Think Outside the Fabric Box: Sew with Upholstery Samples Instead of Wool Felt
I’ve been loving on these birthday crowns for a very long time, now, but because of my concerns about wool felt, I hadn’t been able to make any for my little girls. I tend to try to rely on the natural properties of a fabric instead of using interfacing, which can be an environmentally unfriendly material (although I will use it when I need to–stuff is there to be consumed when necessary, although ideally not consumed when not necessary), and there’s just nothing like wool felt for sturdiness and rich texture.
And then, my friends, I bought some big books of outdated upholstery fabric samples at my local thrift shop (its name, I swear to you, is Thrift Shop), and I have just been crafting the crap out of that stuff!
Birthday crowns, crayon rolls, scrapbooking embellishments, wall art, bookmarks–upholstery samples are the perfect size for any of these small projects, their paper backing renders them stiff and sturdy and less prone to fraying, their gorgeous patterns and textures give impact and personality to small-scale creations, and they’re sold in books of complementary fabrics and colors, allowing you to make a huge number of mitchy-matchy items.
Here are some tricks I’ve found for sewing specifically with upholstery samples–I swear, you’ll love it!
