Fantastic Scrapbusting
The problem with making things is the unmaking.. Taking a beautiful whole piece of fabric which you love, and cutting into it, sealing its fate FOREVER!!! (or at least till you upcyle it.)
For every intentional piece you cut out, you create odd-shaped offcuts which (if you’re sensitive like me) results in no small amount of guilt and grief about all that those offcuts might have been.
Pretty early in my sewing life, my solution to this conundrum was to use only remnants and offcuts in my projects, giving purpose to those pieces which fate, and bigger sewing projects, were leaving behind. (I’ve broken this rule quite a few times in my 30+ years of sewing, but my remnant projects have always been the most fun, and satisfying.)
There were always scraps around, at home my mum always had small bundles of scrap fabrics tied up and stored in boxes sorted by colour (yes, my obsession with sorting haberdashery is by nature and nurture).
At school, there were always scrap bins in the sewing room.
At uni when we were working on product designs I would ask local manufacturers for their offcuts.
Fabric shops always have their remnant boxes to rummage through. ....and then there are all your sewing friends who are always offering their scraps and fabric pieces they don’t have room to store anymore.
All this has led to Stitch Kitchen stocking 6,000kgs of fabric scraps and remnants! A collection that grows by over 100kgs every week through fabric donations. That’s a bit more that I’ll get through on my own, even with help from our amazing team of volunteer sorters and makers.
Time to inspire others (ie YOU - thank you so much for putting your hand up!) to fall in love with using ‘scraps’, and let your creativity thrive while making the world more awesome by keeping these materials out of landfill. (Your friends and family will thank you too for the awesome gifts you give them too ;) )
Here is a collection of just a few fabulous things you can make using scraps, just to get you started (click on any of the images for more ideas - apologies to anyone who hates Pinterest):
If you’re more experienced in the art of scrap busting, here’s some extra inspiration from international designers and makers (because fashion is a funny thing and 80’s patchwork fashions are BACK) :
Running low on small scraps yourself? We are currently in the process of reducing our storage at the studio (to save a little on rent costs), and are GIVING AWAY FREE boxes of scrap fabrics!
Boxes are approx 7kgs of assorted sizes (from tiny to 30cm ish), colours and fabric types including knit and woven fabrics.
Simply drop into the studio during open hours and ask for a scrap box. To arrange pick up outside regular hours, please get in touch to let us know what times suit you and we’ll confirm with you.
