Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Back to the 50's Crochet

When a friend of mine told me she has a Smithsonian-sized collection of Scottie dog tchotchkes, I started looking for stitching designs to make her something in this theme. I knew there was a Scottie ornament in the 2009 JCS ornament issue, but I wanted to see what else was around. My web surfing took me to a booklet of vintage crochet designs from the 50's that featured Sunbonnet L'il, a more grown-up Sunbonnet Sue. I fell in love with the appliques in this booklet. And one design in particular called "Out for a Stroll" was perfect for my friend. I decided to applique it onto a ready-made totebag. It was fun to crochet this, but much less fun to stitch it onto the bag. I don't think I'll be making many more of these. But my friend was so surprised and she seemed to love the bag even though it's way outside the type of thing she would usually go for.

The booklet called for Lily threads that I don't even think are made anymore. It needed different weight threads and hooks for various parts to get the proportions correct. I only had size 10 crochet cotton and several different hooks so I had to improvise. I think the Scottie is a bit large, but that's ok since the Scottie was the most important part.


25 comments:

Jane said...

Wow, it looks fantastic. The improvisations turned out really well

KarenV said...

That's brilliant! It turned out beautifully, I'm sure your friend was thrilled.

staci said...

Cool! You did a fantastic job Annie. I'm sure your friend will proudly use her new bag!

BeckySC said...

You are just so talented my friend :) TOO cute!!
((hugs))

Pumpkin said...

SO cute! No wonder she was thrilled with it ;o)

Deb said...

Oh my gosh Annie, is that too cute or what! I think it turned out wonderfully. I know that your friend just absolutely loved it!

Lainey said...

Your friend is going to love that Annie, you are so talented. That little scottie is just too cute!

Silverlotus said...

Fabulous!

Nancy said...

What a wonderful gift! I love it, and I'm sure your friend does too. Beautiful work!

Annette said...

It looks so beautifull, Lovely lady...

Blu said...

So cool! That bag is just awesome. The crochet is incredible!

Jackie's Stitches said...

The bag is super cute! I don't think the Scottie Dog is too big at all. I can't imagine sewing this on though, that must have been fussy. Fantastic job!

Nima said...

wow...that looks lovely

Moreen said...

Fantastic! I love your crochet lady and scottie.
You made a great job of of sorting out the tension it looks perfect.

Melanie said...

Perfect!!!!!

Nicky said...

Annie, you are a woman of many talents. Beautiful!

Mylene said...

This looks gorgeous, Annie. You are the creative one!

Happy weekend!

Tammy said...

That is just awesome!! What a great job on that!

Unknown said...

very refined and elegant
many compliments
Pat

Olga said...

You did a great job on this project. The bag turned out so pretty!
I love this 50's crochet technique.

Siobhán said...

Annie, oh my gosh!! You are so freakin' talented. I love it! I bet your friend is crazy for it, too.

Jenny said...

A wonderful gift Annie! Looks great, as always! :-)

Patty said...

Wow! You did a fantastic job! I love the Scottie. Thanks for the heads up on this post. I'm still playing catch up with my blog reading. I always love coming here to see your work. :)

Gina E. said...

Ditto to all the above - they have said everything I was thinking!
Really cute. You are sooooo creative!

K-G Knitter said...

It looks great!!!