To good to throw away

I've been working on a lot of new quilts lately, and this means lots of fabric cutting.  The first thing to go is of course, the selvage edge...right into the trash, those lovely little colored dots with the designer's name, etc.  There is a great website (can't find it off hand), where terrific creations are made using the selvages - whole dresses in fact.  I can tell you right now; for me - it ain't gonna happen.  There are some wonderful and incredible things being made with those scraps, but I just don't have the time or patience to make them.   But in the midst of so much "have to" sewing, I decide to do a little "for me" sewing, and hallelujah, the selvage trimmings were saved!  I went dumpster diving in to my own trash can, and out came all those goodies. 

Take a look at what I made

I took some fusible heavyweight Pellon - the weight for purses, and layered the selvage strips horizontally, then I added strips vertically weaving them in and out of the horizontal strips.  Then I took the whole thing to the iron, to adhere the strips to the fusible.  Next I stitched down all of the strips at the intersections, no lines drawn, just randomly sewn to stabilize the piece.  Next I trimmed the piece to the size I needed it, then backed with some lovely Moda fabric that would become the lining.

 
I pinned both pieces together, then stitched diagonal lines at about 1" intervals.  Next, I added the zipper (which I am no master of), stitched the sides, and turned the whole thing inside out!  Now, I have a new coin purse, also I can stop feeling guilty over the poor selvage ends languishing the trash can, and above everything else, it was just plain fun to sew for fun!
Have a good week!

Cherri

Comments

[Andi]

Looks great!!!
One woman's trash .....

[Jessica]

What a great idea! I love this <3

[Dianne]

cute!

[pam]

Gosh you're so clever! That's darling.

[Meghan]

Love it! I just found you on quilterblogs.com. I don't know if you ever do giveaways here, but selvages would make a great one — there are so many lovely scrappy things to make with them! (I saw some potholders in another blog, though I can't remember which at the moment.)

[nicolette]

Really cute!

[Busy Little Quilter]

I love this, too!

[Bronwyn]

And here I am, with this brand-new purse that was too cheap to come with pouches for all those little things we lose in purses.

And here you are, with a solution!

You are a genius, madam.

[wishes, true and kind]

Fabulous! I love it!

[Teresa]

Well that is just too cute! Now all your friends are gonna want one, too.

[Leelee]

Bravo! I was feeling a little verklempt when I thought you left your lovely selvages in the trash! This is so cute and clever, I'm snitchin' it!

Leelee

[Katie]

I always feel so sad for the selvages that I cut off and throw away. I think I'll be keeping them a bit longer from now on. ;)

[kim at allconsuming]

That'd be Jodie over at RicRac: http://vintagericrac.blogspot.com/

She's a bloody legend!

[Cheryl Arkison]

I'm never going to make something with my selvages either, but I have got in the habit of saving them and passing them on to friends who will make something.

[Mama Spark]

This may be the blog you are looking for
http://selvageblog.blogspot.com/
The little coin purse is so adorable, thanks for sharing!!

[Bryanna]

Oh I love selvages and keep mine religiously so that I can make a quilt some day from them all!