Who doesn’t love a scrappy project?
Not just the look of them but also the fact you’re squeezing a little bit more life out of your much loved fabrics.
(found here)
(Downside: it encourages scrap hoarding. Big time.)
This technique can be used with scraps of almost any size – these fabric tiles are one inch squares.
My cutting template came from an empty plastic milk bottle. I wrapped it in waste cloth and warmed it under a low iron to relax the curve, then stashed it under a big stack of heavy books until cool. Opaque plastic works best as you can easily trace a template straight from the grid on your cutting mat.
Trace a bunch of shapes on the paper of your double-sided appliqué interfacing:
Then iron onto the wrong side of your scraps:
Let cool and then cut them out.
Another great thing about one inch fabric tiles is that it’s easy to test out designs on your cutting board, using the grid as a guide.
Replicate the one inch grid on your chosen backing fabric with water soluble marker:
One of the problems with fixing the tiles in place is the need to put waste cloth on top of them before ironing. If you lay them all out it is near impossible to keep them all in position as you place on the cloth – so I iron mine on one line at a time.
I just iron each line lightly and quickly, enough so they won’t move, then move on to the next line (don’t use steam or your water soluble grid will disappear).
Once I have all the lines in place I then give the whole piece a thorough going-over with steam or a bit of water on the cloth to make sure those suckers are well stuck.
I like to further fix my squares with hand sewing and always draw a guiding grid because I am terrible at keeping straight.
Then it’s up to you what you want to do with it! It’s a very colourful, scrappy canvas for whatever purpose you decide.
I chose to embroider over mine. I sketched out a design and used the old window light-box trick to trace it onto my canvas. (If your design is very fine this method won’t work so well, the tiles make it hard to trace though.)
It takes a little more effort to bunch through the extra layer of fabric, but nothing too difficult.
And it’s now having a lovely time in its new home in New Zealand. Hi Sarah!
So if you’re holding on to those last tiny scraps of Mendocino or Flea Market Fancy (original issue), why not put them to use so you can enjoy them everyday?
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Very nice! I love the idea of making the template. What is “waste cloth”? This idea is genius! Thanks
Any cloth you’re not going to be upset about if it gets ruined (by excess glue in this case). It could be a fabric you don’t like or something like an old tea towel or scrap from an old shirt, etc.
Such a cute idea! I may have to suggest this post in my December gifting ideas!
So clever. Thank you. However, as you said, it’s hard to throw away the tiniest scrap; with this new tut, it will be impossible.
Guess I’ll be saving more plastic containers. Ho Ho. I love it!
I love this project, what size hoop did you use?
sorry I meant Kirsty–have a wonderful day!!
OMG I have a bunch of triangles of gorgeous Art Gallery Fabric leftover from a quilt.(.Knew I was hoarding them for a reason) how cute would this be using up some of those —love it..and love that I am posting after @Maureen Cracknell Handmade (my latest idol)..thanks so much Kristy..your site is luscious…cannot wait to dive right into it!
Thanks Leslie! Enjoy using up every last bit.
This is really awesome Kirsty!! I love the way it looks with and even without the embroidery — very cool! ;)
Beautiful and very inspirering!!!
Thank you!
Merci Stéphanie!
What a great idea,I have a mountain of scraps that I just can’t dump.Going to o mosaics .x
Oh cool, thanks for sharing the tute for this!
C’est une super idée – merci de l’avoir partager avec nous!
Je te souhaite une belle journée
Meilleures salutations de la Suisse :-)
Stéphanie
Ah, cela me rappelle quelque chose….
Great tutorial, and the result is so pretty!!!
Très jolie Tour! I just organized all my scraps ;) Will have to give this idea a try.
Love the bon jour! Cute!!
how on earth do you do it girl. i turn my back for a few weeks and return to find all manner of travel stories, amazing pics, crafting goodness and shenanigans of four wee kiddies. i’m worn out (and a wee bit envious) just reading and drooling. missed you xx
You are such a clever girl!! Your projects are are always so unique and striking!