Small Makes

I have spent the last week making some little things for a Christmas Fair this Saturday. I may add some to my folksy shop (see right) too. If you have visited my blog before you know I love using up even the smallest pieces of fabric.

The brooches are about 5cm tall and are made from scraps of silk, cotton, net and ribbon on a pelmet vilene base. This is then embroidered, backed with felt and sewn with blanket stitch around the edge. Here are a selection:

These are the Christmas Tree brooches

I also made some needlecases which are about 10cm with two internal pages to hold needles and/or pins. Again made from scrap strips of fabric on a calico base they are embellished with stitching, lace and buttons.

This is an equipment roll for the friend I am doing the fair with that I have made using the same sort of technique for the outer fabric. Inside it is quilted with pockets for different pieces of equipment and two pages for needles/pins

What to do with fabric scraps ...

You know when you work on a project you keep all the scraps and as you use them up the scraps get smaller but you never seem to have any less ...

I thought I would share some of the ways that I 'use up' my scraps.

I use a lot of strips in my work. Here are some stuck down with bondaweb onto cotton fabric and machined in place.

As you can see, a mainly pink theme, using dyed and overdyed fabrics. Additional net, ribbon etc are added.

A blue theme.

If you look carefully at this green one you can see I have started to add hand stitching - lazy daisy and herringbone

Here are some of the lovely thread colours I will be using - I obviously have too much time on my hands as you can see the threads are all beautifully wound onto card holders.

This pink piece has been stitched and is not made from strips. Instead this uses the fabric swatches that you can get from mail order companies.

Here are some things that I then make:

A kindle case

A diary cover

Needlecases

When you have created these new fabrics and made your lovely objects, as you trim them you seem to create more scraps but this time much smaller. Here is what I do with these:

The small pieces have been stuck onto pelmet vilene - they are about 5cm (2 inches) in length.

These are then embellished, backed with felt and a brooch pin added

This is my small box containing the small bits of fabric, threads and, if you look carefully, some finished badges.