Saturday, July 26, 2008

Fabric Organization

Those of us who sew have a constant battle on our hands - how to deal with our fabric leftovers. After buying and storing precious yardage we all hate to actually throw some of it away. A friend came up with the answer the other day and I have moved her idea into the path all fabric takes in this household. Here then is the life and death of fabric in my home.

Step One - usually yardage or at least fat quarters. Yardage is kept on wooden hangers, fat quarters folded neatly in drawers with other bits up to one yard in length. There it ages until ready to be used.

Step Two - something is made from the suitably aged fabric. The bits that are left over after the project is done get sorted into five subsets. Those are:
  • bits big enough for more projects are put back on the hangers or into the drawers.
  • bits big enough for other projects but I can't stand any more are sorted into a shopping bag for giving away to a charitable project that sends fabric to a sewing initiative in Mexico.
  • bits big enough to use but not even a quarter of a yard are sorted into one of two bins - one for quilting weight cottons and the other for everything else.
  • bits too small for re-use plus all the trimmings from a project are placed in an old sweatshirt for the making of a dog bed for a local animal shelter.

Step Three - fabric is used until it make its to the dog bed stage when I am finally done with it.

In the end, nothing is actually tossed out. Even bits of batting are saved for dog beds. The dog bed idea came from my friend who has been saving stuffing for months. I decided I could make my own dog beds and pass them on already completed. The dog beds are made out of old sweat shirts of which I have several. The neck and arm holes are sewn up. The bed stuffed through the waist opening and the whole thing sewn up. Alex and the girls have vetted the one I have completed as quite comfortable and, as yet, they have not destroyed it. I think its a little lumpy but the doxies don't mind. And, before you go looking for a cute picture, I have tried many times today to get one of them on the bed I have completed but they have thwarted my efforts.

Another time.

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