Pinspiration: lace tipped scarf

I was a bit of a latecomer to Pinterest - I deliberately held out thinking it was just another time waster! I'm a bit contrary like that, I don't Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr, I deleted my Facebook account and I don't have the time or energy for Polyvore (although I like looking at the boards that other people have created). But since succumbing to the allure of Pinterest this year I've become a mad pinner, pinning all sorts of images, tutorials, recipes and things at any spare moment of the day.

But there does come a point when you wonder what's the purpose? Why do you pin all these things? Clearly I'm not alone in thinking this:

image source

image source

image source

Another eternal quest I'm on is to use up fabric scraps in meaningful and useful ways, and not add to the scraps pile after making a project. Which is where Pinterest and the whole point of this post comes from. I spied this beautiful scarf pinned, which is no longer available but was for sale for a ridiculous $1100:

image via styleawip.blogspot.com

After finishing the plaid dress I made from New Look 6144 recently, I happened to have a long rectangular piece of fabric leftover that was too short to be made into an infinity scarf or a normal scarf on it's own, but with the addition of some white stretchy lace fabric from deep within the stash look what I turned it into:

Obviously mine isn't as elegant as the original, because I think the black lace on the beige cashmere is a sophisticated mix and the jagged edge of lace where it joins the fabric is a nice detail but I still like mine nonetheless. The teal plaid fabric of my version is so soft too, almost like flannelette so it's the perfect fabric to be wrapping around one's neck.

And I'm not the only one to copycat this project - look at this lovely green jersey and white lace version that Jen made a while back over at Sea lo que sea.

I just can't bear to waste good textiles and throw away scraps any scraps that aren't tiny, but since I'm not a quilter they certainly are piling up. I'm lucky that I have two small children to sew for because their clothes use up the larger left over pieces, and in the past to use up the smaller fabric scraps I've made:

• wristlet purses
• doll clothes
• dog bed stuffed with fabric scraps
• clothes for paper dolls
• fabric alphabet letter magnets
• contrasting pockets and details on kids clothes

What's your battle plan for using up fabric scraps? Anyone got any burning good ideas?

And yes Marjorie - I've kept the scraps from my Liberty shirt because they are way to precious to throw away! Thanks everyone for your kind comments on the shirt, it has certainly been on high rotation in my wardrobe.