January Stashbusting: Itty Bits

Dear readers, my apologies for disappearing for a bit and not answering your lovely comments on my last couple of blog posts! I've turned into a Regency era sewing manic this last week after I realized that I not only had a ball gown to make, but also a day dress for the afternoon tea, plus a reticule and bonnet. I had grand plans to make a pelisse as well, but a whole Regency wardrobe in two weeks might  have been a bit too ambitious. As it stands, I've got the day dress finished, most of the ball gown (missing sleeves and final hemming and trimming), and most of the bonnet (also missing the trimmings). My hand is cramped from all the hand-sewing, even though most of my seams are done by machine. I don't know how actual seamstresses in the day managed to do everything by hand, and on a tight schedule, too!

Anyway, after all the intensity of historical sewing, I decided that I needed a break from staring at the same two pages in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion and checking my Pinterest compulsively for pictures of extant gowns. I pulled out my scrap bag and whipped up a couple of pouches for all the sundry items that get lost at the bottom of my big purse. Sadly, these pouches hardly made a dent in my significant scrap pile, but I just tell myself I have to start somewhere.

The outer fabric is from my Ms. Frizzle dress; the cotton twill is sturdy enough that the pouch feels substantial even without interfacing or fleece lining. I ended up using scraps from my Alice in Wonderland dress as lining. The zippers are 7" ones that came in a big grab bag, and I'm unlikely to use them for anything else so technically even the notions are part of the stashbusting! There are a million lined zipper pouch tutorials out there so I won't bother with writing up my process; I'll just say that it was a relief to only sew straight lines and not have to worry about fitting or a historically accurate silhouette. I didn't even bother trying to aim for a specific finished size, just started sewing without a plan!

Bonus stashbusting: I used up all the scrap bias tape (and some ribbon) I had left over from other projects to make some pattern weights! Goodbye cat food cans, hello pretty fabric-covered washers! Thanks to JillyBe for the tutorial/idea. 

Pouch-making appetite whetted, I dove back into the scrap bag and pulled out scraps from my hobbit skirt, some red fleece, some striped jersey scraps, and another random zipper, but this time I specifically wanted one in white, with metal teeth. I needed this combination because...

Every time I see this adorably derpy face, I just laugh. 

Bwaaaah! 

I think the choice of red fleece for his maw was spot on...it just makes it so much creepier!

I can't take credit for this adorable idea, though; I saw it here first, and it's been on my "Crafts to Make" list for ages. It took a while to figure out how to make the zipper extend out, and even now it's still pretty ugly up close, with lots of dubious hand stitching to close up awkward gaps (darn! to think I was trying to give my hands a break!). Still, I'm pretty pleased with myself. Even Mr. Cation was impressed, and that's saying something.

Okay cats, everyone stick out your tongue and make a derpy face! 

So that's my small stashbusting step for January...itty bits indeed! I actually started teaching myself to sew by making zippered pouches, and I'd forgotten how fun it is to finish a project in less than an hour. After spending 20+ hours on one dress, it's a relief. What about all of you stashbusters out there? How do you use up those tiny scraps, or do you just toss them?


Incidentally, if you're wondering if it's too late to join the Stashbusting Sewalong, the answer is it's never too late! You can join anytime, and you don't have to follow our themes if you don't want to. This is one of those commit-only-as-much-as-you'd-like kinds of sewalongs; the bottom line is as long as you're using stash fabrics, you're golden.