Piecing Together Patchwork Pouches

What do we do at UpCycle when we have a surplus of fabric and a donation of extra long zippers? We think of a way to use our abundant resources to make something new. And, we find ways to elevate the materials and make them our own. That's how our patchwork pouches came to be this week.

Throughout the week, the girls experienced ways to customize plain white fabric. We used found objects to print designs on fabric. Then we painted the spaces with a cool palette of diluted fabric paints.

We also invited the girls to doodle on fabric with sharpie markers. We used our pens to make designs, symbols and images.

In another process, we used glue to mask areas of the fabric before painting it with fabric paint. When the fabric was washed, the glue came off revealing that everyone's designs were preserved. 

To create the pouches, we cut large rectangles of sturdy fabric to serve as a base. We also cut the printed and doodled fabric into smaller strips and pieces. Then the girls planned their designs by selecting pieces of the colorful and doodled fabrics and placing them on them on the base pieces of fabric. Girls found doodles that spoke to them, cut them out and placed them on their designs. Many decided to keep their glue designed fabric intact.

Susan worked with each girl at the sewing machine to tack down their designs. The girls pressed the button on the pedal while Susan controlled the action at the needle.

On the last day of camp, Susan worked with everyone to install the zipper and create finished pouches. The girls took great satisfaction from being part of a project from start to finish: creating their own materials and finished products that were individual and beautiful.

The girls were also involved in several other projects this week: found object sculpture, tissue textured boards and found object prints that were embellished with floss and beads. We had a lovely week with your girls!