When I was a little girl learning to sew, my mom would give me her scrap fabric. My mom is not what you would call a fabric hoarder at all, but she did sew a lot for us, and so there was a big box of scraps for me to use. And from that was born this tip about how to store your scrap fabric.
You see, sometimes I’d make pillows for my dolls. And sometimes when I got the itch to do this, there wasn’t stuffing at the house. If you’ve ever read one of my posts with horses (like this one, or this one) you know I grew up out in the country. Which meant I got to have horses. But it also meant that the fabric store was anywhere near us. Also, I have two younger brothers. Now that I’m a mom to two boys, I can completely sympathize with why she wouldn’t want to take us to the fabric store.
Where is this all going? Well in order to stuff my pillows, I would turn to the same scrap fabric box that I used to make the pillows.
So those zipper pillows from yesterday? Yup, full of scraps.
And because I now have a lot more fabric (and therefore scraps) to store, I’ve taken it a step further. My zipper pillow colors were purposely chosen to coordinate with the fabric I wanted to stuff them with. So the blue pillow is holding blue and blue print scraps, the gray/black/white pillow has my gray, black and white fabrics.
That’s also why I used zippers – easy access to the scraps when I need them!
See, I told you I had something up my sleeve (or, more accurately in my pillows) that related to organization with that tutorial yesterday!
Renee
This cracks me up yet is so smart!
Anne
You are an evil genius!!! I am now predicting piles of throw pillows mysteriously showing up in my living room. LOL. I’ve got a Craft Gossip post scheduled for later today that links to your post: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/idea-file-melissas-genius-fabric-scrap-storage-system/2014/01/15/
On a totally unrelated note, I have that same embroidery machine. –Anne
Felicia
I adore this idea! I have all this scrap fabric and stuff to be upcycled that is taking up room in my closet at the same time I am in dire need of seat cushions for my desk chair and bar stools. I can’t wait to get started on these.
Rose D. Frenchtown, NJ
Brilliant!
nicole
I need that fabric, with the women on it. Where can I get it????
StacieMakeDo
I love that fabric, too! And the storage pillow idea is fab.
Alicia
Ditto! Where can I find that??
Melissa Mora
It’s from Robert Kaufman’s Glamour Girls line. It was sold out in a lot of places when I bought it, but you could do a search.
nicole
I found the fabric on fabric.com!!!! Sooooo in love!
Minou
I love the idea! I have so many scraps I’d have to make about a million pillows or one the size of the moon, but I love the idea! 😉
EmSewCrazy
I laughed to myself when I saw what you had done! Great idea! Sneaky you!
crystal
adorable idea!
AnaJan Stepalica
Great idea! And I could use a thicker chair cushion for my sewing room.
Vickey Gerrish
What a wonderful idea! Never would have thought of it! I have a stash of zippers also! Hmmm……
Tiffany @ The Little Waffleflower
This is such a brilliant idea! I just moved my craft room to a bigger space in the house, and I’m hoping to maybe have a small couch down there at some point. I could have lots of fun throw pillows in different colors now, and they’d be fully functional! 🙂
Jo
This is such a great idea!
Faye Nettles
I love the pillows but cannot for the life of me imagine sitting on them. My old behind can only imagine lumpy and not smooth. It is lumpy and not smooth on it’s own. Cute idea though.
Diane
That’s just what I was thinking! :):)
Courtney
Genius!! I love that they are color coordinated!
Carey ~ Gypsy Thread
The color coordinating part is genius! Even if I wasn’t using them for cushions, storing and sorting fabric that way would be both practical and fun. Excellent idea. Thank you.
Mary
What a great idea! So simple and clever — and fun!
Jess the Sewing Rabbit
GENIUS!!! Wow, seriously – this is fantastic Melissa!!!
Peggy
Love the scrapy pillows idea. Have plenty of zippers to use too.
ScottieLee
I am in shock! I am dreaming of a different world now! My husband and I live in a VERY shall I say rustic country home, and I am always looking for new ways to store my crafting supplies. I have almost 3 rooms in our country home that are never used so it tends to get cluttered quickly. I live in the middle of nowhere so a trip to any store is at least 30 minutes, so I know what you must have felt! I have been searching and searching for ways to organize and store everything and this is the AW most inspiring post I have seen so far! Thank you so so so much, you are a genius!!
Pauline
fabulous idea!!
Pauline
Amy
I found a pillow stuffed with clothing – slips,shirts, etc. Guess you could store anything in a pillow!
wendy
Yes .maybe I should do a scrap sofa…..no one would ever know. ….
Linda
Talking about thinking outside the Box! This is absoulty awesome!
Emma Carpenter
Clevverrr!!
Diane
That is so genius. All my fabric is in the attic until I use it (SAD face). In Jan I’m hoping to clean out the office/JUNK room (it has another name in our house) and this would be great! Tho plain old pillowcases w/o zippers would help me organize too. Would save on plastic bins! And LOL, my problem is that Joann is just a few miles away from my house! So much pretty fabric/projects – so little time……
Barbara Gilbert
We are very seriously considering selling our house and becoming full-time, country-crossing, retiree RVers, so there won’t be a lot of space for my many tubs of fabric, but there will be chairs, and there will be hidden storage, thanks to you! It may not even be scraps that I stash; I’ve pretty much stopped that unless a fabric is exceptional. Perhaps I’ll use up those exceptional ones to make patchwork pillow covers! I do fold all my fabrics on a foam core board so they are a uniform size in the cubbies where I keep them, so a pillow cover for that size would be perfect additional storage. The difficult stuff is Peltex and foam interfacing. Peltex could go under the mattress, but Flex foam is a challenge. Any thoughts on those? I primarily enjoy bag-making, so not using them isn’t an option.
Debby
This is BRILLIANT! Oh my gosh thank you SO MUCH for this great idea! I’m an avid sewer, and use my scraps to make quilts for the homeless. I try to piece those together as I go along, but sometimes it’s too busy to piece those quilts together right away. This will be a fabulous way to manage the scraps in the meantime. Thank you thank you thank you!