scrapbusting – My Stash Reduction Quest

Hello! I’ve had another little break from blogging with most of my crafting time taken up with gift making. However, today I’m relieved to say I’ve finished another long-term project that’s ready just in time for the festive season.

Three years ago, I came up with a cute way of using up some of my sock yarn remnants. I thought it would be nice to have an advent calendar made up of various sock yarns, with a little ‘stocking’ for each day. I knew it would be a lengthy project, but under-estimated just how long it would take! My recent blog about the “longest project” shawl has already been beaten.

Pattern

The Wee Socks for Wee Feet pattern is one that I’ve used many times for new babies of friends and family. In fact, the first sock that I ever knit is in this advent calendar. Years ago, I used this pattern as a way of understanding the mechanics of sock knitting, mainly because baby socks are much smaller than adults ones. I often recommend this pattern if anybody wants to learn how to knit socks.

I kept that test sock and sporadically came across it in my remnants box whilst searching for something to use as a contrasting toe. Then one day, I decided the lonely sock needed some friends.

Initially, I picked a selection of sock yarns from my remnant box and made a Wee Sock when I felt like it. As the project progressed, I started amusing myself by knitting an advent sock from the same yarn I used for my sock projects. As well as having a mini sock to match every project, this approach meant I added another advent sock to the bag more frequently.

At around sock 15, I started to keep track of how many I had. I also got quite speedy, able to knit a sock in a few hours. There’s something very pleasing about holding the set in one hand like a woolly bunch of flowers!

The last sock

The last few socks were made from yarns from recently completed projects. After finishing a yet-to-be-blogged pair of Altitude Socks, I cast on a Wee Sock. Knowing it was the last one, I think I flew through it in an episode of Strictly Come Dancing!

Last Christmas, I spotted some numbered advent pegs whilst present shopping and snapped them up. A tad optimistic to think I would have a full set in time for Christmas 2023, but I put them in a box with the decorations so I remembered that I had them this year. They’re the perfect size for holding the little crotcheted loops that I stitched into each sock.

My crotchet skills are limited to a straight line and when asked if I crotchet, I often reply that “there aren’t enough sticks” (aka needles)! However, I did manage to crotchet a long chain, holding 4 strands of sock yarn together so that the pegs can hold the socks.

If you’re interested, some of the yarns are mentioned in various blog posts such as Re-knitting a Hat, Beyond Bayswater, The Quest Continues and Hermione’s Everyday Socks.

Thanks for reading :o)

I’m back with something a little different today. I realised that I have quite a collection of tried and tested (TnT) patterns for scrapbusting. I love a bit of scrapbusting as it really reduces what goes in my remnants bag for recycling, plus it makes the most of all the gorgeous fabrics.

I don’t claim to be the most sustainable crafter, but I do try. There are loads of resources for free scrapbusting patterns ‘out there’ and these are a handful that I keep coming back to.

Lavender bags

First up – tiny, lovely smelling rectangles! These are so easy to make and scraps go a long way because the end product is quite small. I tend to make sets of at least four, with the aim of gifting them as stocking fillers. If I have odd ones, I keep them myself. They’re great in bedding and towel drawers. I also put a few in with my yarn and fabric stashes to deter any moths, which we all know are little flying devils when it comes to wool.

When I’m making these, I make sure I have my purple pointy thang to hand to poke the corners out and give them a good press before filling. I fill the bags about 75% full with Yorkshire Lavender before closing up the final seam.

Eye masks

Next up is the Tilly and the Buttons eye mask. Tilly and co released this as a free pattern to go with their FiFi pjs set, which is also a great pattern.

I deviate slightly from the instructions and baste the batting/wadding to the bottom layer of the eye mask. Then I use that as one layer and continue. I found that when I washed the masks, the wadding bunched up inside because it wasn’t attached to anything and there was no way of flattening it out without unpicking it.

This pattern is great for those bits of viscose that are too floaty for some scrapbusting projects because viscose tends to be softer on the eyes than a cotton lawn or quilting cotton.

Zip pouches

I’ve been making the Melly Sews Zipper Pouches for years. It was a good way to practice zips when I was still getting used to zipper foots. This is a fab pattern for all those fat-quarters that you’re not quite sure what to do with, but you really don’t want to make another face covering!

I have these pouches in most bags that I own for one reason or another. They’re great for keeping hair stuff in one place (most dancers will have a bag of clips in their dance bag), tablets that you don’t want loose, knitting notions. You name it, it’ll go in one of these. Whilst Melly Sews give dimensions, the pattern can be amended to fit whatever your requirements are, as long as you’ve got a zip long/short enough.

Bookmarks and a hack

This is a recent find. Untitled Thoughts has a fab pattern and tutorial on her website for a bookmark. I thought this was a really unusual suggestion and really wanted to make some. I made a batch for gifts and kept a few for myself. I had a tiny square of Liberty fabric that I’ve stashed for years which was the perfect size for this pattern

Whilst making my bookmarks, I realised that the pattern would hack really well into a fabric coaster, just by eliminating the triangle….so I made some of those as well! Again, I kept a set for us to use at home and the others will be gifted to friends and family.

Brigitte

One scrapbuster that I have never gifted, but use a lot myself is the Brigitte headscarf by Tilly and the Buttons. This is the first pattern in Tilly’s Love At First Stitch book. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that a lot of modern-day sewists learned their craft from this book!

As a “pale English Rose”, the sun is not kind to my skin. My hair parting is difficult (impossible) to put suncream on so I often reach for a Bridgette scarf when we’re on holiday in warmer climates (remember holidays….? remember sun….?!). If you’re into matching accessories with your outfit, this is a fun way to use up remnants.

Barbie’s wardrobe

Finally, and perhaps the most well-received scrapbuster gift I’ve ever made, a new wardrobe for Barbie! One of my nieces asked for some Barbie clothes for Christmas. I didn’t actually have a Barbie to hand when making these so had to google her measurements. I was utterly convinced that they were too small and that my niece was going to be disappointed on Christmas Day. Apparently Barbie really is miniscule though because they all fit and one of the tops was too big.

I used patterns from this site, but there were loads available online. My niece seemed vaguely amused when I video called her in my Lotta dress, looking like a life-sized (with more natural proportions) doll.

Thanks to my sister-in-law for doing a photoshoot with the crew! Striped top: model’s own.

Thanks for reading :o) I hope this has given some of you some scrapbusting inspiration.

Tag: scrapbusting

Advent socks