Friday, September 21, 2012

Making selvage fabric .......

I have been using up selvages.....


the selvages were first sewn onto a piece of  scrap calico which was cut a litttle larger than I wanted the final piece to 'make' the fabric

..... take care to sew one edge of the selvage carefully over the cut edge below...


 then cut to size (these are 12" squares for pot mats but you can use whatever size you like)

as you can see I try and use mostly  the markings on selvages... the dots with colour range and the writing... makes it fun.... on larger pieces there are plain spaces.... we all need space to breathe sometimes!!!

once the 'selvage fabric' is made I sandwich it as for any topping - I used heat resistant wadding with foil as I wanted them to be able to take hot pots.... double wadding works too....  then I quilted it quite closely with a stipple/meandering (what is the difference anyone?????)  so that the mat is quite firm....


binding added and you have a pot mat.... mug rug..... pot holder.... tray cloth.... place mat..... table topper 

I sent one to Shez and she is using hers as a table topper

I put in one of these little fittings .... nice and easy and no special equipment needed .... the bits all came in the box with the eyelets....  but of course you can sew a little loop or just leave it to rest on the counter.... 


I use pot mats in the kitchen all the time... and on the table...

save selvages, make fabric, repurpose to something useful.....  

Yes, quite a bit of sewing...  arbitrary strips is great for those mindless times... which are happening a bit more frequently... hmmmmmm

Tonight is FNSI and I love joining in to stitch with people all over the world and then visiting to see what they made.....


Heidi is hosting and you can sign up HERE

Righto, Gotto Go....  I need to sort out what I will be sewing tonight....
...  I'm still working on my document folder.. just waiting on a delivery of magnetic snaps.....  hope they arrive soon - I need it in 13 days!!!!

24 comments:

Daffycat said...

Ooo, too clever! I really like this!

CathyC said...

Cool! What a great idea - I have only just started my collection of selvedges - will bookmark this for later ;-)

Cheryll said...

Love the way you use up "bits" so cleverly!
See you at FNSI... yippee! :)

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

I really like that Fiona!

Susan said...

Clever use of selvedges, love your up cycling. X

Noela said...

I've only been saving my selvages for a short while so will have to wait a while before I have enough to use. Love what you have done with yours. Hugs....

marina said...

you make selvages seem to pretty and useful.
They look lovely.

Anthea said...

Beautifully done Fiona, great ideas for using selvedges... I've always kept them but never actually thought of why I do that, now I have some good ideas for use! Enjoy your FNSI!

Wendy said...

Your pot holders are gorgeous, what a great use of pretty selvages, hugs.

Susan said...

I don't keep selvages - they do go somewhhere useful!!! but I am getting tempted to start keeping them for myself now .. maybe . See you at FNSI - I finally signed up!

Jane said...

LOve the look of these. I quite often use the selvedges with my crumb blocks

Mistea said...

Lots of sewing useful things at your place lately - Looking forward to seeing what you get up to at FNSI.

Enjoy sewing with friends.

Chrissie said...


great pot holders, hadn't really thought about keeping the salvages,always time to start, good bit of inspiration, thanks

Sue said...

They look great. Thank you for sharing how you sew the selvedges together.

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

What a good idea.....you make the most amazing items Bubz..

Terry said...

I love those! I only have a bit of selvages but I need to start sewing them together into something one of these days.

Jennifer said...

A good idea......I'm not into selvages, but you could use any strips.

Melody said...

You are so clever - you can do everything.

Barb said...

I like your idea of the grommet....thanks, looks great!

Michelle Ridgway said...

I started a little collection a while ago. Your not pads are great.

Sheila said...

Great use of those selvages ,you are just too clever :-)

Katherine said...

what a very clever use for the selvages. might have to buy more fabric so i can make some too lol

retdairyqueen said...

Very creative Very effective Clever girl

Grethe said...

Great idea! Have saved many of the selvages;thanks a lot for the tutorial :-)

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