Upcycling Selvages

I love selvages!!! Just ask my friends and they’ll tell you that I pester them constantly to save them for me. In case some of you do not know what selvages are exactly, let me explain…

The selvage is found along the two long woven edges of the fabric. The selvage is thicker than the fabric because it is folded over itself to prevent raveling during the manufacturing and printing process of making the fabric. Some, but not all, selvages have printing on them (that’s the part I like). This printing can include the manufacturer’s name, their Web site address, maybe the name of the artist who designed the fabric, a copyright symbol, etc. The color dots represent the dye colors used in the fabric during the printing process. You could take the selvage with you to the fabric store to match colors using the dots.

One of the best resources that I’ve found is a book written by Karen Griska called Quilts from the Selvage Edge published by the American Quilt Society, Paducah, Kentucky. The book is very informative, user friendly, and Karen gives examples of some beautiful selvage quilts.

My first attempt at using selvages in a quilt resulted in this wall hanging . . .

I decided to add fabric pinwheels and buttons to embellish it.  The grandchildren love it and so do I.

I also made a throw pillow . . .

Quick, easy, and cute!!

Next is a pincushion and you know we girls need our pincushions...

With the tiny binding along the edges, it turned out quite cute and really functional.

I began making fabric bowls (I also LOVE Peltex) and decided to try one using some of my selvages.  Here is how it turned out . . .

I also enjoy making little purses and decided that one needed to be made using selvages.  It is one of my favorites...

Love it!  I guess you can tell we are DAWG fans and really "bleed red and black".

I've also made hot pads, potholders, boxes, post cards, etc.  Anything I could think of that would highlight these jewels of the fabric.

Selvages are fun to use and upcycling is a way to use them up.  I like to look at them and recall some of the other quilts and projects I made with the fabric it came from. 

Try using some of your selvages in these projects, the ones in Karen's book, or just use your imagination and you will be pleased with the outcome.

But always in whatever you do just relax, enjoy the process, and have

FUN!