Carol here.
I tend to hang on to little scraps of fabric, textiles and fibers that I like or that have special meaning to me...others would
trash them.
Nope, not me. I've been known to retrieve treasures from the trashcan as well.
Evidently I've done this my entire life...my mom used to call me "Trashcan Annie" (even though I'm not sure who she is). I couldn't bear to let some things go.
I will occasionally pull a handful of scraps out and make something out of them. They make quick and colorful backgrounds to layer other interesting things on top of.
Take this pile of black scraps I had.
I really wanted a smaller black shoulder bag but couldn't find one the right size.
I pulled out a piece of
Roc-Lon Multi-purpose cloth that my friend
Ruth Chandler gave me and set to work.
As usual, I do things the hard way - no plan, hardly a sense of direction - just jump in and pay the cost later.
The physical activity of sewing those scraps on was soothing to me, helped me to think about what I wanted to do and how I would do it.
I did figure out a general size that I wanted and filled the piece of Multi-purpose cloth up with all the trim, fabric, leather, lace, sheers and textiles that I could cram on it.
The Multipurpose cloth is wonderful! You can cut it and not worry at all about fraying edges! I simply cut the shape of the flap I wanted and sewed the side seams together. I did stitch the entire flap edge with a zig zag to cover most of the white of the base cloth.
I decided (as an after thought) to add a liner with two inside pockets- I'm sure that it would have been much easier to add one before the entire bag was made...but I made it work.
There are no mistakes to me, only more opportunities to
screw something else up , um I mean to flex my design muscles.
You have to be brave if you're going to design your own "stuff", don't you?
I had an old drawer pull from my mom's house that I had been saving for "just the right project" and I think that this purse just screamed for it.
I used large "O" rings from an old purse for the shoulder strap (gotta recycle ya know) and finished up the new black shoulder bag.
I took it for a trial run to a couple of stores and judging by the looks that women gave it (plus a couple of compliments) I think I have a hit.
So - here's another idea to use up all those scraps that I know a lot of you are hanging onto!
I hope that everyone is having a peaceful and sane holiday season.
Take time to rest, reflect and remember to flex your creative muscles.
