3 Ideas for Fabric Scraps

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So, you just got to the end of a nice looking bit of fabric… but you still have a little left. There’s not enough for a normal project, but there’s enough that you feel bad throwing it all away. What do you do? Here’s three ideas to consider:

1 – Accent Something – What does this mean? Well, let’s say you just finished making some nice fabric shades in your bedroom and you’re left with a bit of fabric. Take that and apply it to something in your room, like the handles on your dresser drawers or a picture frame. Sew several patterns together to accent the colors throughout your room.

2 – Make a Collage – I’ll bet a lot of you have fabric scraps from years of projects. Maybe you made a pillow for a daughter or son; maybe you sewed a quilt for a newborn. Whatever your projects have been, you have memories associated with each fabric. So, sew all of em together. Maybe it’ll end up looking REALLY ugly, but it could end up looking beautiful! Either way, you’ll be left with a good collection of fabric memories.

3 – Think Outside the Box – This kind of falls in line with the collage idea. But, when it comes to making use of scraps, you gotta think like Picasso as opposed to a landscape artist. Go into an antique store and buy something weird that could use a bit of fabric and just start sewing, pasting and applying in any way possible your fabrics to it. You might end up with something cool and you’ll definitely have some fun along the way!

Fabric for the Season!

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Fabric for the Season!

With spring in full force, many of us are hitting the sewing machines staying busy and up-to-date on all the spring (and summer) fashions and clothing ideas. While doing this, keeping the best fabric in mind when sewing your spring and summer wardrobe creations is a must! Here are just a few seasonal sewing tips to consider:

  • In almost all commercials for cotton, they literally scream spring! It’s the fabric of our lives and the fabric of many spring collections. As we’ve mentioned before, it is light, comfortable and can be a very versatile fabric.
  • On those hotter days to come, you want to be sure to choose a fabric that will allow it’s wearer a dry, comfortable and fresh feeling. Some popular fabric choices to consider here are gingham or eyelet. Be sure to check out these and many more of our woven fabrics online!
  • Let’s face it, bright colors and florals are in this season! When dressing for this season, nothing quite says spring like a beautiful floral dress or summer like a combination of bright colors. Be bold, and don’t be afraid to fall into the latest summer trends; we trust you can make it uniquely your own!

Whether you’re making a new ensemble or putting together a quilt for spring and summer picnics, we’ve got you covered. Still don’t know what fabric to choose for your project? As always, Nick of Time loves to offer suggestions and tips for your latest project! Comment on our blog or check out our Suggestions page for a couple starter ideas to get those sewing machines revving!

For more information click here or here!

 

How to Choose the Right Fabric for Your Sewing Project

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Sewing is one of the more popular hobbies today; Grandmas Craft Guides outlines how to choose the right fabric.  Here are some tips and tricks to get you on the path to choosing the correct fabric for any sewing project.

Read Your Pattern

If you will be sewing from a pattern, read the back of the package to see what fabric the pattern maker suggests.  You can choose whatever fabric you want, but the pattern maker gives you a better idea of the fabric it was made for.

Examine the Fabric

When searching for fabric to use make sure to get a great feel of the makeup and look out for fraying.  Also be sure to check for wrinkling, this way you can be assured it will not wrinkle once your project is completed.

                                                      Cotton Fabrics

One of the easiest fabrics to sew is cotton, which is very comfortable and looks great.  Be aware that cotton, as well as wool or linen, will shrink when washed and dried.  Before cutting your pattern, make sure to wash and dry the cotton fabric to ensure that your product will stay the same size.

One of the most important steps is to care for and prepare the fabric for use.  Once these steps are completed you can ensure a finished project that will last for years to come.

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Invisible fabric closer than you think

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Courtesy of mobilemag.com

Michael Kwan from mobile magazine is reporting that Professor John Pendry is saying that an “invisible fabric” is not that far away.  “The way is works is that ‘light waves would flow around an object hidden inside the metamaterial cloak.’”  This technology will likely be highly guarded and, primarily, used for military use.  There is similar fabric technology developed by some people from Japan, and although not completely invisible, you can see through the person.

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Wearing Plastic

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Courtesy of Plastics Today

Heather Caliendo, from Plastics Today, is reporting what could be a revolutionary breakthrough; a clothing company,ReThink Fabrics, wants to manufacture t-shirts and apparel produced with recycled PET bottles.  “The company’s signature line of t-shirts is made from 100% post-consumer recycled polyester RPET fabric.  With advancing technology in plastics the next natural step would be to use it as a material for clothing.  “RPET is collected, cleaned, smashed, melted, polymerized, and finally spun into yarn-and ultimately into the ReThink fabric and products.”  The t-shirts display a bottle count that show the number of plastic bottles used in each product.  Anne Sodemann, CEO of ReThink Fabrics, said how some of her consumers were shocked to find out the t-shirts were just as soft as virgin polyester t-shirts.  The next step is to develop a program with national retailers to collect the plastic bottle t-shirts and recycle them into new t-shirts.  “Sodemann said she hopes plastic manufacturers continue to look for ways to produce products with less impact on the environment.”

 

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Turn Pots into Colorful Planters

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Courtesy of Dena Fishbein

After buying small terra-cotta pots with plants in them the question remains what to do with the extra pots?  Dena Fishbein from the Daily Herald has a clever repurposing project, which includes a terra cotta pot, extra scrap fabric, scissors, pinking shears, a pencil, Mod Podge, and a brush.  The instructions are as follows:

  1. Make sure your pots are clean, as you want the Mod Podge to bond securely.
  2. Lay your pot on its side with the fabric on top, then with a pencil mark 1-1/2 inches above and below it to figure out the width.  Wrap the fabric around the pot to figure out the length you will need.
  3. Cut out the rectangle of fabric to wrap your pot in with the pinking shears.
  4. Paint Mod Podge from the top of the pot to the bottom.  Adhere the fabric and work your way around until the ends meet.  Use the pinking shears to cut the extra ends of fabric so one edge overlaps the other by about a half-inch.
  5. Use regular scissors to cut slits at every inch from the edge of the fabric straight down the bottom of the pot.  The purpose of this is so when you fold the edges over, they won’t wrinkle too much.
  6. “Apply Mod Podge 1 inch below the interior rim of the pot.  Fold down one flap of fabric at a time, overlapping them and painting them down with Mod Podge.”  Do the same underneath the pot; first, painting the bottom then securing each flap at a time with more glue.
  7. If you would like to use the pot immediately, you will need to add a couple of waterproof sealer.

There are many uses for these planters; on your desk to hold your supplies, in the kitchen for fresh herbs, or as a gift with a packet of seeds.

 

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New Fabric Generates Electricity from your Body Heat

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Video Courtesy of forbes.com

Jennifer Hicks from Forbes presents an intriguing innovation from scientists and a graduate student, Core Hewitt from Wake Forest’s Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials.  They have made a fabric that can turn body heat into an electrical current.  This new material is called power felt, which consists of multi-layered carbon nanotube/polymer composite-based thermoelectric fabric.  The potential for this “Power Felt” is limitless; “you can charge mp3 players, cell phones, lining automobile seats to boost battery power and service electrical needs…In addition, it can be applied to healthcare and medical monitoring as well.”  Power Felt is the perfect addition to an emergency kit, powering a variety of devices.  The nanotechnology team is evaluating many ways to add more nanotube layers and make them thinner.

 

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Bendy Battery Gives Smart Fabrics a Charge

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Courtesy of talk2myshirt.com

In the February issue of New Scientist Paul Marks reports about the ability to weave a flexible battery into fabricsthatcould provide electricity for gadgets in your clothing.  Batteries have been connected to T-shirts, but have not been built into the fabric of a garment.  “Maksim Skorobogatiy and colleagues at the Polytechnic School of Montreal in Canada say they have done just that.”  To build this the architects cram a sold polyethylene oxide electrolyte between a lithium ion phosphate cathode and lithium titanate anode.  These thermoplastic materials can be stretched under mild heating.  The material resembles artificial leather.  “After stretching, the team wove strips of it into cotton fabrics and used conductive threads to connect these batteries in series…‘It’s the first fully wearable, soft lithium-ion battery that uses no liquid electrolytes,’ claims Skorobogatiy.”  This garment could deliver hundreds of volts, which can enable applications in which a battery-backed garment could deliver power in an emergency.  The clothing can produce enough power to save a life by defibrillating a patient and emit a distress signal.  The only problem the builders now face is waterproofing the technology and making it washable.  Sandy Black, who researches smart textiles, thinks that this technology could be used first in bags, backpacks, and medical-monitoring garments.

 

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Eco-friendly Textiles

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Fiber2fashion has recently found Eco-friendly textiles from banana & pineapple fibers as a substitute.  Agricultural waste from banana and pineapple, which are found in abundance in Philippines, can be used as an alternative material for production of “home textiles, apparels, non-woven and industrial fabrics and upholsteries.”  Philippine Textile Research Institute presented these findings; the purpose is to aid the domestic textile industry in global competitiveness through home-grown resources.  145,792.175 acres of pineapple plantations can produce 55,483 tons of pineapple fiber, while 1,104,561.055 acres of banana plantations can generate 307,000 tons of banana fiber.  Besides begin eco-friendly, biodegradable and sustainable, “they also have better performance ability in terms of fibre and fabric properties.”  In the past pineapple waste has been used as organic waste, until “recent experiments proving successful in producing silk-like textiles when fused with polyester or silk, these fibres have a new utility.”  Banana fiber is very strong and is highly absorbent, while also being biodegradable.  With increasing hype around eco-friendly fabrics, banana and pineapple fabrics are not being used for preparation of apparels and home furnishings.  These fabrics are in high demand due to their “sustainability and biodegradability.”

 

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Print Your Own Fabric Tutorial

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If you are tired of the aggravation of the prices and the constant visits to the fabric store, then make sure to read “How-To: Print on Fabric with an Inkjet Printer” by Andrew Lewis.  This article is an informative overview of the materials and directions about how to properly print your own fabric by only using an inkjet printer.  When deciding what ink to use make sure it is printer cartridges that use pigment ink, which will not lead to unforeseen colors on the fabric or wash out under water.  One important aspect to keep in mind is that not all printers can print fabric, and doing so may permanently damage your printer.  Although this may seem like a complicated process it is not and is time efficient.  It allows the designer the freedom to construct any design pattern they can invent, while making a high quality finished product.  Below are the abbreviated steps to produce a fabric design from your own printer.

Step 1- Make sure you choose a light-colored fabric, and it is at the maximum length your printer can handle.  If your printer allows printing from a roll, then you will be able to make the fabric as long as you want.

Stretch Print Twill

Step 2- Use a piece of card, the same width as the fabric, and fix the end of the fabric to that card.  The weight will help to keep the fabric running efficiently.

Step 3- Feed the card into the printer.

Step 4- Create your design on the computer, for example Stretch Print Twill.  Do not pull or move the fabric, while monitoring the printer to make sure nothing gets jammed or creased.

Step 5- Monitor the brightness and color settings to perfect your design.

Step 6- When the printing in completed, leave your new fabric to dry for an hour.  If any excess ink comes off, rinse the fabric in warm water, then hang out to dry.

Step 7- When the fabric is dry, iron the reverse side on low, then the fabric can be treated like a fabric bought from a store. For best production, use cool wash and iron on reverse side. This will help to conserve the colors.

Challi Print

This process is a very innovative and an inexpensive way of producing fabric.  Through this procedure, you will be able to manufacture a variety of different patterns and designs, including Challi Print.

 

Read the Full Article/Full Description of Each Step