Stashbusters

Appliquéd embroidery doesn’t take much fabric, and generally requires a small print. And as I seem to be doing mainly embroidery these days, rather than a mix of textile crafts, my fabric stash isn’t diminishing. I love rifling through it, but seldom have reason to use any of the fat quarters and bigger pieces of fabric that fill the drawers.

My stash really isn’t all that big and I do have ideas for it, if not the time to execute those ideas. But it’s rather coincidental that I’ve come across two great stashbusting ideas in the past month, just as my lack of stashbusting has been on my mind.

I came across Tejo Remy’s Rag Chair at design store Droog in Amsterdam, and it immediately struck me as a useful way to use up unwanted stash fabric or recycle UFOs. I didn’t have the guts to throw myself down on it in the store, but it did look pretty comfy. And you could shape it anyway you please, really, if you took on the task of making one yourself.


Sidebar: I did try out Nina Farkache’s Come a Little Bit Closer Bench, though. It had a sign alongside saying “feel free to try me” and gliding along on marbles looked like fun, which it was.


Another great idea is to upholster furniture or adorn accessories in patchwork, a la Squint mode. They use bright and cheerful prints, but you could create any palette to customise your furniture. Two-tone patchwork or shades of a single colour would also make great statement pieces.