Sunday, December 11, 2011

Catalog Xmas Ideas

So many ideas this time of year!  No time or inclination to actually make anything new (still haven't done this month's BOTM block), but I've been daydreaming up a storm.

The ubiquitous catalog season is winding down.  Idly paging through one of many almost-identical catalogs full of cute-but-unnecessary items, when I see an inspiring set of tiny bags.

Advertised for "giving small gifts, gift cards, candy..."  Tiny:  5" tall, 6" wide, 3" deep (front to back) with a 5" handle.   But priced to sell: six bags for $7.
Gingerbread Man - for giving cookies @ the office
Reindeer bag - checkered scarf and button nose

Noel - with a snowman face!
Joy - primitive tree in plaids and stripes
These bags are darn cute!  But for $7, I know the quality would be cheap, cheap.  They are made of polyester felt.  Do I even think the darling country-print plaid fabrics are cotton?  Oh well, it got me thinking about felt.

Felt, felt.  I don't work in wool felt, so bashing an inexpensive gift bag for being made of polyester felt is a bit unwise of me.  I did start to think about a "utility fabric" I collected recently: is it a reasonable felt-substitute for crafty items like these bags?

Bought a memory-foam mattress pad.  Rather expensive, but not as much as we would have spent on a new mattress; and it saves on chiropractor visits :)  However, this lovely item of bedding comes completely wrapped in a fiber/fabric/webbing concoction that I couldn't bear to part with.



Yards and yards of the stuff - how could I just throw it away?

Seems sturdy, like it would sew up well
Can this be used like felt?  Can it be dyed?  What sort of material is it made of?  Would it stand up to washing of any sort?  (Then again, could those little catalog bags be washed?  Doubt it.)

Sigh.  We are such a throw-away society.  What useful thing can I do with this windfall raw material?

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