Crocheted Chatelaine

Several years ago I bought a book about making home made gifts - amongst the gifts was a pattern for a hand sewn chatelaine. I thought it was a great idea - a tool belt for ladies! I put it on my to-do list and there it stayed for years. Earlier this year I thought about it again and how cool it would be to crochet one..then I got distracted by another projext and forgot about it, again. In September I was stuck for an idea for a present for my niece's birthday and my sister said "she likes sewing". Immediately I knew what to make her!

Using cotton I already had, I decided to make it pale purple, yellow and orange. It's not a colour combination I'd pick for myself, so I was never quite sure if it looked ok. 

Making it was the easiest part - I just used patterns I already knew for the different pouches. The cord the pouches hang off is just many threads chain stitched as one. 

Deciding which bits and pieces to put in the pouches and then buying them probably took more time. I ended up with a tape measure, pins, needles, thimbles, 3 dressmakers pencils, an unpicker and snippers.

When I'd finished I decided to make a larger pouch which the chatelaine could be kept in. This pouch can also be attached to the cord and used to hold larger items.

My niece loved it! She said "Thank you so much for my beautiful sewing kit!!!! It's absolutely gorgeous :) xxxxxxx" My mum was there when she opened it and confirmed how much she liked it, she said "It was like Christmas watching her open all the pouches to see what was inside". A very pleasing result and one of the reasons I love making things for people, I guess she didn't mind the colour choice! I wonder if I can get a few more of these made before Christmas..

Crocheted Cotton Scrubbers

I've just completed this one

I love these crocheted scrubbers, I've just finished making my 2nd one. They're very simple to make, though they take longer to make than you'd think! I found the pattern here. I like to add a row of single crochet in a different colour at the end of mine.

This was my first attempt

My kind of tacky - kind of groovy sea shell lamp.

It's been a long time since I posted anything - not because I haven't been making stuff, I just haven't got round to it. I've mainly been working on smaller bits and pieces.

A trip to the beach..

In July I took my two youngest daughters to Queensland to visit my eldest daughter for her birthday. She lives about 860kms from me, fortunately my parents live half way there and I was able to stop over at their house to break the trip up a bit. After spending a week in Queenland, we headed back down to my parents'. The day before we were due to come home I took my daughters to the beach, where they collected hundreds of shells, as kids do. When we got back to Mum and Dad's, I rinsed off the shells and spread them out to dry in the sun.

Going home..or not..

The next day we planned to visit a friend, then head off home after lunch. That plan came unstuck when my car bottomed out on my friend's eroded gravel driveway. I didn't think it seemed bad at the time, but when I drove back into town the car was making a horrible sound. I wasn't willing to set off on a 400km trip with two kids in the car with that happening, but as it was a Saturday afternoon I'd have to wait until Monday to get a mechanic to look under it. 

Maybe I should make something out of these shells..

I sat at my parents wondering how to fill my time. I didn't want to drive my car anywhere incase I damaged it further, so I couldn't visit anyone or take the girls anywhere. As I was sorting my shells I said to my dad "Maybe I should make something out of these shells..". Dad sprang into action and soon we were making a lamp. In his shed he found a couple of bits of wood to make a base and soon had a hole drilled down the centre for the wiring. Conveniently he had the innards of an old lamp in his shed too. Within no time he'd finished the base and the rest was up to me.

I fiddled around trying to work out a design with all the different shell's I'd collected, but nothing looked right. I knew from the start the lamp was going to look tacky, so I thought "why not go with it. I decided to cover it in all the same sort of shell, a shell that I personally found boring. They looked much better than having a mixture did.

Going home..

That was as far as I got with the lamp at Mum and Dad's. On the Monday morning we took the car to the mechanics and they put the car up on the thingy and discovered a huge rock jammed up underneath my car. Thankfully that was all it was - no damage done, it cost me $20 and I was on my way home again.

Once home I had access to everything I needed to finish the lamp, starting with tins of spray paint. Originally I was going to paint it gold or silver, but I went with the first colours I found - White undercoat with Bronze top coat. I'd also found a lamp shade of mine which was in need of repair. I removed the cover from it and painted it bronze too. Now the only thing left to do was cover the shade.

Covering the shade..

It took me a long time to work out how to cover the shade. Initially I thought of crocheting a lacy shade cover - then I decided I didn't want to spend all that time crocheting and then find it looked revolting. That led me to the thought that I could buy some 2nd hand doilies that someone else had made and use them. Brilliant idea except for the fact that I timed this with the 2014 Doily Drought - I couldn't find any anywhere! 

Back to the drawing board.. I sat the lamp on my desk and stared at it often. Over the next few weeks I came to really like it. Instead of the trashy-bling gold or silver would have given it, the bronze paint had made it seem more rustic. The shells, the gathered wood scraps and the bronze made me think of shipwrecks and pirate treasure, that sort of thing. An image of people shipwrecked on a beach, making use of what they can find to build what they need, perhaps even finding some pirate treasure along the way.. and what would they use for the lamp shade cover? A piece of ship's sail of course, stitched together with threads pulled from the same fabric! Finally I had an idea..

So I headed off to the fabric shop and bought some calico and matching thread - I wanted to use something a little sturdier than pulled threads. Using the cover I had removed from the shade as a template, I made a cover out of four pieces of calico, roughly hand stitched together with frayed edges facing out. I then stitched the cover to the bronze frame, deliberately leaving the metal rings visible. The lamp was finally finished!

I'm really pleased with the end result, it's a tacky little lamp with a lot of memories involved. I've ended up keeping it for myself - though I'm not sure anyone else would want it anyway!

Another African Flower Cushion

I finally got this cushion completed! I've been alternating between this and my daughter's blanket the last few weeks, there was also a week or two of forgetting to go to the fabric shop to buy some black cotton fabric for the insert cover.

I love these little cushions! They're very small compared to the cushions I usually make, but they're just the right size to rest your head on and would be excellent for travelling. My niece has decided to use the one I made her as a cushion for an antique desk chair she has.

This cushion was made for a friend who always praises my work, but says "it would look better in black, purple and red".

More African Flowers

I've taken a break from my blanket this week and started work on another African Flower Cushion as a gift for a friend. This cushion will be identical in size and shape from my last one, but is totally different in colour.

Yesterday I completed the first 7 flowers and joined them together. Today I managed to complete another 9, giving me a total of 16, which is half of the 32 I need to complete the cushion.

18 Necklaces

Something different for a change..

A couple of months ago the school my daughters attend asked for some donations for their Mother's Day stall. I decided to make use of the piles of beads I have here and make some necklaces. I had hoped to make more, but ended up making 18.

A Cushion, A Blanket And Now A Bedspread Too!

Since my last post I've made quite a bit of progress with my blanket. Last night I completed the third panel and was finally able to join them together, I was so excited and immediately had to take pictures!

3 Panels Connected

I was speaking to my daughter a week or so ago and when she asked what I was doing, I told her I was making her birthday present. She said she really needed a new bedspread as her puppy had chewed the one she has. I panicked a little and told her she better not let her puppy anywhere her birthday present! I knew I was never going to be able to complete a queen size bedspread by July and I thought "Oh well a blanket and cushion will have to do!"

The next day I was shopping at Aldi and noticed a very basic queen size polar fleece blanket and thought how perfect the colour would match my blanket and cushion, but it wasn't a bedspread and I didn't know if it would be big enough to be used as one.

That night I couldn't stop thinking about it. I thought how easily it could become a bedspread if i just did a pretty purple crocheted edge around it. With the blanket and cushion on top to decorate it, I decided it would complete the set. The next morning I rushed out and bought it. It can be seen in the background of these pictures. I hadn't realised how huge it was until I pulled it out last night - I don't think that simple crocheted edge is going to be as quick to do as I thought!

Cushion, Blanket and Bedspread (A Work In Progress)

To Be Continued...

A Cushion and Blanket For My Daughter.. A Work In Progress

The Project

A year ago I started crocheting a cotton blanket out of granny squares for my daughter. It was going to be a huge blanket and would take 200-300 squares to complete. 33 squares in I realised there was no way I was going to get it finished in time for her birthday, so I put it aside to be completed this year.

A few days ago I realised my daughter's birthday was approaching and I hadn't touched the blanket. When I pulled out the completed granny squares I decided I didn't feel like making hundreds more of them and I would work with what I had. I decided I would make a cushion and a blanket.

The Cushion

I joined 9 of the squares together to make the front of the cushion and then made a large granny square for the back of the cushion. I covered the insert with plain purple fabric. I finished the cushion late last night and I love the end result, it's so soft and cuddly and pretty..

Front Of Cushion

Back Of Cushion

The Blanket

After making the cushion I was left with 24 granny squares for the blanket. I debated for quite a while about how to use them and eventually decided to make 3 panels of 8 squares. I'll work around them and then join them, then work around that to complete the blanket.

My biggest issue is running out of colours. I went to buy more thread a few days ago and was unable to get more of the pink and blue. I do have some left, but I am running very low on the pink as I used it when making the hexagonal cushion I made recently.

I stitched together the first panel of 8 last night and began working around it. This is how it looks so far:

Blanket Panel

Blue-eyed Bunny with a Bow Tie

I'd been searching for a bunny pattern to crochet a toy for my nephew for Easter. I was unable find one I liked until I found this pattern from www.allaboutami.com, which was shared on Google+ by Rory Brio of crochetbrio.blogspot.com.

I stuck to the original crochet pattern, though I changed some other details:

- Bunny was crocheted in a pale green thread
- Eyes were crocheted rather than black safety eyes
- Feet were decorated with the same fabric as the ears
- Bunny was given a matching bow tie instead of a carrot.

Most of these changes were due to me working with what I had on hand.

I think he turned out well for a first attempt!


Edit: My nephew took one look at the bunny, realised it wasn't chocolate and tossed it aside!

African Flower Hexagonal Cushion

While browsing through Google images, I saw some beautiful creations made from this hexagonal African Flower design. I tried it out and was surprised at how something so pretty could be so simple to crochet. I decided I would make my niece a cute little cushion for her Birthday. I've just finished this and have already started on my next African Flower creation. I think I may be in love with this design! 

A Necklace To Match The Bracelet

I decided the bracelet I made to test my pattern needed company, so I created this necklace to go with it (sorry, no pattern). I think it's really pretty - but then I try not to make ugly things :) I've decided to give this set to my Mum as part of her Mother's Day present.

Edit: My 22 year old daughter, who rarely likes anything I like, has said she would wear this, so I am giving it to her instead. Will have to think of something else for my Mum!

Crocheted Jewelry Set

A few weeks ago I made a cute crocheted jewelry set of earrings, ring and bracelet (pictured below). Today I was asked for the pattern - slight problem - I'd made it up as I went along and didn't have a pattern, so I decided to write one. Fortunately I remembered exactly how I'd made it, I even tried out the pattern and made another bracelet (pictured above) to be sure I got it right. I've never written out a pattern before, so please be nice to me :) 

I'm Australian, so you may need to work out the conversions for the size of the hooks and thread I am referring to. I used a 1.5mm steel crochet hook and regular cotton crochet thread (I think it might be size 10). I'm fairly sure I'm using US terminology for my stitches. The beads I used are about 5mm round, you may need to use more for the button if using smaller beads. This pattern would be fairly easy to adjust to suit your needs (just +/- the chain stitches), it doesn't use much thread and is quick to make - so if it takes a little trial and error to get right, it shouldn't be too much of a pain!

Flowers: Make 7 of these
Start with a slip knot, then chain(ch) 6 stitches and join the first and last chains with a slip stitch(ss) to make a loop to work around. The petals: * ch 2, 2 double crochets(dc), ch 2, ss. Repeat from * 4 times to complete flower, fasten off. Leave a long enough tail to sew a bead in the middle of flower. On five of them leave an even longer tail to attach them to the ring and bracelet.

Earrings: Attach completed flowers to earring hooks.

Ring: I used 18 ch to make mine, but this would vary depending on the size you want to make.
Start with a slip knot, then ch 18 and join the first and last chains with a ss to make a loop. Work around a row of single crochet(sc) and finish with a ss, fasten off. Stitch completed flower in to place over the join to hide any ugliness.

Bracelet: Thread 8 beads onto yarn, slide them down the yarn then slide them back up again as they are needed. Start with a slip knot, then ch 7 and join the first and last chains with a ss to make a loop for a button hole. *Ch 15, slide a bead up and include it in the next ch, repeat from * twice, ch 15. To form the button: slide 2 beads up and include one in each of the next 2 ch, ss into last ch before the 2 beads. (The next part becomes the 2nd strand of the bracelet) Continue with *13 ch, slide a bead up and include it in the next ch, ch 2, ss into the stitch that holds the bead opposite on the first strand. Repeat from * twice, ch 17, ss into loop to finish, fasten off. Stitch 4 flowers into place in the middle of the spaces.

Finish with the one thing I dislike about crocheting - hiding the tails - I find it best to hide them in the back of the flowers.

The Original Set