About
Vermont Lifestyle is a free resource for turning leftover fabric into useful and pretty things. Every guide on the site starts from the same place: a bin of scraps, offcuts and small remnants that are too good to throw away and too small for a big project.
Despite the name, this is a site about handmade projects, not a Vermont travel or regional guide.
What you will find here
- Easy scrap projects for a first afternoon at the machine, plus a few that need no sewing at all.
- Scrap sewing projects such as pouches, pincushions and pot holders, each with a full cutting list.
- Home decor and accessories made from small pieces: coasters, baskets, bunting, scrunchies, key fobs and headbands.
- Patchwork projects that begin with simple squares and move on to crumb and string blocks.
- Techniques for sorting scraps, combining colors and cutting small pieces accurately, so the bin stays usable.
- No-waste ideas and seasonal projects for the smallest remnants and for the holidays.
The full list of guides is on the Tutorials page.
How the tutorials are written
Each tutorial lists the materials and the cut sizes at the top, so you can check your scrap bin before you start. The steps follow in the order you sew them, with seam allowances stated, and each guide ends with the mistakes that most often spoil the result and how to avoid them. Sizes are given in inches first, with centimeters in parentheses.
The illustrations on this site are drawn diagrams. They are made to show how the pieces are laid out and where the stitching goes; they are not photographs of finished items, and your project will look like your own fabric rather than like the drawing.
The time and difficulty shown on a tutorial are estimates. How long a project takes depends on your machine, your fabric and how much sewing you have done before, so treat those figures as a rough guide.
We do not publish invented reviews, ratings or testimonials, and we do not recommend particular brands. Tools and materials are named generically, so you can use what you already own.
Corrections and suggestions
If a measurement does not add up, a step is unclear or a link is broken, please tell us through the Contact page. Clear instructions matter more than anything else on the site, and corrections are always welcome.