I’m still not very skilled at cutting fabrics, so I’m usually left with wasteful scraps when I’m done with a project. A clean and organized part of me thinks I should throw them away to eliminate clutter, while the other, more thrifty hoarder side of me thinks these little scraps should be reincarnated into something new. I think the Japanese “mottainai” (「もったいない」, translates roughly to “don’t waste it”) philosophy is so deeply embedded in my nature that it’s very difficult for me to part with things. Case in point, I finally got rid of yeeeeeeeeeears’ worth of plastic utensils just the other day.

Thus the predicament …

Now that Pon Pon is rolling around and is almost ready to crawl, it’s time for some serious overhaul at the Lavender and Olive household. This means getting rid of pretty much everything in the house (including fabric stashes) to ensure the baby’s safety and make room for her to play around.

Keep or not to keep the stash, that is the question …

Then I remembered the patchwork drawstring bag tutorial that my favorite craft blog, Pink Penguin, posted a few years back and decided to turn the scraps into these little cute bags …

… and here they are!

I’m definitely going to use one to put Pon Pon’s change of clothes in her diaper bag, and others to wrap small gift for friends!

My current fabric obsessions are Liberty of London and Kokka but you can tell by looking at these patches that I was incredible smitten by Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry’s nature-inspired designs!

I love these Midwest Martini designs by Amy Butler!

Look, even the cord casing is a patchwork!

I still have lots more of the fabric stashes that’ll soon turn into lovely bags. It’s no joke – someone’s trash can be someone’s treasure! I think my “mottainai” goddess is really happy.