Showing posts with label scraps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scraps. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Scrappy Organizer Boxes & Tutorial


I've decided to take a quick breath before I gear up to push through and enlarge both of my quilts in progess. After much debate, back and forth, and some wonderful encouragement to see it through, I've decided to do it! I can't help it that in my head I've already jumped onto the next quilt, but surprisingly I've found some way to pull in the reigns and hold myself back. I have my eye on a really scrappy quilt as the next big project, but I needed to do some serious scrap sorting and editing, and found it to be the perfect in between distraction project. 


Of course I knew before I started that my scraps would be heavy on the pinks and greens, but what I did not expect was how many turquoise scraps and how few purples were in my stash. (mind you, my mother-in-law has believed for the last nine years that purple IS my favortie color... it's actually green) So, in an effort to find a way to keep my scraps organized, I decided it would be fun to give my boring storage boxes a little pop of color.


... and of course, share with you this quick little how-to:

Measure front side of your box. (I used the Skubb boxes from Ikea) Sew random fabric scraps together. Finished pieces should be at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) larger on each side to allow for trimming later. For final cutting size calculation add 5/8" (ca. 1.5 cm) to your box measurements. (That's ca. 1/4 inch to each side) Once your piece is cut to size, apply interfacing to back side and trim. I used Vlieseline G700 (Pellon Shape Flex101)


Fold side edges under (towards the back) approximately 1/4 inch (ca. 6.5 mm) for the side pieces and iron in place. On the front side, edge stitch in place.



Once the side edges have been turned and stitched, turn the bottom and top edges under 1/4 inch (ca. 6.5 mm) and iron in place. Make sure that your corners are lined up and tucked under the first stitched seam.


Once fabric piece is finished, line it up on the box and used a hot glue gun to glue in place. Press and secure the piece in place.



Now you're ready to fill up your boxes with your favorite color scraps! And this pretty little stitching lady just had to have her own box... quite fitting, don't you think?



How do you organize your scraps? By color, by cut size, or some other fun way? Which color has your scrap bins full?

P.S. Just so you know, my fabrics don't always look this orderly - only about once a year when I do a whole office redo... in general I fall under the "messy, creative" category.

Linking up to Scraptastic Tuesday & Stoffreste Linkparty.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Transitioning


My original plan when I started making sewing models for our Kreativ Hamburg stand this fall was to make a mock skirt that I could later transition into something else. It made no sense to me to make something that could only be used for the show.... especially since my model has a (ah hum), slightly "trimmer" waistline than mine.


I used this great tutorial here for the arrow blocks... not to fret, no paper piecing involved. So, I thought that simple straight line quilting would show off the off-center design the best... and that's how I ended up with yet another pillow! (much more practical than a skirt that doesn't fit, right?)


After having cut my strips for the arrow tail into 45 degree angles, I thought it would be too bad to just throw away the sewn scraps... so, I decided to sew them together and make a cosmetic bag out of them, which has now become my sewing notions bag with my favorite and highly used sewing tools.

I love it when I find a way to use those wasted scraps. How about you, do you have any projects using leftover scraps or that you've transitioned from one project into another?... leave me a link!

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