5 Beginner Sewing Projects Using Scrap Fabric

Do you have stacks of fabric pieces that seem too small to make something out of? Here are five cool projects using less than half a yard of leftover fabric that any beginning sewer can make.

Stuffed Animals. Since a stuffed animal can be made any size and out of any fabric, this is a great project to use up your scrap material in. An easy stuffed animal that you don't need a pattern for is a snake. Just cut a long strip a few inches wide, tapering at one end for the tail and a little wider on the other end for the head. Fold the fabric right sides together, sew the strip into a tube, turn inside right and stuff with polyester batting. Stitch the ends close and make a face on the wider end using fabric marker, yarn, or buttons. You can also find free patterns on the internet for making other small stuffed animals that aren't too difficult.

Headband. The easiest headband to make out of scrap fabric is a bandana. All you need to do is cut a triangle out of the fabric and hem or sew the edges. That's it! Then you just tie the two longer ends of the triangle around your head with the third end poking over your hair. You can also make a headband using a long strip of fabric, or a shorter strip of fabric with some ribbons on the end to tie it back with. Cut the headband in your desired width and hem the edges.

Rice Warmer. A rice warmer bag is also very easy to make. Cut a piece of fabric twice the width of your desired size. Turn the fabric inside out and sew up three edges. Fill about half full with long-grain rice, and stitch up the fourth edge.

Patch. Use a small piece of colorful fabric to patch up a hole in a pair of jeans. This will help your kids' jeans last until they out grow them, and be decorative as well.

Drawstring Bag. Make a small purse or treasure bag using a piece of leftover fabric in any pattern. To begin a rectangle which, folded in half, is slightly larger than you want the final size of the bag to be. Hem both sides of the rectangle. Now, fold down the top of the rectangle about 1 ½ inches and stitch. This makes a casing for the drawstring to go through. Fold the rectangle right sides together and stitch the sides and bottom together. Now cut one long piece of fabric (or stitch together shorter pieces of fabric) about 2 inches wide and long enough to make a handle. Hem the ends of the fabric and fold lengthwise and stitch closed to make a tube. Thread the tube through the casing at the top of the bag. Attaching a safety pin to one end will help with this. Finally, insert one end of the tube inside the other and stitch together.