Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Pretty Clever with guest tutorial from Sew Beastly!

Hello there!!  I'm Citlalli from Sew Beastly,  and it is a pleasure to meet you all.   A huge thanks to Krystina for having me over here sharing some of the ways I put those dreaded fabric scraps to work.
If you sew like me, then you know how many scraps you can actually end up with every month.  {surprising to say the least}  They are all different colors, sizes, textures.....  There's just so many variables in them that it becomes extremely hard to come up with a plan to use them all up. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with fabric scraps, but I do get tired of having to look for a place to keep them until I find something to use them on.  I hate throwing fabric away, and I am running out of space where I can keep them.  I understand I can go ahead and throw them away, but I hate doing that....I mean, they are still good for something, right? I have used my scraps for a couple of things that do help with putting them to use. One way is to make tiny little pin cushions with them.  This is a great way to use up the scraps that are small, yet big enough to still be able to sew them together and make a pin cushion.  You can also stuff the pin cushion with these fabric scraps. {batting scraps work awesome for the stuffing}
This particular pin cushion is approximately 3.5 x 3.5 in. Another way I like to put those scraps to work is by incorporating them into my packaging.  I use small scraps to sew a ruffle to the handwritten notes I send with every order.
This is one of the ways I incorporate my "green" living into my business. These are both good ways to use fabric scraps, but they don't seem to even make a dent on that huge amount of scraps I am able to collect, besides what can you really do with scraps that are maybe 1 inch wide and 6 inches long?  I finally found a way to get rid of most of them...make a rug!! A rug?  Yes, you read right!  I pondered on this idea for a while, and this is what I came up with.. Plastic Mesh + Many tiny pieces of scraps = The greenest rug I have ever owned {or made} First step is to go to your local hardware store and get some mesh.  I recommend anything but wire. {you don't want to scratch your precious floors}  I found this roll of plastic mesh {which is more than I needed} for about $16.00.
Next, figure out where and how large you want your rug to be. I decided for my rug to cover the hallway that connects the vanity and the bathroom.  My rug will measure 3ft x 5.5 ft approximately....{can you tell I got ambitious??}
Now gather all your fabric scraps and weave away!!! Put one end of the fabric scrap through a hole, bring it over across through the neighboring hole, and tie it into a knot....
Repeat this hundreds {maybe thousands in my case} and you will have yourself a sweet rug.
Now this last one will have to be an ongoing process since I underestimated the amount of time it will take to finish it up.  Not to mention the fact that my hands can only tie so many knots before they become sore. The important part is that I will be able to not only make space for {more} functional pieces of fabric, but I will also have an awesome rug that will feel oh so good when I step barefoot on it...I can't wait!! So these are some of the ways I put my fabric straps to work.....how do you put your scraps to work? Thanks for having me over Krystina!

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isn't she pretty clever?!! i love this!

what can you share today?
show us your tutorial.
link up :)
thanks friends.
xoxo,
lollipops

3 comments:

  1. I love the idea for the business cards:)

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  2. OMG!
    I want that pin cushion!
    The ruffle on the note you sent with my package was one of the details I cooned over! LOVED IT!

    And Rug! OMG! How FUN!!!!! That shounds like a great activity for a group of kids like a kindergarten class or something to have all the munchkins tieing away then have a lovely rug as their final COLLECTIVE product!

    I heart Sew beastly DIYs!
    pretty clever.

    Des, Mano y Metal.

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  3. wow! that rug is AWESOME.

    also awesome is the scraps on the notes...and the pin cushion. gawrsh citalli, you are PRETTY CLEVER! ;)

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