Working through my fabric stash

Recently I wrote about my fabric stash, and I've also shared some of the projects that I have been working on. I thought I'd do a little round up of some of the things that I've made so far!

The garden bunting was my first project. It hangs at the entrance to my vegetable patch and I love seeing it when I go in to do the watering. I know that it won't last forever but I'm hoping it will make it through a few seasons.

 

These were my first large zipped pouches and I'm very pleased with them. They make great project bags, and use up scraps of fabric which I really like to look at. The flowery one is for Mia, she uses it to take her iPad and notebooks round with her if we are going visiting. I am using the other one for my current long term cross stitch project.

I've already shared these next projects - the first is a small fabric storage bin. I'd like to make more of these although I will need to buy some more interfacing. Interfacing isn't too expensive, but I want to work with what I have already first! These are a pretty way to store things, and I might also use some of my less loved fabric to make storage bins for inside drawers.

Secondly, these laundry bags were a great way to use some of my larger pieces of fabric. They look a bit mismatched but they are very practical, I've been using the smaller one to store the dirty clothes for my weekly white wash instead of having a heap inside the wardrobe. They are very sturdy and will be great for travelling as they can be washed when we get home.

Then I made a third patchwork zipped pouch which you can see in the picture below. I'm using to store my current craft project. It's made using smaller strips of fabric, I sewed a selection of long strips together to make each side, then cut each piece in half and swapped them over (I think it's called strip piecing if that description doesn't make sense!). It makes it look more complicated than it really is!

I really love my beach hut fabric and I wanted to use it for something for the home, so I decided to attempt a fabric bowl. I used this tutorial Charmed Fabric Bowl and it's very simple, basically you just cut out a circle of outer fabric, interfacing and lining fabric, sew them together then gather the edges to pull it up into a bowl shape. You finish the bowl by sewing around a long strip of fabric to hide the gathers at the top. I didn't manage to get the neatest finish on this bowl, but it looks fine from most angles!

While making the bowl I really liked how the fabric looked when it was sewn together in a circle before it was gathered up. So I decided to make a small circular mat for my round table. There's no interfacing in this one, it's just two circles of fabric sewn together. But then I decided to try stitching some random loops across the top to practice using the sewing machine for curves. I was really pleased with how well it worked!

I'm rather impressed with how well I've managed with these projects. I've learned some new techniques - how to use a zipper foot, sewing curves, simple patchworking. I've also become a lot more confident with using my sewing machine, for example how to thread the machine and how to wind bobbins.

I still have an unopened Christmas print fat quarter bundle which I bought with a voucher last year. I have a few ideas but I'm a bit nervous because I really like the fabric! I'm wondering about a patchwork table runner or place mats, or perhaps some way of incorporating a display for the gorgeous Christmas cross stitch kits that I need to get on and finish. 

I also now have a bag of fabric scraps which need using up, so I can see some more patchwork projects in my future!