Recycling with Needlework Crafts from Flea Markets, Thrift Stores and Garage Sales

  

Skirt from Peru has applique and embroidery.

You've seen the cost of sewing thread, lace and all things wonderful for sewing and crafting at the fabric store. Whether you can afford these sewing notions isn't the question. They add to the cost of sewing and needleworking as a hobby, and take away some of the thrill of the bargain. You can find wonderful fabrics and embellishments for your crafts projects at the thrift store. Use your creativity to recycle them into something splendid. 

Go Thrifting

Many thrift shops are operated by non-profit organizations to help those who need. Some of the thrift stores in Texas help hospice-care patients and others are operated by church groups to provide food or financial assistance to families. Whatever the purpose, some of these are ideal crafter's hideaways. 

Small Fabrics

Scarf prints and fabrics are fashionable this summer, "Good Housekeeping" reports in the June 2012 issue. The thrift store usually has a bin of scarves or they may even have them hanging on a rack. You're interested in scarves you can use for crafts and sewing projects. Most scarves have a tiny tag near a corner that identifies the country of origin and the fabric. Skip the polyester and fine silk scarves unless you have a special project for them. Look for the heavier fabrics such as rayon or cotton. Rayon scarves may feel rough, almost like a fine wool and are often 36 inches square. Cotton scarves have a bandanna look and weight. These are scarves you can use for crafts, quilts or fancy pillows. Colorful hankies are another small fabric item you'll want to check at the thrift store.

Large Fabrics

Some thrift stores have donated fabric and crafts and sometimes thread, but you'll want to check out large fabrics. The bedding section has bedspreads and comforters. Don't look at them as bedspreads, but envision them as fabric for your crafts. You don't even have to rip the seams -- just cut within half an inch of the seam to get a large flat piece of fabric for crafting.

Check out the embellishments. Eyelet is expensive at the fabric store, but you may find a comforter or even a sheet with eyelet around the edge -- more eyelet than you'll need for most crafts projects.

Look at the clothing. You don't care about the size -- you're looking for lace, artistic designs and pieces you can use for crafts. Machine embroidery around the bottom of a skirt or dress makes a border print for crafting.

Check the artwork. Framed needlework crafts are usually in with the framed art and you may find something you can recycle. Old embroidery, cross-stitch and blackwork can be washed and made into a pillow or added to your next decorated shirt or skirt.

The picture at the top is applique from Peru and is part of a denim skirt found at...you guessed it -- the thrift store.  

Using Your Finds 

Embroidered pieces with damage on the outer edges can be cut out as appliques. Just leave half an inch or so around the edge of the design area. Stitch around the edge with the sewing machine where you want to fold it back for the applique and fold to the wrong side of the fabric on the stitching line. You can applique the piece in place by machine or by hand with tiny stitches.

Scarves make beautiful pillows. If you find a scarf that is smaller than you want for a pillow, cut matching fabric the size you want and sew the scarf in the center. If the scarf is larger than you want, you can cut the center for a pillow or cut mitered corners to use the border. A mitered corner has a 45-degree angle, or half of a right angle. It should look like this when you're done:

Make a Pillow from a Scarf

You'll want to mark the scarf into triangles. If you want a 12-inch pillow, you'll need a 28-inch scarf or larger. Measure 14 inches from the corner along the edge each way and mark a dot.  Strike a line joining the two dots to form a triangle. Measure from another corner and mark the dots and strike the line. Cut the two triangles off the corners of the scarf and stitch them together with a narrow seam for your pillow top. Fold the opposite corners right-side to right-side and make a "faux" seam diagonally to create the "X" down the center. Measure your piece and trim to 13 inches. You'll have an inch extra for stitching the back to the front, so you'll need to use 1/2 inch seam allowances all around the edge.

Mark Your Fabric into Triangles

Here's what you can do with a single large scarf -- either use the center for a pillow or use the corners. You may get two pillows from one large scarf, or possibly even three -- one from the middle and two from the corners. Have a great time crafting with recycled lace, embroidery, scarves and fabrics.

See you again SOON!  I was babysitting a few days while my daughter planted the garden, but managed to make some rounds to the thrift stores while in Arkansas.

Linda

Sewing Home Accent Pillows to Add Color and Splashst

This Fabric Square was Quilted and Added to Backing Fabric for a Pillow

Sewing Home Accent Pillows to Add Color and Splash


The new magazines show pillows as accents in nearly every room. The April 2012 Traditional Home has an article entitled "New + Next" subtitled "Patched for Perfection" with fabric ideas and fashionable colors. The April issue of Better Homes & Gardens shows pillows in the indoor-outdoor living area as well as pillow accents as color boosts for the bedroom.


Making a pillow is an easy task for anyone who likes to sew, as you can make the pillow as simple as you want. Let the fabric do the detailing, and purchase a pillow form. You don't even need a zipper. Start with a size that a pillow form will fit -- they usually come in 10 inch, 12 inch or 14 inch squares.


You'll need an extra inch of fabric for the front and 6 inches extra in one length of the back. For a simple fabric pillow in a 10 inch size, cut an 11-inch square for the front and use 1/2 inch seams all around. Cut the back 11 inches long and 16 inches wide. Cut that piece in half on the large side to make it 8 inches by 11 inches. Fold under (wrong side to wrong side of fabric) 1/4 inch and stitch near the edge for each of the center seams. Fold again at 1 inch and stitch close to the previous stitching.




Assemble pillow front to the back with straight pins, right sides together and working with the wrong side of the fabric up. Overlap the two back pieces where you've stitched so they fit the pillow front. The overlap should be about 2 1/2 inches. This overlap will allow you to place the pillow form in the cover and to remove the cover if you need to wash it.


Stitch around all four sides of the pillow edge and turn to the right side. Push the pillow form from the open center in the back into one side. Squeeze the pillow form into the other side.


Shopping thrift stores is a good way to find fabrics and even pillow tops that didn't get finished. I found some pieces that had batting and backing already stitched on a cotton fabric. It needed quilting to hold the batting in place, so I stitched around the design.


I was concerned that the edges weren't stabilized, so I stitched around the pinked edge with embroidery floss, using a lazy daisy stitch that looks like maybe a leaf or flower, or maybe chicken tracks. Here's the result, and it cost 25 cents and a pillow form. Use a complementary fabric for the back -- don't try to match the colors.

Stitched by Hand Around the Edge

Have a wonderful spring season with crafts and decorating projects. The season provides the inspiration and you are the designer.


Linda
cajunC

Quilting With Half Square Triangles Fabric Crafts

Quilt Made with Half Square Triangles

Fabric Crafts: Quilting with Half Square Triangles

Quilting with squares is a great place to start quilting, but triangles make more interesting designs. Triangles are nearly as easy to work with, and right-angle triangles are half of a square. Some quilting patterns suggest that you cut squares and divide them diagonally for triangles. You have to allow for the middle seam if you use that cutting method. The middle seam takes about 7/8 inch, so if you want 5 inch blocks, you'll need to cut 5 7/8 inch squares to cut diagonally for triangles.

Speed up your piecing. Make two units at a time if you want two-color triangles. Cut the squares, but don't cut them into triangles. Place a light square on a dark square and draw a line for the diagonal.

Stitch parallel to the diagonal on each side at about 1/4 inch distance from the line. Cut on the center line and press the seam toward the dark side. You have completed two units, each with a dark triangle and a light triangle.

Two-color triangle squares are easy to make and have so many possibilities for artistic construction for a pillow or quilt.

See How Half Square Triangles Work

Here's a little variation. This design has one single triangle for half the square, and four small triangles for the other half. The small triangles are 3 1/4 inch squares cut in half on the diagonal, and the seams are a scant 1/4 inch. Four 5-inch squares make the block you can use for a pillow with sashing all around, or make more blocks for a quilt.

There are four pieces in the pieced half triangle pictured here. You can use the same speedy procedure above to make the small dark and light square. Then add a triangle to each side and stitch the center seam to complete the square.

Look at the design difference just by moving the squares around.

Change Direction of the Squares

This gives you an idea of how half-square triangles create versatility in the quilting design. They are easy to work with and points that are sometimes difficult to match are not usually an issue with half-square triangle blocks. Maybe this is the inspiration you need to make a new pillow or quilt top.

I made the blue quilt for my daughter when she adopted two babies last year.

See you soon!

Linda

Practical Sewing For Your Home -- Recycle Crafts Sew Old Towels

Old Towels Make New Washcloths if You Sew

Practical Sewing for Your Home

Have you checked the price of bath towels, washcloths and hand towels? With the cost of household items so high, practical sewing will pay for your sewing machine in no time. Practical sewing includes alterations and recycling. Towels get a workout, and January is white sale month in many stores. If you need new towels, don't throw out the old ones. Use them wisely.

Towels often wear on the edges first, and you can only trim the fringe a number of times before the towel isn't quite fixable. That's when you need to make some washcloths or hand towels. Find a washcloth in a size you like to use for a pattern. Lay the towel flat on a cutting area and cut as many washcloths as you can from one towel. Cut squares, then round the corners.

Thread your sewing machine with thread matching the towel. Set the sewing machine for a close zigzag stitch, almost like a satin stitch and about 1/4 inch wide. If your sewing machine doesn't zigzag, fold about 1/4 inch seam allowance. Stitch around a washcloth and see how it works. If you have trouble with stitching around the edge or if the stitches gather the fabric, you can place a piece of white tissue paper under the stitching area. Once you stitch the washcloth, you can wet the paper and remove it.

Use a Satin Stitch or Close Zigzag to Sew Washcloths

If you use hand towels, you can also make hand towels from worn bath towels. Choose a hand towel in a size you like to use as a pattern. Lay the bath towel on a flat surface for cutting and pin the hand towel in place where the bath towel fabric is not worn. Cut about half an inch larger all around the hand towel pattern. Cut as many hand towels and washcloths as you can from the single bath towel. Fold 1/4 inch seam on the long side of the hand towel, and fold 1/4 inch seam again. Stitch each side of the towel with a straight stitch. Do the same for the ends, unless you want to add ribbon, lace or eyelet. If you choose to add a decoration, turn 1/4 inch under and stitch with a running stitch. Pin the decorative edge to the end of the hand towel and stitch again, turning the edge under on each side.

If you need new towels, purchase sale towels to match the washcloths and the hand towels you made. Your bathroom will have a new look and you'll have saved a substantial amount of money with little effort.

Hand Sewing Sock Doll Folk Art Crafts Instructions

Folk Art Dolls are Easy Hand Sewing

How to Make Sock Dolls Country Folk Art Fabric Crafts

You don't need a sewing machine to make sock dolls for gifts or for decorations -- you don't even need a pattern. Most of the sewing on a sock doll is best done by hand. These folk art dolls are fun and safe for small children. They bring a smile to the maker as well as the child, and you can add expressions with embroidery or fabric pen.

We used some old socks, quilting thread (it's stronger than regular thread), embroidery thread, a tapestry needle to make sock dolls for the two new babies in our family. We stuffed the dolls with cotton quilt batting so the babies won't be able to get hurt on the interior in case they get them apart.

You need two socks to make a sock baby that has a light-colored face and dark-colored body. Cut the toe off the light-colored sock about 4 inches up. Run a gathering thread with a running stitch and quilting thread around the cut area, but leave it open. Stuff the opening with cotton or whatever you have available that is safe for a child. Some children are allergic to Fiberfill. Stuff the sock so the cheeks are cheeky and the head is smaller at the top than the cheeks. Pull the thread to gather the head.

Handmade Sock Doll

Cut the dark sock straight across at the heel. Hand stitch with a backstitch from the bottom up in the center to make legs. Sew a running stitch around the top for the neckline. Stuff each side of the legs and the body. Pull the thread to gather the neck.

Match the size of the neck and the bottom of the head with gathers. Stitch by hand to join the head to the body.

Backstitch from the neck part of the way down to form an arm on each side.

Stitch eyes and a mouth with embroidery thread to give the little guys some personality. Use the top of the dark sock for a hat. Sew across the top or gather it on the wrong side and turn right side out. Stitch the hat to the head to keep it from getting lost.

Another Style of Sock Doll Completely Hand Sewn

Another Style Sock Doll

A single white sock can make a small doll. Imagine the sock heel as the doll's behind. Turn the sock wrong-side out and stitch a soft curve for feet. Cut the center piece between the feet to use for arms. Make arms in a closed tube shape and stitch around the edge. Turn the stitching to the inside and set the arms aside.

Turn the sock back to the right side and stuff to a couple of inches above the heel. Use a running stitch with quilting thread to make a gathering line for the neck. Pull it tight and use a strand of dental floss on the outside, knotted and ends cut short, to hold it tight. Stuff the head with more cotton or stuffing.

Leave about 1 1/2 inches of sock at the top. Use quilting thread and a running stitch in another line around the top of the head for gathers to close the top of the head. Tie the gathers with dental floss and turn the top down to create a hat.

Place a small amount of filler in the arms. Turn the fabric edge inside and stitch the arms to suitable spots on each side of the body of the doll.

Embroider eyes and lips. Your little sock doll is light-weight and easy for a small child to handle.

We hope you enjoy a wonderful holiday season and that your new year holds pleasant surprises and lots of crafting.

See you soon!

Linda