Crazy Tutorial Thursday #2

How to Scrappy Foundation Piece

This is a fun, fast way to use up small scraps.

You can foundation piece on fabric or paper. There are pros and cons for both.

The obvious con for stitching on paper is the fact that you have to remove all the paper. If you sew on paper you will need to shorten your stitch length a little to make it easier to remove the paper without pulling the stitches. The obvious pro is that it doesn't make the finished product thick and bulky.

The obvious con for stitching on a fabric foundation is that it will make your finished piece thick and bulky. Unless of course that's what you're aiming for. One pro is that your scrappy pieces don't have to be accurately on grain to be usable.

I like to set up my sewing station so I have everything within an arms reach. I don't want this to be an aerobics session having to jump up, down, back and forth between my machine and iron.

Supplies for this tutorial:
2 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch strip for the foundation. For this tutorial I'm stitching on fabric since I'm making a wall hanging and I want it to be thicker.

A pile of scraps cut 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches wide. Varying the widths adds to the scrappy charm. The length must be longer than 2 1/2 inches. I don't worry about cutting it to the exact length since they will be trimmed back later.

Step 1 - Place the first scrap with pretty side facing up on the end of your foundation fabric.

Step 2 - Place the second scrap on top of the first with pretty side facing down. Make the edges even and sew in place with approx. a 1/4 inch seam. I say this because I use the width of my presser foot as a guide. It doesn't have to be exactly a 1/4 inch just so you keep it consistent throughout.

Step 3 - Lift open the second fabric and press. Be sure to press straight up and down. Don't iron back and forth as this will warp the foundation fabric. It's best to do this without steam if possible. Especially if you are using a paper foundation.

Step 4 - Continue this process until the entire foundation piece is covered. Give it a good pressing.

Step 5 - Turn the strip over and trim the scraps even to the foundation fabric. There will be a small amount of waste but it's scrappy cute!

That's it! Enjoy!