Saturday 22 February 2014

Teal camisole and knickers

I have been making more knickers again! I bought some gorgeous teal stretch cotton and some grey lace from ebay. The seller I like is called 96tracey96 on ebay, she sells some really nice stretch lace and has good customer service. I used the same knickers pattern I did before from Emma Kidd from emeliana underwear (hipster style), the vest top I had modified from another one of Emma's patterns (I increased the size and changed the neckline). I think the pink bow really finishes them off! I am thinking of making some boxer shorts next in stretch fabric. I am in the process of making up a pattern. I will keep you posted.






Sunday 16 February 2014

Salamander bag

I used the same pattern as I used for the other swallow bag that I made up from some black jeans a few weeks ago. The original pattern was for a reversible bag  This time I used an old pair of black trousers and some red and black floral fabric. The red fabric was stabilised using medium weight vilene. I cut of a silhouette of a salamander and used this to make the appliqué (heat and bond technique). It was difficult to keep the detail sewing around the toes with satin stitch, but I think it turned out ok in the end. I like how the red and black fabric complements the plain black fabric.


I used the pockets from the trousers to make pockets on the inside of the bag, attaching them using satin stitch.



Friday 14 February 2014

A gift of a thread catcher

I made a thread catcher for my friend Tracey for her birthday. The pattern was given to me by my friend Tricia (thepiedpedlar.blogspot.com). I used a floral linen fabric lined with a green cotton and the pin cushion is filled with sand. I was very pleased with it, the proportions are much better than the one I made up myself earlier this year. I like the fact that ot has a nice large pin cushion. Anyway, enough waffling, here it is...






Sunday 9 February 2014

Saxophone accessory case

My father in law, Dave, was in need of a case for his saxophone mouth pieces so I made a little case for just this purpose. I measured the saxophone mouth pieces and strap and made the pockets accordingly. It is difficult to see the pockets as I used black thread on the black fabric.


Here is the bag with the pieces placed on top so you can see where they fit. The gold piece fits in the opening at the top. The other black mouth pieces fit in the gap in the center and the strap fits into the bottom pocket.  It is made of black velvet and black jersey fabric. I overlooked the edges and used zigzag stitch to attach Velcro pieces. The whole thing was made of one large piece of black velvet for the back / top flap, one medium size piece of back velvet for the bottom pocket, a small piece of velvet for the flap for the bottom pocket (this also gives acces to the bottom pocket and is attached to base of top pocket) and finally a piece of black jersey for the top pocket. To form the 3 sections for the top pocket I used a standard straight stitch.


The bag fits nicely inside the bell of the saxophone.


So the mouth pieces and strap can be stored inside the saxophone inside the case.





Saturday 8 February 2014

Crocheted Octagon Box

I wanted to make a little box in an octagon shape but I could not find a pattern anywhere, so I made my own! I had some leftover yarn from my many previous knitting and crochet projects, most of which is double knit. I have made several of these, they are addictive!




Crocheted Octagon Box

This little box comes out at about 6.5 cm high and 13cm wide. It's a great little project for using up left over yarn and it makes a handy little place to keep notions, like buttons! Bear in mind that the denser your yarn the sturdier your box will be.



Requirements
4mm and 3.5mm crochet hooks
Approximately 210 meters of double knit weight yarn
Darning needle

Abbreviations
dc : Double crochet (English)
htc : Half treble crochet (English)

Gauge 
1inch square = 5htc, 4.5 rows

Note: ensure you keep to the number of stitches stated or you may not get a flat bottom on your box.

The Base

With 4mm hook cast on using magic circle method, 8dc into loop. Join to first dc using ss.
Round 1: chain 1, 2dc into each loop of the row below, join with first dc with ss (16 stitches).
Round 2:  skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next, repeat (24 stitches)
Round 3: skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next 2 stitches, repeat, join with first dc with ss. (32 stitches).
Round 4: skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next 3 stitches, repeat, join with first dc with ss. (40 stitches)
Round 5: skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next 4 stitches, repeat, join with first dc with ss (48 stitches).
Round 6: skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next 5 stitches, repeat, join with first dc with ss (56 stitches).
Round 7: skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next 6 stitches, repeat, join with first dc with ss (64 stitches).
Change to 3.5mm hook
Round 8: chain 1, htc into each stitch, join with first dc with ss (64 stitches)
Rounds 9-19: Repeat the last row 10 more times (64 stitches).
Fasten off and weave in ends


The Lid

With 4mm hook cast on using magic circle method, 8dc into loop. Join to first dc using ss.
Round 1: chain 1, 2dc into each loop of the row below, join with first dc with ss (16 stitches).
Round 2:  skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next, repeat (24 stitches)
Round 3: skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next 2 stitches, repeat, join with first dc with ss. (32 stitches).
Round 4: skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next 3 stitches, repeat, join with first dc with ss. (40 stitches)
Round 5: skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next 4 stitches, repeat, join with first dc with ss (48 stitches).
Round 6: skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next 5 stitches, repeat, join with first dc with ss (56 stitches).
Round 7: skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next 6 stitches, repeat, join with first dc with ss (64 stitches).
Round 8: skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next 6 stitches, repeat, join with first dc with ss (72 stitches). 
Round 9: skip first stitch, 2dc into first stitch, dc into next 6 stitches, repeat, join with first dc with ss (80 stitches).At this point check to see if the lid is large enough to fit on your base, if so proceed to the next row.
Change to 3.5mm hook
Round 8: chain 1, htc into each stitch, join with first dc with ss (80 stitches)
Rounds 9-19: Repeat the last row 10 more times (80 stitches).
Fasten off and weave in ends
 
Have fun crocheting!




Tuesday 4 February 2014

Rolled over crochet bowl

I have recently gone a little crochet crazy and have designed a simple crochet bowl to keep my yarn.  It measures approximately 25cm wide and 11cm deep with the turn over. Ideal for keeping a few balls of gorgeous yarn! I used some scrap yarn I had leftover from knitting socks, so great for clearing up my stash. So here is the pattern:




Rolled over crochet bowl

Measurement
25cm wide and 11cm deep with the turn over.

Materials
6mm  and 7mm hook
100g chunky weight yarn
50g Aran weight yarn

Start with the 7mm hook and the chunky yarn (brown) for the base
Chain 4, slip stitch into the first stitch to form a loop.
Round 1. Chain 1, 12dc into loop, ss into the first dc (12)
Round 2. Chain 1, (1dc into first stitch, 2dc into next) repeat 6 times in total, ss into the first dc (18)
Round 3. Chain 1, (2dc into the first two stitches, 2dc into next) repeat 6 times in total, ss into the first dc (24)
Round 4. Chain 1, (3dc into the first 3 stitches, 2dc into next) repeat 6 times in total, ss into the first dc (30)
Round 5: Chain 1, (4dc into the first 3 stitches, 2dc into next) repeat 6 times in total, ss into the first dc (36)
Round 6: Chain 1, (5dc into the first 3 stitches, 2dc into next) repeat 6 times in total, ss into the first dc (42)
Round 7: Chain 1, (6dc into the first 3 stitches, 2dc into next) repeat 6 times in total, ss into the first dc (48)
Round 8: Chain 1, (7dc into the first 3 stitches, 2dc into next) repeat 6 times in total, ss into the first dc (54)
Round 9: Chain 1, (8dc into the first 3 stitches, 2dc into next) repeat 6 times in total, ss into the first dc (60)
Round 10: Chain 1, (9dc into the first 3 stitches, 2dc into next) repeat 6 times in total, ss into the first dc (66)

Switch to 6mm hook
Round 11: Chain 1, htr into the back loop of each stitch, ss into first htr 
Rounds 12-24: Chain 1, htr into each stitch, ss into first htr 

Switch to Aran yarn (pink) for the top edge of the basket
Round 25-28: Chain 1, htr into each stitch, ss into first htr 
Round 29: Chain 1, turn work and work htr into each stitch going in the opposite direction (this is where the edge is turned over so I switched to work from the inside of the basket so the outside looks neater) ss into first htr
Round 30-33: Chain 1, htr into each stitch, ss into first htr 
Fasten off and use crochet hook to weave in ends.

Enjoy!










Monday 3 February 2014

Up cycling Jeans into a reversible bag



I have several pairs of worn out jeans but could not bring myself to throw any of them away. I found a free pattern for a simple reversible bag and thought it would be a great pattern to use this fabric. I cut each of the panels from the leg part (jeans were a size 16 boot leg), and found some other purple fabric remnant that I had picked up in a charity shop a few weeks ago to cut two of the same. I made use of the pockets from the jeans as inside pockets for the bag and also used extra denim and purple fabric to create swallows using the heat and bond method of appliqué. I used satin stitch to attach the appliqué, the thread I used was a gorgeous wonderfil metallic thread which I picked up at Ally Pally last October. To give the purple fabric extra stability I used iron on vilene, but the denim exterior was already pretty sturdy. I am actually really pleased with the result and it am thinking of making another one with perhaps different appliqué. Maybe smaller birds, not sure yet.