our latest project of the month tutorial.  Now didn’t THAT just make the jean purse less expensive to make, and I’ll have additional profit when I go to sell it! 

The whole point of this story is to tell you to look at thrift stores, flea markets, yard sales, etc for fabric pieces and even the remnants at fabric stores will be less expensive than the original “by the yard” price.

Ok, now lets talk about a few things you can do with those scraps —— and literally make a lot of cash from those scraps once they’re made up into craft items, clothing items, gift items, etc.

One of the cutest thngs I’ve seen is a Tape Measure Holder– also made from small pieces of fabric.



Or try your hand at using those scraps for few aprons for yourself or to sell

The apron is very easy to make, and you can match the decor of the receipients’ kitchen while using up some of your left over and scrap fabric.

Another crafty idea I’ve discovered is how to make a patchwork belt — this is very cute and looks like it would be easy to make.



And, don’t forget those flowers from remnant fabrics tutorial that we posted a few weeks ago.



If you have some interesting and useful items that you make from your scraps, or run across some tutorials for using those scraps for items to sell, use as gifts, etc, we and our readers would love for you to pass them along.