This has been quite an exciting week for my blog! The internet world approves of my Gallifreyan blinds, yay! I’ll ride the wave while it is here and enjoy it. Thanks to Nerd Approved and The Mary Sue for liking my work! Hopefully some of my upcoming tutorials will be just as enjoyable for the nerd/geek world.
Ok, now onto the fabric inspiration. There are a ton of generic fabric scrap ideas out there, so I’m going to focus my blog choices to things that have a bit of a geeky flare to them today. If you want to see some of the more mundane ideas, head on over to my pinterest board for inspiration there.
Steampunk Softees
These are pretty awesome if you ask me. This is one of two steampunk softees that I’ve made myself. She is made with left over suede from a pillow (the hair) and some suiting that Earl used to make one of his suits (the body). This is cheating a little bit since all the patterns are available in Sarah Skeate and Nicola Tedman’s book: Steampunk Softies: Scientifically-Minded Dolls from a Past That Never Was. I figure it’s ok though, since Make: featured the bookand they posted a free pattern to make Marvaletta O’Houlihan, who just happens to be the softee I made above. They require a bit of hand stitching and a few findings, but I think they are pretty awesome way to use up those little fabric scraps that are always left over at the end of a project. And they make awesome stocking stuffers or birthday presents for the right person.
Make a Quilt Block
Quilt block are really multi-functional. You can use them to make a quilt if you really want, or you can just make a single block and frame it as a photo. Or you can add some heat-resistant batting to it and use it for a pot holder. Or you could frame it with terry cloth and turn it into a towel for your bathroom. Or you could integrate it into a simple bag. Ok, I’ll stop now. But my point is you can do lots of stuff with quilt squares. And there are a ton of really cool and nerdy patterns out there. This beautiful weeping angel came from Whims and Fancies. I also suggest going to Fandom in Stitches and checking out some of their free patterns. They have patterns for Lord of the Rings, Dr. Who, Harry Potter, and even The Muppets.
Make a Tribble!
This one only works if you have furry fabric from something, but still, tribble. You could also cut up an old stuffed animal that you don’t want anymore. I’m not sure why, but the idea of cutting up a stuffed animal to make a tribble seems somewhat cannibalistic. Torie at Tor.com has an awesome step by step tutorial on how to go about making the pattern, cutting your fabric, and sewing it all together. All in all it’s pretty easy and I suggest you go check it out and make a tribble (or several hundred, they do breed worse than rabbits you know).
Make a Dalek pincushion
This wicked cute Dalek pincushion was part of a craft swap at craftster.org. No pattern, but I think the idea is really great and I imagine if you were sewing inclined you could probably improvise. The best part is that you could make your Dalek with whatever color leftover fabric you have!
How about a Brain Pincusion?
This tutorial at Tiny Little Life makes use of a piece of scrap fabric, some piping cord, and the Hilbert curve to make a brain pin cushion. It looks so cool. I also love that she used math to make brains. It’s just so… apropos.
Make a minion
Everyone needs minions, right? If you have the right colors, you could make this minion phone cozy to keep with you all the time! She uses felt, but you could use some regular cotton and line it with batting if you wanted as well. The tutorial goes step-by-step through the process and if you are using felt it’s really pretty easy. Check out her archives as well, she’s got some pretty cool stuff there. Her Angry Bird Ornaments also fit the bill for a scrap fabric project.
I hope you got some inspiration from these posts! Fabric scraps can be used for some pretty awesome small projects. If you want to see some more fabric scrap ideas don’t forget to check out my pinterest board for scrap fabric ideas. What do you do with your scrap fabric? Let me know in the comments below, and thanks for tuning in!