How I used up every square inch of a yard of my favorite fabric

When I find a fabric that I REALLLLLLY love, I will find just about any possible way to use it. I made several projects out of a yard of the most awesome fabric EVER... 

First of all, I love this Star Trek: TOS fabric. We're huge Star Trek fans in this house. This fabric has squares that are almost 3" and feature 8 different TOS characters as well as the iconic Star Trek logo. There is Captain Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Sulu, Bones, Uhura, and Chekov, and Kirk and Spock together. They are done in the style of the Star Trek comic books (not quite TAS, but definitely more comic book style). I made a pillowcase for me and made mini bean bags for Cocoa Puff. With the rest I made a potholder This fabric is awesome. I bought a yard and it’s about 43 inches wide, so I have a 43 x 36 piece of fabric. 

Making the pillowcase was SO easy: I just took another pillowcase, turned it inside out, and folded the new fabric in half, right sides together. I traced and cut the fabric so it was the same size as my other pillowcase, using the center of the fabric as one of the sides so it’s one less seam to sew. 

After sewing the bottom and the other side, I turned the edge of the open side over about 1/2 inch, and then again to cover the raw seam. I basted it with pins, and then sewed around the whole thing. Then, to add a little extra “flair,” I sewed around the whole open side again about an inch or two from the edge. Done! Hmmm, I should write a tutorial just for these since they're so easy. 

This left me with a bunch of extra fabric, so I made a potholder! This was also super easy. I have a BUNCH of plain, cheap, square pot holders that I use for these. I just traced the potholder on the back of the fabric (two times!). I cut around it, allowing about 1/4 inch seam allowance. Then, I pinned them together, wrong sides facing out, and sewed along the line, leaving an inch or two for turning right side out. Then, I rolled up the pot holder I used for tracing and slipped it inside and unrolled it so it was sandwiched between the two pieces of fabric. I sewed up the hole. Then, I sewed around the whole edge, about 1/2 inch from the edge. I then “quilted” the pot holder by sewing straight lines diagonally in both directions.

I gave my Star Trek one away, but here’s a photo of another one I made with other fabric! I’ll make a dedicated tutorial for these sometime soon. 

Finally, with the rest of the fabric, I made beanbags for the boys! I cut out two squares of each character, making sure to include a small seam allowance. I matched up the characters, sewed around 3 and 1/2 sides, then turned it right side out. I filled it with dried lentils and then sewed it the rest of the way shut. SO MUCH FUN! We’ve played so many games with them and everyone gets a kick out of them. 

At this point, all I was left with was a few pieces of scraps, so I call this a success!!!! 

Do you know how to sew?