Category Archives: scraps

Vintage bag plan

Posted on March 6, 2011 by SewTara| 1 Comment

So I found some fabric to line the inside of my awesome vintage bright red bag and make it camera and laptop ready.  I think it’s actually some sort of kid farm print but it matches great and I love the faux bois look.  I was also going to decorate it with some fun sort of design.  Being too afraid to do anything permanent I wondered if my Cricut peel and stick vinyl would work.  I sketched and cut out a cute little squirel but it didn’t seem like it would stand up to usage.  The vinyl stuck well but if I tried to use the pocket or moved that area too much bumps appeared in the vinyl.

So for now I put it on my train case since that’s a harder surface.  That’s also where I’m storing all my great vintage linen bits and pieces.  I’ve also found some trim and bias tape here and there so it’s there as well.

The expanding collection.  There’s more in my other vintage suitcase too.

 

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Posted in fun finds, repurposing, scraps, vintage

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Fun Find.

Posted on March 2, 2011 by SewTara| 1 Comment

Found this shop on Etsy yesterday. I’ve become a little addicted to checking the front page and I usually refrain from peeking at the ‘recently listed’ items at the bottom but I happened to scroll down and glimpses these cute items.

 

How awesome are these banners?!

 

It’s one of those, ‘good thing I don’t have daughters’ moments.

Click images to be transported to the shop and more wall art cuteness.

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Posted in fun finds, other crafts, scraps

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Scrapbusting strikes again. This time in the form of mug rugs.

Posted on March 1, 2011 by SewTara| 7 Comments

I did it again!  I’m in love with the scraps from my swap.  Not only are they nothing like I have in my own stash but they’re so bright and colourful and beautiful.  I know I’ve said it a bunch but thanks Jessica!

I made some mug rugs.  I love tea and, sadly, I’m pretty fond of cookies and other baked goods.  Now I have a way to enjoy them that looks absolutely fantastic.  Those cookies are from a recipes Deceptively Delicious by the way, they’ve got chickpeas in them and they’re amazing.
I quilted various bits together to create a 7 x 10 1/2 inch matt.  Then I sandwiched some batting between the colourful top piece and a plain linen cotton on the back.  This is the first time I’ve actually quilted something so I kept it simple and just did lines.  I used the edge of my machines foot to keep me in track.  I chose a yellowy thread, it’s sort of a mustard colour.  I love the results.
I was going to get brave and make my own bias tape for the first time but I decided against it.  I haven’t really used bias tape much and so I wanted to keep it simple.  Sadly it wasn’t simple at all!  I had a tough time lining it all up, I double stitched it to echo the quilting of the matt.  If you look closely the edges are a bit wonky but oh well.  If you come to my house and I put a nice hot tea and a yummy treat served on a beautiful mug rug and you mention the wonky edges I’m taking it all away.  You’ve been warned.

 

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Posted in gifts, scraps, sewing

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DIY Scrapbusting eye pillow project.

Posted on February 23, 2011 by SewTara| 4 Comments

Now that everyone has their lovely scrap swap bits I figured it was time to start sharing some scrapbusting ideas.  I made these fun little eye pillows over the weekend.  For one I used my pre-swap scraps that are all cut into 2 x 2 pieces.  For the other I pieced together 5 2 x 4 pieces.  Either way the math is the same and the finished pillows are the same size, perfect for laying across your eyes and having a quiet moment to yourself.

Here’s what you need.  I suppose you could use some other smelly scent but I like lavender and so I just broke open this drawer smelly thing I had and used the bits from inside.

I joined the pieces together and then cut a piece of batting for the back and did some accent quilting.  Then I cut a piece of my nice soft natural cotton for the back.  With right sided together I zipped around and left a little opening to pour in the filling.

I fashioned a little funnel out of paper and poured in flaxseed and lavender until the pillow was full but still floppy enough to curve nicely over my nose.  The last step is sewing up the opening, and voila you have a relaxation aid!

I created a Flickr group where you can post things you’ve made with odds and ends of fabric.  If you make something using one of my tutorials I’d love to see it there.

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Posted in DIY, gifts, scraps, sewing, tutorial-ish

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Scrap swap goodies

Posted on February 18, 2011 by SewTara| 4 Comments

My giant envelope of Scrap Swap goodies came earlier this week. We sort of accidentally conducted a little experiment too since Jessica and I mailed our packages on the same day. Mine got to her waaay before hers arrived here. So apparently Canada to US is faster than US to Canada. I’ll have to test again with the next scrap swap!

So here’s all the fantastic goodies Jessica sent. Complete with a moose, you know because I’m Canadian.

Fabric, fabric, fabric! Turns out destashing is almost as addictive as the stashing.

Little doilies, which are awesome because I’ve wanted to either learn to make them in funky colours, or collect some and dye them. She also sent these fantastic vintage buttons that belonged to her grandmother, such a nice thing to give.

And a ton of corks that I can get inventive with. Her hubby is a bartender so she said they’re buried in corks.

Ashley Ann hauled in this fun load of stuff. Jessica made an adorable stuffed animal with the bits and pieces I sent her.

I am going to organize another one of these, it was super fun and getting a giant package in the mail is awesome.
Perhaps in March, sort of a spring cleaning type thing!

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Posted in other crafts, papercrafts, scraps, sewing

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Marisa works a miracle again!

Posted on February 15, 2011 by SewTara| 1 Comment

Remember that unfinished dress I found in a bag of fabric? The shimmery green thing I packed up and sent off to the ever so creative Marisa at New Dress a Day? Well she got around to revamping it.

Head on over to see what she did.

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Posted in fun finds, repurposing, scraps, sewing

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My creative weekend in pictures.

Posted on February 14, 2011 by SewTara| Leave a comment

Friday night I made this after Wesley went to bed and I had the urge to create a LEGO town for him. So while we watched some mindless shows I constructed on the coffee table. I only took a crummy nighttime iPhone picture and it was night, so I waited for Mr. Sun.

Saturday morning we moved it up to his room on the train table so he could expand it. I had to charge the camera battery before I could snap some up close shots. When I went up to snap some pics later in the day it appears Natezilla had destroyed the town when we weren’t looking. I was sad. There was some rebuilding but my heart wasn’t really into it after seeing all the destruction. Here are some shots of the parts I was pretty proud of.

Saturday Nate found Baby Jobby and played with her all day (except when she was napping and he destroyed a whole town). I bought Baby Jobby while pregnant with Nate because Wesley was asking for a doll. Nate found her neglected and naked in some corner. So I spent some time sewing up some diapers and a dress. Then we went out to buy another baby, there had been a feud, but came home instead with a bed for Baby after Wesley assured me they could share 1 baby and take turns.

I love how there’s a bunch of cars in the crib with Baby Jobby.

Oh and somewhere in all that we made heart shaped crayons for Wesley to give to his classmates. Thanks to Frugal Family Fun Blog for the tips on making them.

Well I have some cup cozy orders to finish thanks to my playful procrastination over the weekend!

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Posted in gifts, kid fun, other crafts, scraps, sewing

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Swap buddies buddied

Posted on January 27, 2011 by SewTara| 1 Comment
Using the very high tech system of writing names on pieces of paper and picking them out 2 by 2 I assigned partners.  You should have an email from me to you and your swap buddy.  Please email your partner at the email I’ve used and give them a mailing address for your goodies.  Let me know if you didn’t get an email, or if there’s a problem.
Kait & Erin S
Janee &  Wendy
Janet & Ashley Ann
The Mama & Grace
Wendy & Melissa
Andrea & Amber
Jessica & Tara
Wendy is in here two times, since she said she’d play twice.  She’s so awesome.  Some of you mentioned throwing bits of other things in your package and that’s totally cool but please make sure you have at least 10 oz of usable fabric bits and pieces.
I’m going to be posting project ideas to use these, and other scraps, as well as links to scrap busting ideas.

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Posted in repurposing, scraps, sewing, vintage

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Cheap easy gift/item tags.

Posted on January 24, 2011 by SewTara| 5 Comments

I’ve been floundering trying to decide on how to prettily package my items I sell.  I know it’s so fun to get something all wrapped up beautifully, it’s enough of a present to get your order, then it’s like another present to have it look beautiful.  It doesn’t determine wether or not I re-order from that person, but it does make me smile.

I absolutely adore all the MOO products I’ve accumulated but I’ve noticed it can get pricey to decorate your items with pretty packaging so I was looking for a inexpensive way to create some packaging and reusing things I already have is a bonus.

I gathered some paper stuff I had lying around, used envelopes, those return envelopes that for some reason still come with all the bills I pay online and some pages from an old atlas.  I cut them up into little rectangles sized to fit my SewTara custom stamp.

Then I SewTara’d one side, punched a hole at one end and used these cool kraft reinforcements I’ve had sitting around waiting for the perfect use.  You can also find white or coloured reinforcements in stores.

On the other side I stuck a small piece of Japanese washi tape to create a little canvas for my thank you message.

This would be a great technique for gift tags.  There’s even little ‘To: From:” stamps out there you could use if you didn’t want to just write it.  Every year when I pack away the Christmas decorations I keep the stack of cards we received.  Next year I’m going to turn those into tag for all our gift giving fun!

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Posted in DIY, gifts, papercrafts, repurposing, scraps, tutorial-ish

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Scrap Swap anyone?

Posted on January 21, 2011 by SewTara| 16 Comments

If you’ve been sewing for any amount of time you’ve already noticed how quickly scraps can accumulate.  If you’re anything like me, afraid to throw any little bit out in case you can use it later, you have a bunch lying around of various shapes and sizes.  Soooooooo I thought why not share the scrap love and do a little scrap swapping!?

Recently I went through my scraps and sort of organzed them into little piles.  I’ve been saving 4×4 inch japanese fabric scraps, well and to be honest I’ve ordered some from Etsy here and there, in hopes I can make a fun quilt some day.  I also spent some time cutting my scraps into 2×2 squares for some projects I have in mind.  I plan on featuring some fun tutorials to help you make use of your scraps, as well as link to some of the ideas already out there and maybe,  just maybe, a source of two in case you have a little scrap collecting problem like someone I know.

If you would like to participate just sign up here, I’ll keep taking names until Wednesday January 26th.  Then I’ll spend some time matching us all up while you prepare your bundle.  Make sure your correct email is in the comment, or enter it with your name when you say you want in.  Also, it might be fun to know where you live so we can mix things up a bit.  Probably won’t be too exciting if someone is matched with an almost neighbour, just in case you shop at the same fabric store!  Be ready to commit to shipping your scrap bundle by the end of the month, we’ll go with the 31st just to make it easy.  This will be open to everyone everywhere so please let me know if you object to international shipping and I’ll match you with someone in your country.

Ok, so the guidlines:

– scraps must measure at least 2 inches by 2 inches, there is no maximum size but it is supposed to help you destash your scrap bin so sending fat quarters probably won’t help with that.

– scraps must be unwashed, clean, and in usable condition

– scraps can be new fabric or vintage reclaimed pieces

– fabrics should be of relatively the same weight, cottons/linens/light canvas so allow for quilting and use in the same project

– send 10-ish ounces to your partner mailed by January 31st

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Posted in other crafts, repurposing, scraps, sewing

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