November 11 - Fun with an Iron

There were some great finds in my scrap bin today! I came across a package of onesies and some leftover Heat N' Bond material. Put them together, and I can make a gift for my friend's 1-week-old baby.

I began with the Heat N' Bond material.



I came across this jean flower in my scraps, so I cut out of a piece of the Heat N' Bond to match its size and trimmed it to fit exactly.



I then followed the directions on the package to stick the jean flower to the adhesive material. After that, I placed it right where I wanted it to be on the onesie.



I set my iron to medium with no steam and pressed the iron to the flower for about 10 seconds.



Done!



I was so pleased to not only use scrap fabric for this project, but also scrap Heat N' Bond material and the random onesies! Win. Win. Win. :)

November 10 - Cupboard Cleaner

I love how ingenious this one is and also how simple it is! I attended a screening of the film Miss Representation last night and didn't have time to sew. Luckily this project didn't require sewing!

I like to cook with olive oil, but inevitably the bottle leaks no matter how carefully I try to pour or how carefully I try to put the top back on the bottle. I learned a new way to use an old sock that will help keep my cupboard clean!

First I pulled this old, sad sock from my scrap bin. It has a pretty big hole at the heel.



I placed the bottle inside the sock, with the bottom of the bottle at the toe.



I measured how far up the bottle I wanted the sock to go, then trimmed off the top.



Now I have a way to stop drips before they ever hit the cupboard shelf.

November 9 - Picnic Napkins

I have a confession. The material I'm using today wasn't scrap fabric from my scrap bin. I purchased it. BUT, I purchased it from the remnants bin at a fabric store...does that count as scrap fabric? Either way, you can see how great it is. I couldn't resist!

This fabric screamed to be picnic napkins. We were given a lovely picnic basket for our wedding complete with plastic plates, forks, knives, and spoons; however, it had no napkins. These will be perfect.



I started by folding over the fabric, then cutting it in half. I then divided that to make eight 10" squares.



I pieced together two squares at a time with the outsides facing each other.



I then began sewing all the way around. Just when I was about to the end, I stopped so I could turn the piece inside out.

I finished off the napkin by top-stitching around the edge. This also conveniently covered the spot where I turned the fabric inside-out!

Now, one thing that was tough about this fabric is that the pattern is all squares. I did my best to line up the fabric properly, but something was a little off, and you can tell. My napkins aren't quite perfect, but that will let people know they are homemade. :)

November 8 - Coat of Many Colors

This is another project great for smaller scraps. I did this activity with a group of Kindergarten, First, and Second graders during a 1-week course I taught last year.

There's a book by Dolly Parton based on her song "Coat of Many Colors." I found it at the local library, but you can also buy it here. The story is about a young girl whose family is poor, but her mamma makes her a winter coat out of a bunch of scraps from the neighbor's rag box. The little girl is very proud of her coat. The book also references Joseph's coat of many colors from the Bible.

I began by making a coat cut-out for each child. I free-handed the picture, but you can find many images just by searching the Internet. From there, I cut small squares of fabric from scraps and remnants. I gathered lots of glue bottles, and I was set to go!

I gave piles of scrap fabric to each child, and they designed their coat of many colors by gluing the scrap fabric to the jacket. It was a great activity for multiple ages: the kindergartners were lucky if they got the fabric on the jacket, and the second graders could make complex patterns.

We had a great time bringing the story to life. I hope you can share this activity with some children in your life!

November 7 - Snowball Ornaments

Tis the season to be thinking about Christmas. I thought up a fantastic way to use up small pieces of leftover fabric.

I cut up some old sweatshirt material fabric into thin strips, all roughly the same size. I would like to point out that this material is leftover from my 8th grade Home Ec class project...which I made approximately 17 years ago. I'm a saver, what can I say? This fabric was a good choice for this project because the edges don't shed threads.


Once the pieces were cut, I put them in a small pile and tied a string around the center very tightly. I cinched it up and it quickly made a small snowball.


I may use these as Christmas tree ornaments...


...or as present toppers instead of bows.



Do you have any other uses for these snowballs?