Novelty Scrap Busting!

I have a tip for all you scrap busters out there -- check with your local library and/or early education teachers to see if they have a use for your scraps. My coworker who runs children's programs recently asked me if I had any fabric scraps with varied textures for a learning module she's creating. The key was texture -- the children would be feeling the fabric and sharing their experiences, even comparing it to things outdoors during outdoor programs as well. 

Well. Do I have any scraps? This request took on a fun journey through my remnant bins, where I found lots of silky lining and rayons, crisp cottons, canvas, rougher linens, varied wales of corduroy, velour, burnout velvet, fleece, felt, wool, jacquards, cotton gauze, seersucker, scuba, soft stretchy jerseys, metallic knits, suitings, ultrasuede, and more. I cut a block of each one, in varying sizes depending on my remnant, but big enough to run through the hands and get a good sense of the tactile nature of each. 

I used my pinking sheers to trim some of the more prone-to-fraying bits, but overall they weren't hard to gather and sort. And they can be thrown into a lingerie bag to be washed when necessary. If there are some that fray away she can ask me for more ;) 

It was a fun exercise, as I saw bits from my many previous projects, and even discovered quite large remnants of a few fabrics that I'm now planning to make some summer tops from! I was able to create two baggies of exactly the same bits so that they can be used by multiple families. This was an unexpected request that cleared nearly a shopping bag full of small scraps from my stashes and got me to organize a bit too. Definitely a new and useful life for some of my remnants.