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Bunny Hat DIY for Cute Baby Photos- Free Crochet Pattern

Posted on May 1, 2012

Crocheted Bunny Hat with colorful lining for the ears is a wonderful accessory to use when making adorable photos of the child (or when simply showing off your treasure in its sweetest, cutest, most adorable look that melts even otherwise ice-cold and stone-hard hearts).

My Little Dragon is a very nice baby. (Well to tell the truth – we, his parents, think that he is the most wonderful Being on planet Earth.) But this Bunny hat makes him to look irresistible. We now have lots of photos with our charming Little-Dragon-turned-Sweet-Bunny. And it is very clear that we will make many more of those Bunny photos.

As Dragons do not like their pictures to be posted in Internet, then some rather easy Teddy Bear agreed to model the Bunny Hat for the needs of this tutorial.

PATTERN FOR CROCHETING BABY´S HAT (PICTURES 1-3):

Materials used: white cotton yarn (DK/Light worsted) and 3.5 mm hook for the hat and ears, colorful &thinner yarn for lining of ears, crocheted with 2.5 mm hook.

Abbreviation: ch= chain stitch, sl st= slip stitch, sc= single crochet, hdc= half double crochet, dc= double crochet, sc2tog= single crochet 2 together.

STEP 1: Start by crocheting the middle part of the back of the hat (you can see it in picture 2) which is done in ROWS (Row 0-21).

Row 0: ch 12.
Row 1: start crocheting in the 2nd ch from hook, sc 11.
Row 2-4: ch 1, sc 11.
Row 5: ch 1, 2sc, sc 9, 2sc.
Row 6-8: ch 1, sc 13.
Row 9: ch 1, 2sc, sc 11, 2sc.
Row 10-12: ch 1, sc 15.
Row 13: ch 1, 2sc, sc 13, 2sc.
Row 14-15: ch 1, sc 17.
Row 16: ch 1, sc2tog, sc 13, sc2tog.
Row 17: ch 1, sc2tog, sc 11, sc2tog.
Row 18: ch 1, sc2tog, sc 9, sc2tog.
Row 19: ch 1, sc2tog, sc 7, sc2tog.
Row 20: ch 1, sc2tog, sc 5, sc2tog.
Row 21: ch 1, sc2tog, sc 3, sc2tog. Fasten off.

STEP 2: Crochet the sides of the hat – AROUND the 3 sides of back´s middle part (row 22-53). DO NOT crochet on the bottom edge of the middle part.

Start crocheting on the right bottom corner of middle part.
Row 22: ch 1, sc 46 (starting from the bottom right corner, ending at the bottom left corner of the middle back part that was crocheted in Rows 0-21).
Row 23: turn the hat and crochet backward: ch 1, sc 46.
Row 24: ch 1, sc 17, 2sc, sc 2, 2sc, sc 4, 2sc, sc 2, 2sc, sc 17.
Row 25: ch 1, sc 50.
Row 26: ch 1, sc 15, 2sc, sc 9, 2sc, sc 8, 2sc, sc 15.
Row 27: ch 1, sc 53.
Row 28: ch 1, sc 15, 2sc, sc 5, 2sc, sc 9, 2sc, sc 5, 2sc, sc 15.
Row 29: ch 1, sc 57.

Baby crochet hat free pattern

NOTE: Rows 30-37 are crocheted in the middle of the row. That means – you will turn the work around to crochet backward BEFORE you reach the end of the hat´s row. It is necessary to make the curve on the top of the head (see the top part of picture 3).

Row 30: ch 1, sc 36, sl st in the next st, turn around to crochet in

the second direction.
Row 31: skip the 1st st that was formed by last sl st and start crocheting in the next st. Sc 15, sl st in the next st, turn around to crochet in the first direction.
Row 32: skip the 1st st that was formed by last sl st and start crocheting in the next st. Sc 19, sl st in the next st, turn around to crochet in the second direction.
Row 33: skip the 1st st that was formed by last sl st and start crocheting in the next st. Sc 23, sl st in the next st, turn around to crochet in the first direction.
Row 34: skip the 1st st that was formed by last sl st and start crocheting in the next st. Sc 27, sl st in the next st, turn around to crochet in the second direction.
Row 35: skip the 1st st that was formed by last sl st and start crocheting in the next st. Sc 31, sl st in the next st, turn around to crochet in the first direction.
Row 36: skip the 1st st that was formed by last sl st and start crocheting in the next st. Sc 35, sl st in the next st, turn around to crochet in the second direction.
Row 37: skip the 1st st that was formed by last sl st and start crocheting in the next st. Sc 39, sl st in the next st, turn around to crochet in the first direction.

Row 38: skip the 1st st that was formed by last sl st and start crocheting in the next st. Sc 48 (till the end of the whole row, reaching the bottom edge of the hat.

Row 39-41: ch 1, sc 57.
Row 42: ch 1, sc 20, sc2tog, sc 5, sc2tog, sc 5, sc2tog, sc 21.
Row 43: ch 1, sc 54.
Row 44: ch 1, 2sc, sc 52, 2sc.
Row 45-47: ch 1, sc 56.
Row 48: ch 1, 2sc, sc 14, sc2tog, sc 10, sc2tog, sc 10, sc2tog, sc 14, 2sc.
Row 49-52: ch 1, sc 55.
Row 53: ch 1, reverse crochet (crab stitch) 55 stitches.

STEP 3: Crochet the lower edge of the hat including the straps.

Row 54: Start by crocheting at the bottom left corner and crochet along the bottom edge: ch 1, sc 35. Then continue crocheting by working ch 31.
Row 55: Start crocheting from the 2nd ch from hook, work sc 30 for the strap, then sc 35 along the bottom edge of the hat, then work ch 31, then sc in the 2nd ch from hook and work sc 29 till the beginning of the strap. Fasten off and weave in the ends of yarn.

Crochet bunny rabbit ears DIY tutorial

BUNNY´S EARS for this hat consist of the outer part of the ear and the colorful lining. The lining makes the ear to be harder and gives it the shape. The colorful lining also adds more special look for the bunny hat when baby wears it.

STEP 4: Crochet the white part of ears for bunny hat (pictures 4 &5).

Row 0: ch 32.
Round 1: (Crochet around the string of Row 0.) Start crocheting in the 3rd loop from hook: sc 13, hdc 5, dc 11, 5dc in the next st, dc 11, hdc 5, sc 12, then 3sc in the last st where the 1st sc on this round was worked. Sl st to join the round together.
Round 2: ch 2, dc 31, 2dc, 3dc, 2dc, dc 31. Then work sc 6 on the bottom edge of the ear to reach the beginning of this round, sl st to join the round.
Round 3: ch 2, dc 32, in the next 5 sts work 2dc in each, then dc 32. Pull the yarn through the last loop, fast off and weave in the end of the yarn (picture 4).
Round 4: Take eyelash yarn and work sc around the ear (picture 5).

Step 5: crochet the Colorful lining for bunny´s ears (picture 6). Use finer yarn and smaller crochet hook than for white ears.

Baby crochet bunny hat tutorial

Row 0: ch 42.
Round 1: dc in the 3rd ch from hook, *skip next 2 ch, 3dc in the 3rd ch*, repeat ** 11 more times, skip next 2 ch and work 7dc in the final ch loop. Then continue crocheting around and work ** 12 times, then skip 2 ch and work 2dc in the final ch loop. Continue crocheting around – now on the bottom edge of the ear´s lining – work sc 5 on the bottom edge to reach the first dc of this round, sl st to close the round.
Round 2: Change the color of the yarn. Ch 1, 3dc in the space between Round 1 first dc and the 1st 3dc cluster. Continue working 3dc in each space between 3dc clusters of Round 1 until you reach the peak of Round 1 where 7dc were worked. Skip 3 dc stitches of this cluster and work 3dc between 3rd and 4th dc st, then work another 3dc between 4th and 5th dc st, then 3dc in the space between 7dc and following 3dc cluster from previous round. Continue by working 3dc in each space between 3dc clusters from Round 1. Finish the line with dc in the last stitch on the long edge. Do not crochet on the bottom edge of the lining.
Round 3: Change the color of yarn and work reverse sc (crab stitch) along the edges of the ear (without crocheting on the bottom edge, see picture 6).

Step 6: Sew the colorful lining on the inside part of the white ear. Then fold the edges of the ear at the bottom to give the shape to the ear and fix the fold (picture 7). Finally – sew the ears on the hat.

Now the bunny hat is ready and you can take the most adorable Baby-Bunny pictures!

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this tutorial!

iPhone Case Tutorial: Masculine Feather Stitch Crochet

Posted on April 17, 2012

Masculine iPhone cover is what I called this crocheted iPhone case when I proudly gifted it to my husband (my overdue promise that was meant to be his Christmas gift). Why is it masculine? Because I asked my husband to choose the colors of yarn for his MASCULINE iPhone cover (He did. And then I crocheted that yarn as I liked – playing with a stitch that I wanted to try out since long.)

I will tell you a secret – when making this iPhone cover I thought of myself as being smart (I still think so of myself. Silently.) because of these reasons:
1) The choice of MASCULINE colors was all his responsibility (while mine was the freedom for crocheting them in a way I wished).
2) I wanted it to be easy crochet (I love single crochet stitches because crocheting them is like a meditation for me).
3) Having 6 weeks old baby left me with very little time for crafting. That´s why making a cover for iPhone seemed a good opportunity to get to finished item before my child starts going to school ( I managed!).
4) I really wanted to get some peace for my mind by fulfilling the second of three Christmas gift promises that I made to my husband. (The third gift promise is still troubling me because I have no clue when I will get my hands on it.)

TUTORIAL FOR CROCHET STITCH
I know it by two names – bird´s-foot stitch or feather stitch. If you turn the crochet upside down – you get a design of a plant (see picture 13):

PATTERN FOR BIRD´S FOOT STITCH WITH 3 TOES (picture 5, this pattern was used for iPhone case – picture 20):

Crochet feather stitch tutorial

STEP 1: Crochet several rows single crochet with one color, then switch to another color and start by working single crochet till the point where you want to make the “bird´s foot”.
STEP 2: Insert crochet hook 1 row below and 1 stitch to the right (it will be below the last single crochet stitch that you made) and pull the 1st loop, leave it on the crochet hook (picture 1). crochet stitch tutorial
STEP 3: Insert hook 2 rows below and under the current stitch that you would make, pull the 2nd loop and leave it on the hook together with the 1st loop (picture 2).
STEP 4: Insert hook 1 row below and 1 stitch to the left from the current stitch that you would make, pull the 3rd loop and leave it on the hook together with the 1st and 2nd loop (picture 3). Now there are three loops on the hook. Take yarn on the hook (picture 3).
STEP 5: Pull the yarn through all 3 loops (picture 4). Then continue working single crochet till the point where you want to make the next bird´s foot stitch (picture 5).

You can see on the picture 6 the back side of the crochet.

After this row you can continue single crochet next few rows until you want to switch the colors again.

PATTERN FOR CROCHETING BIRD´S FOOT WITH 5 TOES (PICTURE 7):

STEP 1: Crochet several rows single crochet with one color, then switch to another color and start by working single crochet till the point where you want to make the “bird´s foot”.

STEP 2: Insert crochet hook 1 row below and 2 stitches to the right (it will be below the pre-last single crochet stitch that you made) and pull the 1st loop, leave it on the crochet hook (picture 8).

STEP 3: Insert crochet hook 2 rows below and 1 stitch to the right (it will be below the last single crochet stitch that you made) and pull the 2nd loop, leave it on the crochet hook together with the 1st loop.
Then insert hook 3 rows below and under the current stitch that you would make, pull the 3rd loop and leave it on the hook together with the 1st and the 2nd loop. Then make the loop 2 rows below and 1 stitch to the left, leave it on the hook, then make the last loop 1 row below and 2 stitches to the left. Now you have 5 loops on the hook (picture 9).

STEP 4: Pull the yarn through all 5 loops – the bird´s foot stitch with 5 toes is done (picture 10).
Continue working single crochet till the point where you want to make the next bird´s foot (picture 12).
You can see on the picture 11 the back side of the crochet.

And if you turn the crocheted piece upside down, then instead of bird´s feet, you get beautiful PLANTS as in picture 13.

CROCHET PATTERN FOR iPHONE CASE:

Materials used: 100% cotton (suitable for 2.5-3.5 mm crochet hook) in 3 colors. I used Schachenmayr SMC Catania cotton yarn (black, dark gray, light gray), and 2.5 mm crochet hook.

Abbreviation: ch= chain stitch, sl st= slip stitch, sc= single crochet.

iphone case DIY crochet tutorial

CROCHET THE FRONT with 3 colors (picture 14):
Row 0 (1st color): ch 20.

Rows 1-4/14-16/26-36 in the 1st color; rows 6-8/18-20 in the second color; rows 10-12/22-24 in the third color: ch 1, sc 19.

Row 5(2nd color), 9 (3rd color), 13 (1st color), 17 (2nd), 21 (3rd), 25 (1st) : change the color; ch 1, sc 3, in the next stitch make bird´s foot with 3 toes (Tutorial pictures 1-6, see above), *sc 7, in the next st make bird´s foot*, repeat ** once more, then sc 3.

iphone case tutorial

CROCHET THE BACK with 3 colors (picture 15):
Row 0 (1st color): ch 40.

Rows 1-3/8-9/14-15/20-22 in the 1st color: ch 1, sc 39.

Rows 4-5/10-11/16-17 in the 2nd color: ch 1, sc 39.

Rows 6-7/12-13/18-19 in the 3rd color: ch 1, sc 39.

When both side of cover are crocheted, pin them together (picture 16).

Note: back side is longer than front because it will overlap in the front and will be closed with buttons.

Crochet reverse single crochet all around the case to join both sides together (picture 17). On the top edge of back side make loops (with chain crochet) that are appropriate size for the buttons (picture 18).

Sew on the buttons and enjoy the result of your work (picture 19)!

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this tutorial!

Hot Air Balloons: Crochet Amigurumi Toys DIY Free Pattern

Posted on March 29, 2012

There are countless options for using these Hot Air Balloons as versatile gifts (baby mobile, joggling balls), and it is up to your imagination to choose the content of the basket. Put a special message in the basket for the recipient, or a small treat, or a passenger, or a special gift (could some jewelry piece be a good idea?) - anything your imagination can come up with! You can show the person how to free the ball from strings, or you can leave it as a riddle to solve…

Can you guess why these crocheted Amigurumi Hot Air Balloons are arranged as baby mobile?!
The reason is – three weeks ago my son – Little Dragon, our first child was born.
The birth and the first few weeks of our Little Dragon were the reasons for my quietness here on the blog. We were facing special circumstances with his birth and then learning to live together as a family. Our son was a breech baby and entered the world with his bottom first, giving us quite some challenges to overcome, and making me to seriously stretch my comfort zone when aiming for a natural breech birth for my first child. It certainly was a great experience that I will be able to use as a resource for future, and I am enormously grateful that all went well.

In fact, I live in a Dragon cave – not only my baby is a Dragon, so is his father. Luckily, I had learnt to fire walk before these two fire spitting dragons entered my life – it certainly is a useful skill now…

Crochet balls with polka dots free pattern

Little Dragon needed some nice baby mobile. So, I crocheted some Dragon Eggs. (I named them Dragon Eggs because during pregnancy I felt like being such Dragon Egg – my Little Dragon was in in the breech position with his head up (when for the birth he should have turned with the head down). No matter what I, my husband, midwife or doctors did, this little baby remained in his breech position, and nobody could do anything. He was safe in my belly as in Dragon´s Egg.)

Anyway, back to crochet. When dragon eggs were made – Big Dragon Papa used them for joggling (a skill I simply adore to see him performing) and asked me if it would be possible to keep the crocheted balls as balls, instead of turning them into Hot Air Balloons.

Loving both of my Dragons equally strong and having limited time – I had to find a creative way how dragon eggs could be used both ways – as joggling balls and also as hot air balloons for baby mobile. So, I created balloon strings for baskets that could be easily put on (for baby mobile of hot air balloons) or taken off (when having colorful crochet balls for joggling or playing).
Now everybody is happy with the result – Little Dragon has his mobile, Big Dragon can easily access crocheted balls for joggling, and I have a new tutorial, as well as some more time that I can devote to new creations (when having a small baby at home, there is a need for self made toys, so in the nearest future you can expect to see more tutorials of making own toys).

STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL OF HOW TO MAKE CROCHET JOGGLING BALLS AND HOT AIR BALLOON BABY MOBILE:

Materials used: for balls and baskets: 100% cotton (suitable for 2.5-3.5 mm crochet hook) in joyful colors. I used Schachenmayr SMC Catania cotton yarn, and 2.5 mm crochet hook. For polka dots and strings that hold the basket on the balls: 100% cotton, lighter weight than material for balls, 1.5 mm crochet hook.

Abbreviation: ch= chain stitch, sl st= slip stitch, sc= single crochet, dc= double crochet, tr= treble crochet, sc2tog= single crochet next two stitches together to decrease the amount of stitches, st= stitch.

STEP 1: Crochet the balls. Here is the pattern for the ball (it is worked in continuos rounds, NOT joined rounds):

Amigurumi ball free pattern

R0: ch 2.
R1: 6 sc in the second ch from hook, (6 sts).
R2: 2 sc in each sc st, (12 sts).
R3: *sc 1, 2 sc in the next st* repeat ** 6 times, (18 sts).
R4: *sc 2, 2 sc in the 3rd st* repeat ** 6 times, (24 sts).
R5: *sc 5, 2 sc in the 6th st* repeat ** 4 times, (28 sts).
R6: *sc 6, 2 sc in the 7th st* repeat ** 4 times, (32 sts).
R7: sc 2, *2 sc in the next st, then sc 4* repeat ** 6 times, (38 sts).
R8: *sc 8, 2 sc in the 9th st* repeat ** 4 times, sc 2, (42 sts).
R9: *sc 13, 2 sc in the 14th st* repeat ** 3 times, (45 sts).
R10: sc 3, *2 sc in the next st, sc 14* repeat ** 2 times, 2sc in the next st, sc 11, (48 sts).
R11: *sc 23, 2 sc in the 24th st* repeat ** 2 times, (50 sts).
R12: sc 10, 2 sc in the next st, then sc 24, 2sc in the next st, then sc 14, (52 sts).
R13: sc 52 (52 sts).
R14: sc 52 (52 sts).
R15: *sc 24, sc2tog* repeat ** 2 times, (50 sts).
R16: sc 10, sc2tog, then sc 23, sc2tog, sc 13 (48 sts).
R17: *sc 14, sc2tog* repeat ** 3 times, (45 sts).
R18: sc 7, *sc2tog, then sc 13* repeat ** 2 times, sc2tog, then sc 6 (42 sts).
R19: *sc 8, sc2tog* repeat ** 4 times, sc 2, (38 sts).
R20: sc 2, *sc 4, sc2tog* repeat ** 6 times, (32 sts).
R21: *sc 6, sc2tog* repeat ** 4 times, (28 sts).
R22: sc 3, *sc2tog, sc 5* repeat ** 3 times, sc2tog, sc 2, (24 sts).
R23: *sc 2, sc2tog* repeat ** 6 times, (18 sts). Fill the ball with stuffing.
R24: *sc 1, sc2tog* repeat ** 6 times, (12 sts).
R25: sc2tog 6 times, (6 sts). Fasten off and pull the yarn through each of remaining 6 stitches to close the opening. Weave in the end of yarn.

STEP 2: Crochet polka dots, pin and sew them on the ball (pictures2&3).
Each ball has 12 crocheted polka dots that are sewn on the ball . You might want to change the amount of dots or their size. For the balls in the picture 1 I used slightly thinner yarn and smaller crochet hook, so that sewn on polka dots would not change the nice shape of the ball.

Pattern for polka dots:
R0: ch 2.
R1: 8 sc in the second ch from hook, (8 sts).
R2: 2 sc in each sc st, (16 sts), sl st to join the last st to the first st of this round. Fasten off, leave the end of yarn to be long enough to sew the dot on the ball (picture 2).

Crochet hot air balloon pattern

STEP 3: Crochet basket for hot air balloon. (pictures 4-13).
Each basket has colors that match the colors of balloon it is attached to (picture 4).

Depending on how you want to use the Hot Air Balloon with its basket- you can make higher or bigger baskets (to put a special message in the basket, or maybe a toy, or a treat, or…).

Crochet hot air ballon basket pattern

CROCHET PATTERN FOR SMALL BASKET:

Row 0: ch 8.
Row 1: sc 6, starting from the 3rd ch from hook.
Row 2-5: ch 1, sc 6 (picture 5).
Round 6 (picture 6): ch 1, sc 5, 3 sc in the 6th st, then continue crocheting around the square, sc 3 in the 2nd edge, 3 sc in the st on the corner, sc 4 in the 3rd edge, 3 sc in the next corner, sc 3 in the 4th , 2 sc in corner, sl st in the 1st sc st of this round, (now there should be 26 sts around the square).
Round 7: (continue crocheting around the square) ch 1, sc 1 in the same st, sc 9, 2 sc in the 10th st, sc 12, 2sc in the next st, sc 3, sl st in the 1st sc st of this round (now there should be 28 sts around the square, or 7 sts per edge).
Round 8-11 (picture 7): ch 1, sc 28 (starting from the same st), sl st in the 1st st of this round (28 sts).
Round 12: change the color of yarn (picture 8). Ch 1, *sc 1, sc 1 in the st 1 row below, sc 1 in the st 2 rows below, sc 1 in the st 3 rows below, sc 1 in the st 2 rows below, sc 1 in the st 1 row below, sc 1*, repeat ** for each edge of square. When full round is crocheted, sl st to join to the 1st st of this round, (28 sts).
Round 13: Now you need to crochet backward (picture 8), ch 1, *then sc 3 backward, then ch 3, skip the st that is over long st that was done 3 rows below, so that you can create a handle for the basket (picture 9), then sc 3 continuing to crochet backward*, repeat ** 4 times. When the round is completed- sl st to the beginning of the row. Fasten off and weave in the ends of the yarn.

FOR THE BOTTOM OF BASKET: change the color of yarn and crochet sc around the bottom of basket, working 3 sc in each corner (pictures 10-12). Fasten off and weave in both ends of yarn.

Your basket (picture 13) is completed!

Step 4: Crochet the strings that will hold the Hot Air Balloon ball in the air, so that it can be hung somewhere.

Crochet toy baby mobile

STRING TO HANG THE BALL (picture 14): use the finest yarn you have and 1 mm hook – the finer the yarn, the better the balloon will look.
Loop 1 (middle loop of picture 14): ch 60, sl st in the 1st ch to form round.
Loop 2 (the “petals” around the middle loop in picture 14): ch 3 (equal to 1 tr), ch 55, tr 1 in the 15th ch of Loop 1.
Loop 3&4 (the “petals” around the middle loop in picture 14): ch 55, tr 1 in the 30th ch of Loop 1 (for Loop 4 – in the 45th ch of Loop 1).
Loop 5 (the last “petal” around the middle loop in picture 14): ch 55, sl st in the 3rd ch of Loop 2. Fasten off, weave in ends of yarn.

Put the string around the ball, so that 4 petals are joined at the top of the ball, and pull the yarn through all 4 loops of petals (picture 15&16).

Step 5: Crochet the strings that will attach the basket to the Hot Air Balloon (pictures 17-19).

STRING TO HANG THE BASKET ON THE BALLOON (picture 17): use the finest yarn you have and 1 mm hook – the finer the yarn, the better the balloon will look.

Loop 1 (middle loop of picture 17): ch 28, sl st in the 1st ch to form round.
Loop 2 (the “petals” around the middle loop in picture 17): ch 3 (equal to 1 tr), ch 60, sl st in the 30 ch from the hook, ch 30, tr 1 in the 7th ch of Loop 1.
Loop 3&4 (the “petals” around the middle loop in picture 17): ch 60, sl st in the 30 ch from the hook, ch 30, tr 1 in the 14th ch of Loop 1. (For Loop 4 – in the 21st ch of Loop 1).
Loop 5 (the last “petal” around the middle loop in picture 17): ch 60, sl st in the 30 ch from the hook, ch 30, sl st in the 3rd ch of Loop 2. Fasten off, weave in ends of yarn.

Put this string on the balloon in such a way that the yarn of previous string (that is holding the balloon in the air (picture 15)) is pulled through the middle loop (loop 1) of this basket string, so that all 4 petals hang down (picture 18).

Step 6: Attach (sew by hand) the handles of the basket to all 4 loops of basket strings (picture 19).

Now you can fill the basket with appropriate content. And remember to show the recipient of the Hot Air Balloon how easy it is to take out the crochet ball from the strings.

If you are curious to see other tutorials for crocheted gifts, then there is a tutorial for making BOHEMIAN ORNAMENT, and tutorial to create GIANT CROCHET GARLAND FOR WINDOW.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this tutorial!

Different Shower Curtain: DIY Tutorial

Posted on February 19, 2012

shower curtain diy tutorial

In its previous life this shower curtain used to be three bed sheets, so I can officially add this tutorial to my collection of repurposed-recycled DIY tutorials, and look as ~~money-saving~~ very environment conscious person.

I wanted to have a shower curtain with style – layers of fabric falling in kind of “balloon-swag-manner” (I have no idea how to describe the style of this curtain that you see on the picture on the left. Friends, if you can help me here – PLEASE, HELP!).

I love white. My husband wants more color. (Never ending issue for negotiations between us regarding interior looks at our home.) Solution? Curtain that is big part white (it is still I who makes it!) and has colorful layers of fabric on its down part (for the sake of peace at home… And well – actually I love the play of colors on MY curtain).
Blue and gray stripes and layers felt right for our bathroom that has dark-green-blue-mix color carpet.

Now, when our super tiny, nearly dangerously claustrophobic bathroom (only 3.45 square meters!!!! This picture was made in our living room because there was no space to make any picture inside the bathroom) has been given this new, rich look - I feel so ~~proud~~ happy and am willing ~~to add another DIY tutorial post to this blog~~ to be helpful to humankind and share the TUTORIAL of HOW TO MAKE SUCH SHOWER CURTAIN. As the minimum goal – I aim to inspire some people of this wonderful DIY tribe to create different kind of (shower) curtains.

STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL OF HOW TO MAKE CURTAIN:

Materials used:
* Approximately 3 bed sheets no longer needed for their original purpose, or whatever fabric you have available (picture 1).
* Vinyl shower curtain for the lining, and rings to attach the curtain to the curtain rod.
* If you want to paint your bed sheets or fabric – some dye paint of preferred color. (I tore one sheet in narrower panels and dyed one of them in light blue color, other one – dark gray. The sheet with stripes remained as it was, fitting nicely to my color scheme).
* Piece of ribbon for the loops to attach the rings to the curtain.
* Whatever else is needed for the process of sewing (~~sewing slaves~~, cup of tasty tea, good music, scissors, pins, thread, sewing machine etc).

Sew shower curtain DIY tutorial

STEP 1: Measure your shower and/or bathtub and decide on the size of the curtain you would like to have. Then cut the fabric accordingly.
Here is the scheme of how I made the measurements and proportions of my shower curtain – it can be helpful for figuring out the fabric proportions that you would need.

Please note: The top layer of fabric curtain is made out of white fabric. That´s why for the inner layer main panel I also used white fabric (to avoid that other color would shine through the top layer). The colorful panels are sewn on the bottom of this inner layer panel (see the scheme in the attachment).

STEP 2: Hem the top, bottom and side edges of all 4 colorful panels. At first, fold 1 cm (0.4″) edge and then fold it again, pin it (picture 2), iron and sew (picture 3).
You need to hem the same way also the bottom and sides of top layer white curtain and inner curtain´s main panel.

Step 3: Create the ruffled balloon-looking-swags. Decide the distance between ruffled lines you would like to have. And draw the orthogonal lines of about 20 cm (7.9″) at the bottom of top layer curtain and on each of 4 colorful panels (picture 4).

Note about my curtain (you can choose to do differently with yours): I had 37 cm distance between each 2 ruffled lines. Each panel had 6 ruffled lines. The distance between the first (or the last for odd numbered panels) ruffled line and the side of the curtain was half of usual distance (18 cm or 7.1″), because I wanted to have mismatching ruffled lines on the completed curtain. So I sewed ruffled lines on each next panel in the middle of the balloon swag when compared to the previous ruffled panel (see the drawing in the scheme in the attachment by step 1).

When you have marked all the ruffled lines (20 cm or 7.9″ long), make the top thread on your sewing machine to be very loose and sew on each line, full length (picture 5). Then pull the bottom thread to create the ruffles (picture 6), and fix the thread so that ruffled line remains in the length you want it to be. The ruffled sewn line should be half of the original line – that is 10 cm (3.9″) long (picture 7).

Step 4: Put back the normal tension for the thread on your sewing machine and sew along the ruffled line on both sides (picture 8). Then pull out the thread in the middle that created the ruffle. Now 1 ruffled line for balloon-swag is completed (picture 9). Repeat the same activities for all lines that need to get ruffles.

STEP 5: When you have made all ruffled lines for balloon-swags on top curtain and each colorful panel, you can sew the 4 colorful panels on the inner curtain layer. See the scheme in the attachment (by step 1), where the drawing has the lines of the distance on the inner layer fabric for sewing on 4 colorful panels (22 cm (8.7″) between each panel).

Step 6: Make bias tape that in its final stage is 3 cm (1.2″) wide.
Then put the top layer of the curtain on the inner layer (in the way your completed curtain needs to look) and sew the bias tape so that it connects both layers as 1 curtain (picture 10).

STEP 7: Create the folds on the top of the curtain.

Note regarding my curtain: for the curtain I made, the width of the curtain so far was 240 cm (94.5″), which was 1.6 times longer than the width of the curtain rod (150 cm or 59.1″). I wanted the curtain to be a bit wider: 1.2 times (making new width to be 180 cm (70.9″)) bigger than the length of curtain rod so that completed curtain would have nice drape. I needed to decrease the width from 240 cm (94.5″) to 180 cm (70.9″), which made 60 cm (23.6″) decrease.
As I had 12 rings for the curtain rod (which was the amount of holes in my vinyl curtain), I calculated that for each curtain ring I needed to create the fold of 5 cm.
Please, check how big should be the folds for your curtain (as it depends on the size of the final curtain and the amount of rings that you need) and adjust your calculations accordingly.

Shower curtain tutorial diy 4

Create the fold on the top of the curtain, pin it and sew the line (on the back side of the curtain) that is as long as your bias tape on the top of the curtain (picture 11). Repeat for each fold.

Now open the fold and then fold it so that half of it would be on each side of the sewn line on the facing side of the curtain, then pin it (picture 12). Sew along the edges of the fold (picture 13), but NOT ON THE TOP OF THE CURTAIN. You will need the opening there to insert the ribbon for attaching the rings.

Shower curtain diy 5

STEP 8: Cut the ribbon – same amount as rings that you have for curtain rod (picture 14). Then insert both ends of the ribbon inside the opening of the fold on the top of the curtain, so that you create the loop from the ribbon. Then sew it to the curtain (picture 15). Repeat for each loop that you need to make.

STEP 9: The most satisfying step of the tutorial (picture 16) – put your curtain (adding vinyl curtain as lining) up on the curtain rod! And enjoy the results of your wonderful work!:-)

Now, consider yourself being warned: don´t be surprised if your new curtain will become the reason why you want to make more changes in your bathroom. In my case – I had to get new towels that matched the curtain´s colors. Then it became clear that we also needed to make new shelves, take away previous ones, design different boxes to store bath belongings, and find fancier candles for enjoying our claustrophobic bathing with home spa flavor.

If you are curious to see more tutorials for curtains, then make sure you get the next posts that will appear on this blog in the nearest future. I am currently redoing the curtains for our home, and I will certainly remain in the mood to ~~show off~~ share my creations with you.

Meanwhile you might want to check out more interior tutorials of how to make your own lampshades – like this BOHEMIAN STYLE LAMPSHADE and this easy to make LACE LAMPSHADE.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this tutorial!

4 Comments

Amigurumi Crochet Cats: DIY Tutorial & Pattern

Posted on February 9, 2012

Crocheted amigurumi cats – each has a different personality that is visible from the details in the outfit and from the expression on the face. This kind of cat can be a funny gift to the person you want to surprise with your message

If you want to see the reason these cats were given their personality and character qualities – read the message near the end of this post. You will also see on the picture the purpose they were created for.

For me this anonymous saying expresses the essence of the cat´s being: “Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this.”

I like cats exactly for their independent nature. Each time when some cat shows affection to me – I feel ~~I am special and honored~~ I have been shown mercy. And each time a cat is nasty to me – I get ~~angry and call it names~~ a message that there is still so much work to do to improve my character…

So, you can imagine how well I felt when making these crocheted cats – I made them the way I wanted them to be. They got the characters I wanted them to have. And they got to behave just the way I wanted them to behave. It nearly felt like being a cat making goddess or something of this kind… If you want to experience how it feels – you are welcome to use the pattern and tutorial of how to make such crocheted cat.
Ladies and Gentlemen, here they are! Meet:

STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL OF HOW TO MAKE CROCHET CATS:

STEP 1: Crochet all body parts necessary for the cat (the pattern description is next to the pictures of corresponding body part).
Each cat needs nose and detail for cheeks that are the same for all the cats. Making different faces was fun for me, so each cat got eyes and mouth that were a bit different (description below).
If you want to make cats in different colors, then each cat needs these body parts in fitting colors (4 photos below): two cups of half body (to sew together to form an oval ball for the body), 4 feet, 2 ears, 1 tail.

Depending on your wish you can decorate the cat with unique details to make it more special (see the description below for each cat) and to deliver your message for the recipient of the gift

Abbreviation: ch= chain stitch, sl st= slip stitch, sc= single crochet, hdc= half double crochet, dc= double crochet, sc2tog= single crochet next two stitches together to decrease the amount of stitches, picot (chain 3 picot), st= stitch.

BASIC CROCHET PATTERN FOR BODY PARTS OF THE CAT (play with colors as you please):

HALF CUP FOR BODY (make 2):
R0: ch 4, sl st in the 1st ch to form ring.
R1: ch 1, sc 8 in the ring, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (8 sts).
R2: ch 1, 2 sc in each sc st, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (16 sts).
R3: ch 1, *sc 1, 2 sc in the next st* repeat ** 8 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (24 sts).
R4: ch 1, *sc 3, 2 sc in the 4th st* repeat ** 6 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (30 sts).
R5: ch 1, *sc 4, 2 sc in the 5th st* repeat ** 6 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (36 sts).
R6: ch 1, *sc 11, 2 sc in the 12th st* repeat ** 3 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (39 sts).
R7: ch 1, sc 39, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (39 sts).
R8: ch 1, *sc 12, 2 sc in the 13th st* repeat ** 3 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (42 sts).
R9, 10, 11, 12: ch 1, sc 42, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (42 sts).
R13: ch 1, *sc 13, 2 sc in the 14th st* repeat ** 3 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (45 sts).
R14: ch 1, sc 45, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (45 sts). Fasten off.

FEET (make 4):
R0: ch 4, sl st in the 1st ch to form ring.
R1: ch 1, sc 8 in the ring, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (8 sts).
R2: ch 1, 2 sc in each st, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (16 sts).
R3, 4: ch 1, sc 16, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (16 sts).
R5: ch 1, *sc 2, then sc2tog* repeat ** 4 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (12 sts).
R6: ch 1, sc 12, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (12 sts). Fasten off.

TAIL (make 1):
R0: ch 4, sl st in the 1st ch to form ring.
R1: ch 1, sc 8 in the ring, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (8 sts).
R2: ch 1, *sc 1, 2 sc in the next st* repeat ** 4 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (12 sts).
R3-7: ch 1, sc 12, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (12 sts).
R8: ch 1, *sc 2, then sc2tog* repeat ** 3 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (9 sts).
R9-16: ch 1, sc 9, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (9 sts). Fasten off.

EARS (make 2):
R0: ch 4, sl st in the 1st ch to form ring.
R1: ch 1, sc 5 in the ring, turn around to crochet in the other direction (5 sts).
R2: ch 1, sc 2, then 3 sc in the 3rd st, sc 2, turn around to crochet in the first direction (7 sts).
R3: ch 1, sc 3, then work: hdc, dc, hdc all in the 4th st. Then sc 3, turn around to crochet in the other direction (9 sts).
R4 (here I changed the color for the outside line of the ear): ch 1, sc 4, then work: hdc, dc, hdc all in the 5th st (dc from Row 3). Then sc 3, then 2sc in the next st that is on the corner, then continue crocheting around the ear, now crocheting on ear´s down part by sc 1 in the bottom of Row2, then sc 1 in the middle loop (that was formed by ch 4 of Row0), then sc 1 in the other side of Row2, then 2 sc in the corner st to close this circle of other color, then sl st in the 1st sc st of this row (whole circle has 17 sts). Fasten off.

NOSE (make 1):
R0: ch 4, sl st in the 1st ch to form ring.
R1: ch 1, sc 8 in the ring, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (8 sts).
R2: ch 1, sc 5 (5 sts). Fasten off.

CHEEKS (make 1):
R0: ch 7.
R1: 2 sc in the 2nd ch from the hook, sc 4, then 4 sc in the next ch. Continue crocheting around the ch line. Sc 4, then 2 sc in the 1st ch (where the first 2 sc of this Row 1 were worked, so that the 1st ch of Row0 now has all together 4 sc sts in it), then sl st to join to the beginning st of this row (16 sts).
R2: ch 1, 2 sc in the 1st st, then sc 6, then 2sc in the 8th st, then again 2 sc in the 9th st, then sc 6, then 2 sc in the last st of this row. Sl st to join to the beginning st of this row (20 sts). Fasten off.

STEP 2: Stuff both cups of body with filling (picture 1) and sew them together (pictures 2&3).

STEP 3: Stuff all 4 feet with filling and sew them on the body, so that joined row crochet line of the body would be between left side and right side feet and not visible on the top of the cat (picture 4).

STEP 4: Put the cat on its feet and pin its ears in their place, then sew them on (picture 5).

Crochet toys detail diy

STEP 5: When you sew on the cheeks – give the oval a bit of shape (picture 6), so that cheeks would not be placed flat on the face, but would look as kind of filled. In the middle of the oval it is sewn tighter together to create a look of “8″ laying flat, so that the nose could be attached in the middle of it (pictures 7&8).

STEP 6: To make nose – at first sew its outside edge together, so that it would form a ball, then sew it on in the middle of the face (picture 6), embroidering a line over the middle of the cheeks. Embroider the mouth (picture 8).

STEP 7: Each cat has slightly different eyes and mouth that make their faces look a bit different (picture 8). Crochet the size of eyes you like, sew them on the face and then embroider.
For small eyes: crochet ch 4, sl st to make ring, then crochet ch 1, sc 6 in this ring, fasten off.
For bigger eyes: crochet ch 4, sl st to make ring, then crochet ch 2, dc 1, then sc 2, then dc 2, then sc 2, sl st in the beginning of the row. Fasten off.

STEP 8: Add to each cat the details that make it look special and deliver your message

DETAILS MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE:

The bodies of cats are all the same, just different colors and stripes. Those are the additional details that give each cat its unique look. The possibilities are endless. Below is the description of what I did to create the personality for each of these 4 cats.

FAIRY BELLA (red and yellow cat).

She got a skirt, like a lady should (picture 11), small wings on her tail and bigger wings on her back to be a cat fairy (picture 12).

For SKIRT: Take the bottom part of the body and crochet chain line between Row 13 and 14 (while you crochet on the outside of the cup, the yarn is inside the cup), then cut the yarn, pull it inside the cup and secure it. Then crochet 4 dc in each chain stitch that you just created on the outside line of the cup, this will make the ruffled skirt (picture 9 & 10), use slip stitch to join the beginning of the skirt to its end. Fasten off and weave in the ends of yarn (picture 11).

For SMALL WINGS for the tail (picture 12): ch 8, sl st in the 1st ch to make loop, then ch 7, sl st in the same st where 1st sl st was done (now there is shape of “8″ created), then *sc 3 in the first (second) loop, then picot (ch 3, sl st in the 3rd ch from hook), sc 1 in the same loop, picot, sc 1, picot, sc 3 in the same loop*. Repeat ** for the second loop, then sl st to join 2nd loop to the 1st loop. Fasten off.
Sew the small wings to the tail.

For BIGGER WINGS on the back of the cat: ch 10, sl st in the 1st ch to make loop, then ch 15, sl st in the same st where 1st sl st was done, then again ch 15 and sl st in the same st where the 1st sl st was done, then ch 10 and sl st in the same st where the 1st sl st was done. Now there is a shape of 4-petal flower.
Ch 1, sc 10 in the first loop (of ch 10). Then sc 3 in the next loop (of ch 15), then picot, sc 3, picot, sc 3, picot, sc 4. Then sc 4 in the next loop (2nd loop of ch 15), then picot, sc 3, picot, sc 3, picot, sc 3. Then sc 10 in the last loop (2nd loop of ch 10), then sl st in first st of the 1st loop. Fasten off.
Sew these wings on the back of the cat.

OPTIMIST & TRAVELLER (orange and blue cat).

He has a newsboy cap with pom-pom (picture 13) and an earring in the right ear (picture 14).

For NEWSBOY CAP:
R0: ch 4, sl st in the 1st ch to form ring.
R1: ch 1, sc 8 in the ring, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (8 sts).
R2: ch 1, *sc 1, 2 sc in the next st* repeat ** 4 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (12 sts). R3: ch 1, *sc 2, 2 sc in the next st* repeat ** 4 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (16 sts).
R4, 5: ch 1, sc 16, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (16 sts).
R6: ch 1, *sc 2, then sc2tog* repeat ** 4 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (12 sts).
The brim: ch 1, sc 5, turn the work around to crochet in the other direction, skip 1st st, sc 4, turn the work around to crochet in the 1st direction, skip 1st st, sc 3. Fasten off.

Make pompom and sew it on the top of the hat. Then sew the hat on cat´s head (sew also the brim to the forehead).

EARRING: ch 5, fasten off and leave enough long end of yarn that you can pull through the ear with the needle, connect chain´s one end to the other to make a ring, weave in ends of yarn.

REAL GENTLEMAN – with a gentleman´s hat with round brim.

HAT: R0: ch 4, sl st in the 1st ch to form ring.
R1: ch 1, sc 8 in the ring, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (8 sts).
R2: ch 1, *sc 1, 2 sc in the next st* repeat ** 4 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (12 sts). R3: ch 1, *sc 2, 2 sc in the next st* repeat ** 4 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (16 sts).
R4, 5: ch 1, sc 16, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (16 sts).
R6: ch 1, *sc 2, then sc2tog* repeat ** 4 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (12 sts).
R7: ch 1, sc 12, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (12 sts).
R8: ch 1, *sc 2, then sc2tog* repeat ** 3 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (9 sts).
The brim R9: ch 1, 2sc in each st, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (18 sts).
R10: ch 1, *sc 2, 2 sc in the next st* repeat ** 6 times, sl st in the 1st sc st of row (24 sts). Fasten off.
To create the stiff shape of the hat – crochet sc only around the Row 4 (it means – you will pierce the hook between Row 3 and Row 5 and work 16 single crochet stitches around the hat), sl st in the first sc. Fasten off and weave in the ends of yarn.

Now you can sew the hat on the head of the cat.

TALENTED MAESTRO

He has messy hair and wears a butterfly (and has dreamy eyes…).

Crochet softie hair face tutorial

HAIR: cut pieces of yarn (longer than you want the hair to be – you will need to make knots, so longer pieces are easier to work with) and pull them through the stitches on the cat´s head, then make knots and cut the yarn as short (or long) as you wish.

BUTTERFLY:
R0: ch 6.
R1: 2 sc in the 2nd ch from the hook, sc 3, then 4 sc in the next ch. Continue crocheting around the ch line. Sc 3, then 2 sc in the 1st ch (where the first 2 sc of this row were worked, so that the 1st ch of Row0 now has all together 4 sc in it), then sl st to join to the beginning st of this row (14 sts). Fasten off.

Butterfly´s shape is created by making few tight loops around the middle of the oval (picture 17). Sew the butterfly on.

I admit – I was having lots of fun when creating details for these toys. I sketched many options for details and face expressions, trying to figure out, what kind of looks would tell the message that I had in my mind when making each cat with its own character.

Crochet baby mobile diy

Such cats are fun – each one separate or as a group. They make funny gifts to people of any age. As written before – it is all about the details

These four cats decided to entertain the little baby boy of my dear friend. And so they were tied together for a baby mobile that you can see right here.

Fairy Bella brings good dreams to baby. Optimist & Traveller encourages the baby to be curious and joyful no matter the circumstances. The Real Gentleman makes sure that the boy grows up to be a person with good manners. And Talented Maestro is there so that the child would always allow his creativity bloom, and express it in as many ways as he wishes.

If you are curious to see other tutorials for crocheted gifts, then there is a tutorial for making HOT AIR BALLOONS AND JOGGLING BALLS, and tutorial with pattern for MAKING 3D SNOWFLAKES (you can use it for making any kind of 3D ornament).

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this tutorial!

39 Comments

Bohemian Lampshade: DIY Tutorial

Posted on February 1, 2012

This BOHEMIAN STYLE LAMPSHADE I made for my (kind of) BOUDOIR style bedroom, and I hope that this tutorial and pictures will INSPIRE you to make your own lampshades – it is EASY and DOABLE.

I just LOOOOOVE how this lampshade has the look of feminine HOT AIR BALLOON (especially when the lights are on), don´t you think so? I wanted it to look like a strawberry and whipped cream cake – I think I managed it

I had no success in my search of ready-made pendant lampshade that would fit my design wishes. And so I started to hunt for the thrift store lampshades that would have such shape that I could envision to dress up with that tasty sounding BOHO touch.
I got an old, big, round and very dusty lampshade that could have been made in 60-ies. I tore off the fabric from the lampshade right outside the thrift store as I did not want to bring home some 50 years of dust.
I wish I had made the picture of how the original lampshade looked when I bought it, but in those times I was going around without camera (it did not come to my mind then that some day I might be sharing my crafty adventures via Internet).

I hope you will benefit from seeing the pictures of this lampshade making process (also if you would decide that this is a great example of “how-NOT-to-do-something”) and will be inspired to create anything you wish to create!

NOTES OF HOW I MADE THIS BOHEMIAN LAMPSHADE:

NOTE 1: See the scheme of the lampshade that is in this attachment. It contains explanation about each level.

Two lines that are knitted with eyelash yarn can be made out of any kind of fabric (best of all if it has half transparent texture to let the light shine through). I chose knitted version (picture 3), because I wanted to make big loops that would give enough light, while the yarn created nice colorful light.

Lampshade itself is divided into 5 horizontal lines of materials:

1st Level: dark red fabric on the top (picture 5).
2nd Level: knitted red eyelash yarn line (picture 3).
3rd Level: the widest line – central part sewn with vertical lines of floral fabric and 10 lines of lace (pictures 1 and 2), embellished with red beaded garlands (repurposed from Christmas decorations).
4th Level: knitted line of coral color eyelash yarn.
5th Level: made of two layers – white lace fabric lined with light violet fabric (picture 10). I chose to have two fabrics for the lowest level because having only the white lace was letting too much light shine through it (not so appropriate for a bohemian lampshade).

How to make Bohemian Lampshade tutorial

NOTE 2: While pinning together all the horizontal lines of the materials (picture 4) – I was checking how much the light was shining through the cover when the electricity was on (picture 5), just to be sure I would be satisfied with the amount of light it gave.

NOTE 3: The middle line (floral fabric and lace stripes) I had to adapt to the width of the lamp also after I had sewn all the vertical lines together. It was helpful that the 10th line of floral fabric was cut in two parts, plus seam allowance (picture 6), so I could pull it more together where it was necessary, to make sure that it covered tightly the carcass of lampshade.
When I was satisfied with the fit of the cover – I sewed the cover together by hand (picture 7).

NOTE 4: This lampshade had something like a crown (picture that could be mounted on its down part. I painted it white, then wrapped it in a piece of molleton that was slightly wider than the crown part, so I could sew the lace on it (picture 8). I chose such lace that had pattern perfectly fitting the size of the crown. The flat seam on picture 9 looks rather big, but in reality it is not so visible.

NOTE 5: When I put on the crown on the lampshade, I added the big beaded garland at the place where crown was connected to lampshade (picture 10).

NOTE 6: I wanted to have even richer look of this lampshade, so I sewed pearl beaded garland on the coral color knitted line (picture 11).

NOTE 7: When I looked at the hanging lampshade, I still had a feeling that I would need to add another detail to make it look even more bohemian and special, so I added the hanging ornament that you can see on the pictures below. This ornament has a very practical function – when it is pulled down it works as the switch for the light.

There is a SEPARATE tutorial that explains HOW TO MAKE BOHEMIAN STYLE ORNAMENT.

If my projects look unusual or strange, then it is because I approach crafts with letting the flow of imagination and creativity carry me wherever they take me (well, there are quite some times when this approach does not bring any satisfactory result). The side effect is that such journey increases my own risk tolerance when NOT aiming for perfection, but aiming to have lots of fun during creation process and playing with materials of different textures and colors. And if at the end I am not satisfied with the result – I anyway have learned something, and – I am always free to get my hands and imagination busy with the next weird project

I love making lampshades. You can see two more tutorials of my lamps – LACE LAMPSHADE for our dining nook and UNIQUE GOLDEN LAMPSHADE that I made for the table in one corner of our living room.

And I love BOHEMIAN STYLE, so there will be more posts with tutorials about the interior objects I have made for my bedroom.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this tutorial!

16 Comments

Bohemian Ornament: DIY Tutorial

Posted on January 24, 2012

Do you want to see the DIY tutorial about how easy it is to make UNIQUE BOHEMIAN ORNAMENT that adds special BOHO TOUCH to your interior?

This statement piece (here you see again – I am not modest when speaking of my creations) is partly made of recycled materials – plastic bottle, pieces of beaded garlands from Christmas decorations, and some plastic beads from old and torn apart necklace. Everything holdstogether by small bits of different yarn that is crocheted with the easiest single crochet stitch. Working tools – crochet hook, sewing needle, some tape and tiny scraps of batting material and fabric, and a piece of cord.

This Charming Darling can be used alone as ornament on its own for whatever occasion or purpose one designs it. And it can be a detail belonging to the bigger object in your interior.

My choice of colors was influenced by that bigger interior object to which I needed to add this ornament detail.

bohemian DIY ornament

Can you guess what was that other interior object for which I made this Boho touch? I can add a hint to make the guess easier – the bigger thing also belongs to my Boho obsession that I have been trying to bring into my bedroom.

The OPTIONS ARE COUNTLESS, when even the sky is NO LIMIT. It is all up to imagination, creativity and increasing own risk tolerance when NOT aiming for perfection, but for having lots of fun during creation process and playing with materials of different textures and colors.

STEP BY STEP GUIDE OF HOW I MADE THIS BOHEMIAN ORNAMENT:

STEP 1: I started with the empty juice bottle (picture 1) that had a perfect shape for the purpose I needed it. I wanted it to have a nice round bottom, so I filled the hole (you can see it on picture 1) with some scraps of batting material and attached them with tape to the bottom of bottle (picture 2).
For the top of the bottle I needed a rounder shape, so I added extra volume by the same scraps of batting material that I tied to the bottle’s cap (picture 3) and then cut off the excess of the material (picture 4).

recycled materials to make bohemian ornament

STEP 2: I picked the colors and texture of yarn that were fitting to the main object belonging to my Bohemian obsession. And then I crocheted yarn with single crochet stitch only, adding and decreasing the amount of stitches accordingly to the shape of the bottle. Each crocheted part I was working on – I was putting on and off the bottle many times to measure, if the amount of increased stitches created shape that fitted well.

To cover the whole bottle nicely I needed to create the crocheted coat in three separate parts – light color hat-type of cover for the cap, collar for the neck of the bottle (two colors), and the pink, round half-ball shape for the bottom of the bottle (picture 5).

STEP 3: Once the cover for the bottle was crocheted, I sewed on different beads – separately for each crochet part. The pink bottom part was embellished with bead garland pieces from Christmas tree decoration (picture 7), same story for part of the collar (picture 6) to which I added more beads from an old necklace. Beads of another non-functioning necklace I sewed on the cap´s part.

STEP 4: Once all the beads were attached to the crocheted coat for the bottle, I sewed all three parts together (picture 8).

STEP 5: I cut a long strip of fabric (5 cm wide) to make the cover for the rope that would connect this ornament to it’s bigger “mamma”-object. To create the look of ruffled cover, the rope’s length needed to be much shorter than the length of the fabric strip that covered it.
I folded the fabric in half lengthwise and sewed it together on the longest edge (picture 9), then turned it inside out, so the seam would be inside this fabric tube.

I made a loop on one side of the rope, to be able to attach it to the ornament. Then I pulled the rope inside the fabric tube (picture 10) and closed one side of it, that I then sewed together and attached to the ornament (you can see the ruffled fabric cover of rope on picture 11 top).

Ta dah! The Boho ornament was completed!

LAST NOTE on bohemian objects that will follow:

My bedroom is getting dressed up in a style that has some boudoir touch. If you are curious to see the whole bohemian project for which this ornament was created – make sure you get the next posts on this blog because one of them will certainly contain a tutorial for making more and bigger Boho…
WARNING – it is not for every person’s taste, but it surely can be inspiring for having more ideas about experimenting and playing with different textures and colors.

Meanwhile – if you are into experimenting with colors and texture – there is also a tutorial for making UNIQUE LAMPSHADE. And if you would like to see another recycled statement decoration project – check out this tutorial for GIANT CROCHET GARLAND.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this tutorial!

3 Comments

Liebster Award Surprise

Posted on January 14, 2012

This is a different type of post that does not fit into any of categories that I have here.
I recently got a gift that completely surprised me- Hannah of Not Your Average Crochet gave me the Liebster blog award. Hannah, thank you so much for this nice gift!

The cool thing about this award is that I get to pass it on to other 5 bloggers that have less than 200 readers (well, I have no clue how many readers those next 5 blogs have, but once they are my Liebster blogs, then I will simply pass this award to them, and risk to bend the rules of numbers).

In no particular order comes my list of Liebster blogs that I hope you will visit and see yourself:

1. Hand Stitch where Sarah not only shares with her readers her crafty knitting, crocheting journey, but also talks about the issues that are important in her life. The colors that Sarah uses in her work inspire me.

2. alottastitches.wordpress.com contains Linda´s crafty adventures. I love to see her afghans because the colors are wonderful. And Linda is wonderful too – she donates her beautiful afghans for charity.

3. Beautifully Sewn is Salma´s blog. She has made an absolutely wonderful embroidery piece – something that inspires me every time I look at it. And Salma´s interests are among mine too – sewing, reading, yoga and gorgeous textiles.

4. Pins and Patience is the place where Morgan shares her adventures about crafting and “generally not fitting in” – her original approach makes her blog so charming for me.

5. lindacee.wordpress.com is a place where Linda shares her crafts, book reviews and recipes. All of that fit into my category of interests.

Few more words about this award. Liebster is German for “dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.” That means that the bloggers I pass this award on to are in themselves very liebster.

Here are the rules for the passing on of the award:

Rule #1. You must acknowledge the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
Rule # 2. Give this award to 5 other bloggers. Please let them know through a comment on their blog.
Rule #3. Post this wonderful award on your blog.
Rule #4. Bask in the glory bestowed upon you and appreciate all the amazing bloggers out there.
Rule# 5. Enjoy and spread the good vibes around.

Ok, now it´s time for me to float in those good vibes as per rule 5…

4 Comments

Upgrading Coat with Lace Details: DIY Tutorial

Posted on January 10, 2012

JOURNEY FROM SHAME TO FAME

I was making for myself a simple coat (my first self made coat, so my level of confidence allowed to choose only simple pattern), but even though it was a simple coat, (my huge ego demanded that) it still had to be my VERY SPECIAL COAT. I was wondering, what magic I could apply to make a simple coat turn into THE SPECIAL COAT?

Below you can read the TRUE STORY of behind the scenes of how it all happened that I chose to change some minor details (tolerable risk for me) in the pattern that improved the looks of the coat, and then added LACE DETAILS to cover up my mistake and IMPROVE THE LOOKS of my coat SIGNIFICANTLY (in my very not-humble opinion about my own work, and in the biased opinion of my husband about the work of his adorable darling wife).

DESCRIPTION OF IMPROVEMENTS AND MISTAKES HIDDEN AWAY:

I needed a WIDE COAT (my belly grows bigger and bigger, and will keep doing so until the Little Dragon will burst out of it).

Coat drawing

Since I was determined to make my own coat, I figured out – my efforts should be put into a coat that I would wear also when being back to my regular shape.
So, I chose this simple pattern from Burda magazine, 01/2011. You can see in the picture that originally the pattern of this coat had 2-piece slim 3/4 sleeves, the sweet turn-down type of collar (not my style at all), and it was meant to be rather short.

First of all – I dislike to follow instructions of any kind, and I always must bring in some touch of innovation (or at least- simply ignore the instructions and make the mistakes my way).
Second, I used checked fabric that I wanted to play with to create more interesting look. You can see the result on the top part of the coat and turn-up parts of the sleeves (pictures 1&10).
Third, I wanted a longer coat with full length, comfortably wide, turn-up sleeves and high collar (picture 2). I changed these details by drawing over the pattern in a way I assumed it should be.

Then I noticed that top back part of the coat had a cut in the middle to give it a better shape. I decided that it was a waste of time and energy – as the coat would anyway be wide, there was no point in making this (unnecessary) seam. Welcome disaster decisions….

Sewn coat lace details back view

I confess- the idea about adding lace to my coat started as a desperate attempt to save my mistake created when I thought of myself to be genius (I quietly still have the genius opinion of myself) and made that shortcut in pattern for the back part). Guess what happened… Picture 2 happened! The fall of coat on my back looked really ugly (which screamed so loud: “She was lazy!!! She had no clue what she was doing!!!”, that my huge ego simply could not handle it, and I had to find a solution to turn that shame into fame).
When I was pinning the folds on the back of coat to get rid of ugly looks, it looked so weird, that even my husband dared to ask me, if I could maybe add some kind of applique or lace to cover that mess… I snapped him back with: “Yeah, I know, that´s what I was planning to do!”

I went through my stash of lace collection (gathered during my thrift store visits) and was relieved to find a matching color lace (picture 3). Its length allowed to me continue playing, so (see the picture below) I used it to embellish not only the back of the coat, but also the collar and sleeves (and as it turned out – above all, I had embellished my pride and self esteem).

STEPS OF ADDING LACE TO THE BACK OF THE COAT (picture tutorial above):

STEP 1: I pinned the lace (picture 3) in the shape of “V” on the back of the coat (picture 4) where I needed to fold in extra fabric on the back that was creating ugly fall. I sewed lace on by hand all around it.

STEP 2: Then I pinned fabric over the lace in a way that folded inside the new seam the extra fabric I wanted to get rid of (picture 5). These seams I sewed by machine.

STEP 3:I noticed that the top points of the new seams (picture 6) were not looking nice – kind of popping out of the coat, so I cut out 2 motives from the lace and sewed them by hand on the top of the seams which created a nice look (picture 7).

STEPS OF HOW TO MAKE TURN-UP SLEEVE with bias and lace details:

STEP 1: Add a wide line of bias fabric to the edge of the sleeve (picture 8). Length is determined by the preferred length of turn-up plus 4 cm of edge that is folded inside the sleeve.

STEP 2: Pin the seam up (towards the top of the sleeve) and sew around it, about 3 mm from the previous seam. Then fold the added line inside the sleeve (picture 9).

STEP 3: Sew by hand the added line inside the sleeve, near the edge of this line. Then put the turn-up sleeve in its correct position (picture 10). Afterwards you can pin on it the lace and sew on by hand (picture 11).

High collar with lace for coat DIY tutorial

TO ADD LACE TO THE COLLAR: pin the lace along the collar line (picture 12) and sew it on by hand (picture 13).

LAST NOTE

I was so happy about the result of my lace embellishment work, that I could not help it and simply had to make a picture TUTORIAL out of it, hoping that somebody else might get ~~impressed~~ inspired by seeing what a magic touch of lace can do to change the ~~mistakes and~~ looks of garment.

There is also a tutorial and pattern for making CROCHET CLOCHE HAT WITH LINING that is very comfortable to wear with high collar clothing, big scarf or cowl. This cloche hat covers your head and ears properly, and at the same time keeps your beautiful earrings visible – adding more charm to your looks

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this tutorial!

8 Comments

Crochet Cloche Hat Pattern DIY Tutorial

Posted on January 7, 2012

I celebrate that CLOCHE HAT, Crochet and Handmade is again IN FASHION! I like the brim of my cloche hat to fit well and keep its shape.
And since ALL OF MY “FUTURE LIES BENEATH” MY HAT – I want that hat to be One Of A Kind, WARM and FITTING my new coat.

These are the reasons I created my own pattern to make this hat (by redoing the body of the hat twice and remaking the brim of the hat three times…).
Then I thought – maybe somebody else can find useful this pattern and tutorial about how to make hat lining. Well, at least, or best of all – for an inspiration. One can hope, right? So I challenged myself to pull together all those hat making details that I applied while making this hat. Check out if this is something for you!

MATERIALS I USED FOR THIS CROCHET CLOCHE HAT:

A. 2 Balls of New Wool (each ball with weight 50 g and length 145 m).
B. Crochet hook size 3.5 mm to crochet the body of the hat.
C. Crochet hook size 3 mm to crochet the brim of the hat.
D. Scraps of jersey fabric for lining – enough for circle of 18 cm in diameter and rectangular 58 cm x 10 cm.

Useful information to consider before starting to crochet the hat:

You start by crocheting the body of the hat, then continue with making the brim. The pattern chart and description is in this Crochet Cloche Hat Pattern PDF File.

It is important to crochet properly the brim of this cloche hat. It will make a huge difference when you wear it. You will enjoy that on the back of the hat there is no brim – so you can comfortably wear big scarf, cowl or clothing with high collars (see the picture at the bottom of this post). And also – the shape of the hat will allow a great fit deep on your head, good protection for your ears, but still showing your nice earrings, thus adding more style to your chic look

Pay attention that seeing the description of the brim you might think – come on, this is crazy…
Honestly, the PRINCIPLE IS EASY. It is just that to make written description for each row was a real challenge. And the result you see is the only way I could figure out, after having struggled with the description (rewriting and rewriting it countless times) two days long. So, before you read the crochet instructions of each row – read the text right after Brim crocheting title on the pdf file – it will help to understand the principle.

If you want to ADD LINING for the hat to make it warmer, especially for the windy weather – you can follow the tutorial below that describes how to add fabric lining for the hat.

STEPS OF HOW TO MAKE LINING FOR CROCHET CLOCHE HAT:

STEP 1: Draw on the paper the circle with diameter of 18 cm. Cut it out and pin it to the fabric (I suggest to choose stretchy fabric or fleece. This fabric will be visible through the hat – where the big pattern crochet is, so you might want to choose the material that looks nice together with your chosen yarn).
Draw on the fabric around the paper circle and cut it out from fabric without seam allowance (picture 1).

STEP 2: Cut out the rectangular from the same fabric, size 57.5 cm x 10 cm (picture 2).

Cloche crochet hat tutorial back view

STEP 3: Fold the fabric rectangular with facing side inside, pin the shorter edges of the rectangular together. Sew about 0.5 cm away from the edge (picture 4).

STEP 4: Pin the circle to one long edge of rectangular all around it, so that both pieces have their backside to outside (picture 3). Sew along the pin line, about 0.5 cm away from the edge.

STEP 5: Turn the crochet hat inside out. Put the lining on it, so that fabric lining has facing side out. Make sure that the seam on lining´s side is matching the middle line of the back of the crochet hat. Fold the edges of the lining inside, so that lining would end about 1.5 cm above the edge of crochet hat (picture 5).
Sew by hand the lining to the crochet hat at the folded line.

Turn the hat out again. Now your lined crochet cloche hat is DONE, DONE, DONE! (pictures 6&7) And you can ENJOY wearing it!!!!

Check out how to make GATSBY HAT /FLAT CAP – FREE PATTERN AND TUTORIAL.
And here is the tutorial about how to add EARFLAPS to the hat that can be tucked inside hat when not needed: DIY TUTORIAL FOR MAKING EARFLAPS FOR FLAT CAP / GATSBY HAT.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this tutorial!

11 Comments

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JOURNEY FROM SHAME TO FAME

DESCRIPTION OF IMPROVEMENTS AND MISTAKES HIDDEN AWAY:

STEPS OF ADDING LACE TO THE BACK OF THE COAT (picture tutorial above):

STEPS OF HOW TO MAKE TURN-UP SLEEVE with bias and lace details:

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MATERIALS I USED FOR THIS CROCHET CLOCHE HAT:

Useful information to consider before starting to crochet the hat:

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TUTORIAL FOR CROCHET STITCH
I know it by two names – bird´s-foot stitch or feather stitch. If you turn the crochet upside down – you get a design of a plant (see picture 13):