Experimenting Zakka Style

Since buying this book from Hobbycraft a few weeks ago,  I've been meaning to try out some of the ideas included in it.  One in particular that I liked, was an idea for a coaster using lots of very small scraps of fabric. 

I have many small scraps of fabric in my scrap drawer, as I can't bear to throw away even the smallest piece of fabric, in case I might be able to use it for bookmark making, card making, patchwork, applique, whatever, and I was itching to put some of them to good use.  I also felt like doing something a bit random for a change, so this was the perfect project.

In the book, it explains how you get some wadding and start to sew small scraps of fabric onto it, overlapping them until you cover the whole area.  You then sew fabric backing to it, by zigzagging around the edges and once completed you have a coaster. 

Well, I got started sewing on the small fabric scraps and was really enjoying myself.  Some of them were cut straight and some were pinked with the pinking shears.  It felt so satisfying being able to use up even the smallest pieces.  I was quite pleased with the overall result.  It was a bit tricky to zigzag the edges, probably because the only wadding I had was synthetic and thicker than I'd have liked.  I love the finished result though, even it is a touch too lumpy to rest a cup of hot tea on.  If I made more I would definitely use felt or less bulky cotton/wool wadding, as suggested in the book.  As an example of what can be done with this method though, it was really encouraging.  I've even created my own Zakka fabric scrap box, that I can dip into when I feel inspired to do some more.

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On the reverse, I used a single piece of vintage fabric.

There's another similar idea in the book for making fabric bookmarks in the same way, using felt instead of wadding, so I had a go at this too as I'm giving books as gifts this Father's Day so they will be slipped inside.  I'm currently using my first effort in this regard and it works beautifully. Here's a picture of some of the ones I made.

It got me thinking about how it might be interesting to apply this method to other projects such as making a small lap quilt, table runner, place mats, rug perhaps, quilted shoulder bag or laptop cover.  The possibilities are endless.  It would take quite a while and use lots of cotton, but hey, cotton is relatively inexpensive and I have lots of it, and it might even be quite fun.  The only down side I can see to utilising this method, is that I will be loathe to throw even the tiniest piece of fabric away from now on, which might not exactly bode well for clearing the clutter!