I am finally raking out the scrap bin in my sewing room and find that I have a mountain of big scraps of polar fleece. I guess I hung onto to them thinking that I should be able to do something with all the scraps but on the other hand they are very bulky and consume my space. Anybody have any ideas what to do with these scaps?
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Try cutting them into squares and sewing multi colored lap robes. I"m sure your local nursing home would love to have them for their residents. They would also make great gifts for older family members or children to cuddle up with.
A crazy quilt with scraps of fleece embellished with some of your machine stitches would make wonderful lap quilts or baby blankets. Women's shelters or veterans hospitals.........
Along with the other ideas, you could also patch them together, and then make a jacket (or jackets) for the women or children in a shelter.
Lots of great ideas so far!
Fleece scraps also make wonderful stuffing for toys and decorative pillows.
I make fleece pouches with velcro closures and attached lanyards for garage door openers, cell phones, reading glasses, sports equipment, bike locks, and other items that I want to protect and keep track of.
When patching fleece, you can overlay the scraps crazy-quilt style and topstitch everything. You can start in the center and work outward, or do strip-piecing very, very quickly. Check out websites for traditional crazy-quilting or strip-piecing for ideas; with fleece, you don't have to worry about seams or fraying!
Fleece scraps also work well when you're moving furniture or boxes across hardwood floors.
I make jackets for nieces and nephews out of the scraps by cutting sleeves, collars, and body pieces out of coordinating colors. For one jacket, I ended up piecing to get enough for the back but didn't have enough for a hem, so I fringed the bottom and tied a pony bead into every third thong of fringe. It was one of my niece's favorites and it was all leftovers.
I love the idea of the fleece patchwork jacket body with other fabric for the sleeves. I've a small piece of corduroy that I was wondering how I was going to use it, and now I know. It'll the sleeves in my 10-year old granddaughter's new fall jacket.
Everyone had great ideas for you, but nobody mentioned using them for appliques on clothing or quilts. Just cut out different shapes & zig-zag them on. You can also make small toys or multi-coloured balls (stuffed with fibrefill) for babies, or Christmas tree ornaments or decorations (swags, angels, stars, deer, etc.).
If you get really desperate to get rid of your scraps quicly, many hospital foundations, churches, the YWCA, etc. have sewing groups who sew for charity & they would be very happy with the donation.
Gloria
You could shred them for stuffing your dress form to your size
The neat thing about fleece is that you can substitute it for felt in many craft items. As long as you are not using it for pot holders or oven mitts, it can be used as heat mats for tables too. Cathy
I had tons of left over fleece from all the throws and robes that I have made for my large family and decided to make 2 patched fleece pillows but my pillows ended up being beds for my dog and my cat and they just love them.
If you have long thin strips, you can fold several in two, tie the bunch together at the top by looping thread or string around it several times. And after trimming and cutting the strips even thinner you can have a free colorful approximation of a feather duster. In fact fleece attracts dust both as a dust cloth or a replacement for the Swifter cloth on those floor sweepers. If it can attract dog hair when I wear fleece as a jacket it sure should attract it on my floor !!
Did anybody mention fringe, pompoms, or fake flowers? In a buying frenzy one day, I purchased a grab bag of fabric that turned out to be 10" wide scraps the store had used to demonstrate a circle cutter. I got both the 10" strips and the circles and nearly cried when I saw what was inside. A year later it's nearly all been turned into handbags, and the circles make the best faux corsages.
Pompoms are much easier made with fleece because you just have to roll and tie a strip and clip it on both sides to the width/length you want.
Hats and mitts for preemies at your local hospital or hats for cancer patients or lap quilts for day treatment at kidney/cancer cllinics.
For outdoor play, a sun shade with gromets to tie up to trees or play equipment. If you use nylon thread it will be pretty sure to last at least the entire summer, if not longer.
They make the best dust cloths!
I did see short strips sewn in the middle to a base fabric to make 'shag' rugs. These could be really fun for young kids' rooms.
Bean bags!
Some people have never seen a bean bag, and can't believe they're filled with real beans!
Edited 6/28/2008 10:01 am ET by Kriya
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