What do you do with selvage edges?

Selvage edges sewn together in long rows.

Even tiny pieces can become the start of something big!  The pieces in the middle were just large enough and colorful enough the use - I just couldn't send them to the rubbish bin.

Of course sometimes you need to cut the selvage wide enough to be able to sew it together - I was a little bit more generous with these edges because of the original project that they came from.

Here again are some tiny central pieces that were the beginning of this block.  As you can see I sewed these all together just going in circles, so to speak, until I was satisfied with the size of the block.

  So you have a bunch of selvage edges just laying around, just what do you do with them?  Why you sew them together to make a great piece of fabric.  Then you make the fabric into something useful or fun or perhaps something to hang as a piece of interesting wall art.  Sometimes you can even use it as a sew in non-stretch stabilizer on clothing items in seams that you don't want to stretch.  What ever you do with your stash of selvages they can be interesting challenges to find ways to use.  I myself am making runners for my table and maybe some hot-pads.  The pictures above show everything in progress.  This is a project that you can do a little bit here and there.  Before you know it you have a big piece of fabric that you might have otherwise tossed into the waste bin.  It will add color and visual texture to what ever you apply it to.  Check back to see what the finished product will look like, hopefully this weekend!

Trivet for Christmas a Wee Bit Late

Idea borrowed from Moda Bake Shop- Herringbone Hotpads original design by Melanie Dramatic

  From my previous post Mini Strips Project, this is on of  the results. It came from a  forty+ foot long strip of pieced red and green fabrics.  There were some random fabrics of different colors just to break it up a bit.  The idea came from Moda Bake Shop blog and was quick and easy to do.  I gave one each of these to my kids and my parents.  They are nice, thick and big enough to put on the table to sit hot plates on.  You can match them with your table settings or make them seasonal.   Here is a link to Moda Bake Shop: http://www.modabakeshop.com/