I use as many of my fabric scraps as I can, but as a professional dress designer, there’s always more than I can use myself.
I currently give some of the most interesting bits and about a third of the basic stuff, to a couple of local schools for their crafting and art use (but they don’t want all that much, just a bag or two a year), and the rest goes to a charity shop which can either sell them by the bag or if they’re really not terribly interesting, get some money for them from a scrap recycling firm. I think they turn them into roofing felt…
What do you do with your “waste” materials?
3 Likes
Great topic.
I wondered what to do with my stained glass scrap and asked and people said “make mosaic”. I don’t have time to mosaic as well as stained glass and fused but it gave me an idea.
I had pots and pots full, as to me, every tiny bit of glass is precious so I never throw any away (except the nasty little chips which get into your skin)
I now sell it on Ebay as scrap for mosaicing and the like in 750g tubs and charge 2nd class postage and it sells really well.
Waste not want not I say and it also frees me to be a little more generous in the size of scrap I throw away if it is going to a good home.
Scrap fused glass is collected separately and I crush it and make it into frit which I then use for decorating. Never throw any fused glass away at all.
6 Likes
The advantage of working in precious metals is that there is no such thing as waste or scrap. All bits of copper, silver or gold can be melted down and used again. The only thing is to ensure that you keep different alloys separate to ensure their purity. Even dust caught in the bench skin can be saved and recycled.
Sam x
4 Likes
Project Linus will accept small pieces of fabric, especially cotton, they are sorted and then made into quilts by an army of volunteers. I think the pieces need to be at least 2". There may be a branch in your area. Our local Project Linus then gives the quilts to local hospitals etc. I have two quilts on the go at the moment for this charity, and made 7 for them last year.
3 Likes
That would never have occurred to me!
I guess I could assemble “scrap bags” and sell them. I see some other designers do that, and someone (I’m not sure if it’s fb or on here) does beautiful hand dyed “inspiration” packs that I drool over, with laces etc. I’m talking about pure scrap for me - wee snipped sized oddments of silks, laces, satins and sequins, as well as various other fibres, including polyesters and the offcuts from shortening multiple pairs of trousers.
The only yarn I waste are the bits just a few inches long. I have a bag full of small balls and use them for adding stripes or contrast borders etc or a will make a scrappy crocheted blanket.
2 Likes
Have you ever tried making a random ball, Carol? Tie short lengths of random yarns together, to make a larger ball, and then knit with it. I made a bag (in my sold items) with this process and you can get really interesting stripes just with a simple stocking stitch. I’ve got a ball of odd blues and yellows sitting ready for the weather to cool down enough for me to pick it up again. It’s really nice seeing the steps where colours change suddenly mid row!
1 Like
Yep - you’re probably in one of the least waste craft areas Sam! Even mistakes (not that I’m implying you make any) can be melted down and reused.
1 Like
I’d been thinking about this recently. I quite often end up with odd shapes of dyed fabric that I can make into smaller items like purses or storage pouches but I’m accumulating quite a lot of smaller offcuts now. I quite like this idea of ‘scrap bags’ so might start building a few of those up.
When I used to make jewellery I would collect all my odd findings and charms and create ‘lucky dip’ bags and I used to sell them on here and on eBay and they were always popular.
3 Likes
I use the scrap from my dolls and doll’s clothes to make my little mice but I’ve got a big bag of tiny scraps, which I’m loath to throw away because I never buy the same fabric twice, so the scraps are so varied and pretty. I gave the last bag to the school but the scraps would be just the thing for a card maker.
3 Likes
If the yarn is of similar type, this would work. Otherwise you will have to change needles size and I wouldn’t think the knitting will look good. Well, not for me as I am a tight knitter.
2 Likes
I don’t really have any ‘waste’ since most of my yarns are natural and can be pricey. I use oddments of yarn to test new ideas and to make small items. I also use them to stuff something I am making for me or if I’m testing a new pattern. One time, though, I gave a bag of small balls of yarn to charity and might do it again.
3 Likes
Some of my fabric scraps I turn in to crazy patchwork. I recovered a workbox with some a couple of years ago. A close up of it is currently my shop banner!
Smaller scraps I have used to stuff draught excluders and cushions.
11 Likes
I do have a bugbear with one thing though. Why is it the suppliers seem to want to put everything in a plastic seal bag? I keep them all and I am now building up quite a supply. given that I end up polishing silver anyway, to get out the file marks, the plastic would seem to be unnecessary.
Sam x
2 Likes
Yes, I do that for the scrappy blankets. I have also been known to do it for a cardigan for myself which I just wear around the house 
2 Likes
I make gift tags - I pop them into parcels for repeat customers sometimes and will make into packs and sell at craft fairs. Too much faff to photograph and sell online as they are just random bits!!
6 Likes
I’ve had some of your lovely tags before Dottie and they have been so useful to pop onto presents throughout the year!
All of my unfired clay waste can be re-claimed. I put it all into a big dustbin and add water. It then turns to slushy clay which you dry out on plaster bats and re-wedge into useable clay again
4 Likes
I use all my left over pieces of fabric right down to small pieces in patchwork items or for embellishments. The yarn gets made into scrappy blankets and sent to Battersea for the cats and dogs.
2 Likes
Scrap bags for fabric are really popular at the moment. My friend ran a stall at her quilting group, fill a freezer bag for £1 and they made over £100. Use my paper scraps for small die cutting and tag making.
4 Likes
