Tag: crafts

art

Rigid Heddle Weaving #3

Autumn

I taught my 8-year-old how to spin yarn with a drop spindle. She fell in love with the process and quickly used up the 8oz of corriedale that I gave her, so we dyed it together, and I got her set up on my rigid heddle loom to weave with the yarn she made.

However, after all the stress of what happened to our cat, I commandeered her project — I needed something more potent than crochet for stress relief, and weaving really hits the spot for me.

The thick-thin texture of the yarn my daughter spun was wonderful to work with, and enormously fun to watch it come together. I definitely need her to spin more yarn for me.

art

Inkle Band #6

Autumn

Since I recently had a baby and didn’t feel much like playing with dyes, I decided to buy crochet thread online for this project.

I ordered copper. What I got was … a diluted washed-out faded copper. Also known as: tan.

I will probably end up re-dying this thread before I use it again, because I’m not really into the “pastel brown” class of colors. I like my browns to be boldly brown.

Anyway, as an experiment I combined peach and yellow threads for the pattern, to see if I could get a “rose gold” effect. It looks much better in real life, especially because looking at it from different angles subtlety changes whether pink or yellow is more dominate.

Not that fond of the photo — it doesn’t give the proper overall effect.

And the “copper” was supposed to be much darker for better contrast. XP

I used a historic Norwegian pattern for this band, which is very pretty.

art

Princess Dress

Autumn

Other people on the internet talk about turning woven bands into things like belts and dog leashes.

Me?

I cut mine up and used it to embellish a princess dress. XD

It actually went pretty smoothly. I did steam iron the woven band first to set the strings into place, and it didn’t unravel at all after I took the scissors to it.

It’s like a pretty custom ribbon!

Also, stencil+paint for the birds and flowers.

VERY princess-y.

art

Inkle Loom Purple Flowers Pattern

Autumn

I’m making this one for my baby who loves purple.

I dyed the warp cotton yarn myself, which is much softer and less of a strain on my hands than the popular crochet thread that’s in all the crafting stores (I also like it much better for lace crochet for the same reasons).

It’s kind of like magic to watch all of the individual threads come together into a woven pattern.

Maybe in the future, I’ll have to get myself a heddle loom.

art

Christmas Stockings

Autumn

You ever have those moments where you type up an introductory paragraph, then decide that it sounds too formulated and generic?

Probably just me.

I’ve been wanting to make personalized Christmas stockings for my babies for *awhile*, but never got around to it. I realized that this is the last Christmas that all of my children are going to have single-digit ages, so I decided that this year is THE year.

And yes, I am aware that I’m not using Christmas-themed fabric.

Highlights include: using batting for the first time ever.

For some weird reason, most people are oblivious to the fact that not all sewing is equal. I specialize in making everyday dresses for women and girls, which has completely different criteria from, say, evening wear or lingerie. I have never done quilting before … and I’m not feeling remotely converted, lol.

Piecing the fabric together is simple enough (with squares, anyway), but OMG THAT BATTING. I purchased the “low loft” stuff, but it still seemed excessively thick, and it wanted to stick instead of letting me position it neatly.

At least I knew enough to use the walking foot that came with my sewing machine, which probably saved me a lot of grief with getting the layers sewn into place. I get the feeling that otherwise the batting would have instantly stretched out of shape, and turned the whole thing into a mess.

Next, the cuff, which is the personalized bit, so no sharing online.

About Me

Crochet Hanger Covers pattern

Autumn

Truth be told, this post is more for the anecdote than a crochet pattern…

Once upon a time when I was little, my mom taught me how to crochet hanger covers.

The white was the first one I ever made, and the other was after I had gotten a little bit better at crochet. They originally had pompoms, but those got lost somewhere along the way. Wasn’t I so cute back then? I didn’t have the slightest clue how to control the yarn, lol.

And this is what I can do now:

The funny part is, my mom actually hates making hanger covers. She’s quit for good, and has absolutely no interest in ever picking it back up again. As for me, I love it, through and through. I like how pretty the hangers are, and how clothes don’t slip off of them while I’m rummaging through my closet.

Now, I believe that the wood hangers used to make these are no longer being manufactured. I got mine from ebay, and there are usually a few in thrift stores, but the general consensus is that no one knows where to get them anymore. But hey, with some basic woodworking skills, you could totally corner the market!

This is the variation of the vintage favorite pattern that’s been passed down through my family:

Size H hook
Worsted weight yarn

Make 2

Ch 58
dc in third chain from hook, 4 dc in same sp (5dc)

*skip 2 ch, sc, skip 2, 6dc* across. In final ch sp, 12dc around to other side. Continue pattern across the bottom, mirroring the top.

In the last space with 5 dc, make 6dc then sl st into top of ch2.

Creates 10 shells total.

Place wrong sides together, and slip stitch the top of the two pieces together. Slide hanger hook in between stitches in the center, then continue slip stitching across the bottom with the hanger inside.

Weave in ends

Decorate!

Pompoms are more traditional, but they also look beautiful with crocheted flowers. Leave tail ends to tie around the hanger hook, then weave them in.

About Me

Crochet Hangers and more

Autumn

You’re a hard core loser if you don’t own at least a dozen of these bad boys.

Also, I’m kind of addicted to spinning yarn. I made the green meself (I bought the cream online a couple years ago for some project or other i dont remember).

The pattern can be found here.

Also, because I know that you’re dying of curiosity, I finished making this out of the pink and yellow roving: