Sewing with Scraps

Listening to the recent Love to Sew podcast on Sustainability has made me think about left over fabric carefully.  I try to be really mindful of this as I often buy over the internet and most sellers only often whole metres.  I'm always reluctant to throw fabric away but am mindful of how useful tiny scraps can be, I can't bear to get rid of any Liberty print no matter how small!

I've still got a couple of pieces of the fabric from bridesmaid's dresses my mother and I made for my sister's wedding even after making her a pair of pyjamas out of what was left over.
I made my jewel top out of left over fabric and was able to do so because when I cut the original dress out I thought out how to place the pattern pieces to give usable scraps.  I'd had in mind at the time that I might get something else out of the length of fabric I purchased, even though I bought the required length for the pattern.

Sometimes there is quite a gap between the original garment being sewn and the scraps being used, 4 years in this case.

When cutting out my McCall's trousers I decided to cut a top out at the same time, I got Simplicity 2938 free with a magazine and thought it looked good for using with scrap fabric as it has two narrow front pieces. I was able to fit the Simplicity top at the fold and the McCall's trousers by the selvage.

I hardly have anything left out of the fabric requirement for the trousers now!

My mother has given me her fabric scraps before, this is clever as it means she has got rid of it without having to throw it away or use it up!

She over bought this chevron print as it was labelled as 45" rather than the 54" it measured and thought I'd be able to get a skirt out of what was left - but as soon as I saw it I wanted a dress!  I had to put a seam down the centre front but covered it with a vertical band to make it look intentional - its my best pattern matching ever.

Obviously I've still got the scraps...
My mother also commented that when sewing patterns were one sized the fabric requirements on the envelope seemed to be much closer to what was necessary and she wondered if that was to do with trying to give pattern layouts that work for multiple sizes. I certainly remember struggling to cut this Jean Muir dress out of the suggested length but put it down to modern pattern designers being less concerned with economy (on their customers behalf).

So what patterns are good for using up scraps? (I'm following #sewingwithleftovers on Instagram)
What is it worth hanging on to?
Do you plan what to do with left over fabric before you start a project?