Quest for Utility

My sister was getting rid of piles of fabric that were either icky or too small to work with, and I couldn't keep myself from snatching two of the pieces that are too small to work with.

One is a white slubby linen and one is a shiny dark turquoise silk. I don't just go around bringing home stray scraps of fabric and wouldn't allow myself to take these things until I had thought of something to do with them. Finally I decided I would make a change purse. A silk change purse lined with linen. That will be totally awesome.

Except I don't need a change purse. I don't use change purses. At least not for change. And I already have a change purse I use to store my frequent shopper cards.

And so now I am trying to brainstorm another idea. And I'm going to drag you good people along with me. Mwahaha! (Or you could leave now.) (If you know what's good for you.)

The good thing is that this fabric is prewashed, preshrunk, prefaded, and ready to work with. The bad thing is that white doesn't wear well and silk is fragile.

* Make drawstring gift bags - no! Too pretty to give away! Mine!
* Make a drawstring purse to wear with my Renaissance costume - I really want one of those, but my Renaissance costume is a red, purple, and white dress with a red belt. I don't think a shocking blue bag is quite right.
* Cover my jewelry box from which the covering is peeling off - Hey, I'm not using this jewelry box either and should probably get rid of it. I mean, I'm using it to store things, but I'm not using those things. I should have outgrown the musical turning ballerina thing by now, but it's pretty. Maybe I'll find a use. But no, I think this fabric is too thick to work properly. I really need paper for that job.
* Cover a craft tissue box cover. You know how you can always find decorative boxes to hide your kleenex in, but they're always for the expensive cubical kleenex boxes and not the normal oblong ones? Well, I found a papier mache oblong one in a craft store and could cover that. Only this fabric is too small.
* Figure out something else small to store in a change purse - Already I'm trying to figure out small things I can store in these pretty spice-bottle-sized containers with cork lids that I have. I've thought of safety pins and buttons. And I have business cards in another jewelry box.
* The silk is a long, skinny piece. I could use it as trim on something. But it's not cut on the bias so it should be something with straight edges. Not a shirt. It's a bit much for a dish towel, though.
* I could cover a can and use it for a pencil holder - Except I already use mugs I really like for pencil holders.
* Make like a mini pillow to stick a magnet to, and then it can go on the fridge. With many, many other magnets.
* Make fabric roses - Hey, I kind of like that for the white linen. It doesn't sound so easy to dust, though.
* Sachet pillows. With good smelly things inside. I once had a thing full of rice and spices that you can heat up and wear around the back of your neck. But moths ate through it. Maybe I could fill it with something inedible, like vanilla candle shavings. Oh, that will be lovely in the summer, all melted into a pile of goo.
* I could cover a barrette.
* I could make scrunchies.
* I could stick a cheesy applique on something.
* I could make a fabric dust cover for something tiny. Like if I had a tiny, ugly blender that had to stay on the counter.

Well, nothing's inspiring me just now, but it's been fun. Right now, I'm thinking about how you could store small things in change purses in small drawers to keep the small things from getting all tangled up with each other. I'll keep thinking on this.