Sunday, June 28, 2015

Recycling and Upcycling / Dog Beds

When I started quilting, I threw away tiny bits of fabric scraps. You know, these pieces


I kept bigger pieces without re-cutting them. We all know what that means; an overflowing basket with scraps. I had to attack it and started cutting into squares the size from 2 up to 5 inches as well as 1.5 inch strips, which has resulted in boxes with squares! 
This is just about half of the  squares I have cut, except one box that contains patterns (I most probably never will use!). 


By not throwing away anything from quilting, I have collected 4 (#5 is filling up) big plastic bags with tiny scraps


'Old', but still usable bed sheets, pillow cases and curtains


I made an inner pillow from old pillow cases and filled it with 5 kilos / 11 pounds (!) of scraps! 


Fill it up as much as you want and close it. I machine stitched it. Make the outer pillow the same size and close it the same way. 
Voila!


One dog bed done! 


Approved! :) 
I wonder who likes it the most though?! :) It looks like I have to make one for the cat too! 
I have made two dog beds, but haven't given it to them yet. Both dogs need a shower, but I want to wait for a sunny day. It's 'winter' here now and meteo has predicted showers and wind today, so I'll have to wait for better weather. 

Have you ever realized how much fabric (scraps) we throw away? I haven't put all these plastic bags on the scale, but I used two of the bags and they were 10 kilos (22 pounds) together - I have used 5 kilos (11 pounds) in each dog bed. If you know the weight of 1 yard fabric........... Well, I think you can easily do the math! :) 

5 comments:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I always throw those tiny bits away also, I wonder how many bags I could have accumulated over the years :) I do cut my small pieces into squares though until I get to under one inch

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

What a good use for scraps Astrid!

Hilachas said...

What good ideas you have given us for dealing with fabric scraps. I save them too but never know quite what to do with them. Thanks!

Karen S said...

Great way to make use of something we do usually toss out. I often used to make dog beds but didn't think of my sewing scraps for stuffing.
Thanks for the idea.

JM in Toronto said...

The Community Quilting group that I belong to makes the "scrap" bags with all of the cuttings from the kits and projects we prepare. One of the ladies makes the most adorable "bags" for us to stuff - most are from a cat print fabric or have a cat appliqued on them. I know the cats don't care, but we all think they're great! Our pillows go to local cat shelters.