Five Scrap Busters to Make the Most of Your Rockerbye Stash

SUPER SUPER amazing guest post from the ever talented Kelsey Whing!

If you’re like me, you’ve probably hoarded kept every last piece of your Rockerbye fabric and now you have a lovely mountain of short cuts that are perfect for scrap busters. Scrap busters are great for using smaller pieces of fabric and if you use multiple cuts, you’ll make room for more Rockerbye. (Yay!)


I’ve put together a list of five tried and true scrap busters that will work with a variety of cuts of fabric.


Chris Beanie

While beanies are great scrap busters in general, the Chris Beanie from Rockerbuben is a match made in heaven for long scraps. It has three main pieces, which means you can use a combination of prints, coordinates and solids. Since the beanie is lined with a second hat rather than finished with a band, you can make it reversible and use double the amount of scraps. Full disclosure, this is a German pattern and that means you will need to print on A4 or legal paper and add seam allowance. However, for the low cost of $0, I think it’s worth a try and if you need help, the International Knit Sew-A-Longs group is a great reference.



For one side of the beanie I used rainbow unicorn, hearts and stars coordinate and solid black cotton lycra scraps. For the other side, I used scraps of dragons, the scribble coordinate and black cotton lycra.



Halla Headband

If you’re not a hat-wearer or have rectangular pieces to use, a headband is a great option. While there are a ton of patterns available, I used one from a tutorial available in the Halla pattern group. It features a twist at the front and can be easily modified to fit slim scraps. I shortened the height a little bit to match my favorite gym headbands. This is a very quick sew and you could easily crank out a ton in an afternoon.

My headband is made from a piece of red wilderness.

Rad Panel Undies

If you’ve been in the group for awhile, you’ve probably seen Amber’s awesome panel undies. (One of the pairs she made actually convinced me to buy the pattern.) As far as scrap busters go, Rad Patterns Panel Undies are a great functional option. I love being able to create something I’ll wear regularly and scrap bust as well. You can use your small cuts for the front and back panels, the side panels or even the liner.

My Panel Undies are made using scraps of dusty rose wilderness girl and charcoal grey cotton lycra.


Pockets, Patches and Appliques

Once of the quickest and easiest ways to use your scraps is to create pockets and elbow patches. You can highlight a specific character by centering it on your pocket or patch. Adding pockets and patches made from scraps of printed fabric on solid-colored shirts will really make them pop.


Appliques are a little more complicated but they’ll give you a wide variety of options when it comes to using them in your garments. When I create appliques, I use a technique that combines my scrap fabric with Heat N Bond Lite and produces a variation of an iron on patch.


I learned to applique from a wonderful tutorial Lindsay Heath Holder created in the Piccadilly Fabric BST & Sewing Lounge. I absolutely recommend checking and trying it out. First, I cut my scraps into easily traceable shapes like rectangles or squares. Then I put the scrap right side down and trace it onto the paper-covered side of the Heat N Bond Lite. I cut the shape out of the Heat N Bond and then iron it to my scrap following the directions on the package. Once it has cooled completely, and trust me you do want to let it cool completely, I cut around the character and that creates my patch.



As you can see in the picture, I made a bunch for this tutorial. And you might be saying, Kelsey, what are you going to do with all of those? Time to flex your creativity muscles!


Here are a few ideas:

  • Sew them as accents on tops, bottoms or hats
  • Add them to pockets made from solid fabrics
  • Use them under grommets for stability and style



Color Blocking

I saved this option for last because it’s one of the most obvious scrap busters and can also be the most difficult if your scraps are small. There are a lot of patterns available with color blocking built in from designers like Max and Meena, Duck Butt Designs and Elliedactyl. If you’re feeling adventurous, there are also some good options from German pattern designers.


A few quick color blocking ideas include:

  • Adding side panels on the front and back bodices
  • Adding a strip of trim around a hood
  • Cutting the bodice just under the armscye to create two sections where either the top or bottom can feature a second fabric


Now you have five new scrap busters you can use with your stash!

Back to blog

11 comments

Muchas gracias. ?Como puedo iniciar sesion?

xwazfacunt

Leave a comment