Crochet Ric-Rac for Ornament Trim

After a long-need rainy day yesterday, the sun finally peeked out long enough to let me take some photos of two ornaments I just completed. My crochet guru Kirsten pointed me to this tutorial to make ric-rac by crocheting. It's easy and fun to do and the ric-rac made this way is very flexible. I'll definitely be using this more in the future.

The first try combined the ric-rac into the trim and hanger for the "Cool Christmas" design by Fresh Threads Studio from the JCS ornament preview magazine. This style seems similar to Monster Bubbles designs and I was expecting it to be one of theirs. I liked it because the color scheme is so unusual. I think it will make a perfect gift for someone in Florida.




Next I made this Day of the Dead design that really is by Monster Bubbles from the JCS Halloween issue. This time I used the ric-rac for the edging only. Then I added a couple of crochet motifs on the back. The crocheted skull pattern can be found here.

Thanks to Lazy Girl

I feared that the sampler I stitched was going to become one of those 'stitch and stow' items, the kind you put in the closet and never really turn into something useful. For inspiration, I ordered the Lazy Girl Runaround Bag pattern even though I've made a couple of different variations on this type of bag and really didn't need it. I was curious to see if there might be some helpful hints in a real pattern. Pink Chalk Fabrics turns out to be a good online store that I never knew about before. Fast service and decent pricing. Sure enough, the zipper insertion technique is so clever and easy. Didn't even need a zipper foot. It's one of those, "why didn't I think of that" ideas. I didn't follow the rest of the pattern exactly, but the pattern directions did provide a few other construction tips. I used fusible craft fleece to give it a bit of padding and cut it small enough so it isn't in the seam to reduce bulk. I could really have used a walking foot to make sewing through multiple layers a bit easier, but I hate to buy one for my machine since it's so old and the only one available was made my a third-party, not the original manufacturer. But they aren't very expensive, so I may decide to try one anyway for next time.

I finally decided to go with the darker fabby on the outside and the lighter one as the lining for the stitching side. And then since it looked a little bare, I added two little butterfly beads from my stash that had been quietly waiting for the right moment to make an appearance. The photo of the back makes the print look blurry, but it's fine IRL.

Marquoir Annie

I had hoped to have a completed project to show by this time, but only the stitching is complete on this. Dany designed this lovely sampler for someone named 'Annie' (see the Aug. 25, 2010 entry). She stitched in the name and the birth date. The date was not all that much before my birth date. So I considered it my destiny to stitch this piece. I used 32 count "Mottled Magpie" linen from Vikki Clayton. It's not quite as bright a blue as in this photo. And I didn't stitch in my own birth date! I'm still trying to figure out how I want to construct a zippered bag from this. You can see the two complementary fabrics I bought last weekend that will be used in some way. Hopefully I'll get inspired to do the finishing soon.

Halloween Greetings

This design by Paulette Stewart of Plum Street Samplers from the Halloween issue of JCS just reminds me of the place where one of the 'Real Witches of Salem' would hang her hat. This is not a color palette that I am generally attracted to, but it was so perfect for this piece that I really enjoyed working with it. I love the look on the 36-ct linen from Vikki Clayton. It was from a grab bag of assorted colors and sadly, no longer available. I stitched it all in DMC and the main change was to replace the date on the lower left with a flower that is more or less in the same style as the other motifs. The little leaf buttons came in handy to dress it up after a quick finish.

The colors are more true to life on the indoor photo, but the flash insisted on making an appearance, so I took and an outdoor shot too.







My crocheted elephant and giraffe motifs found new homes. I appliqued each of them onto a batik fabric and sewed each one up as an envelope style needlecase. If you call your blog "Giraffe X-ing", as Theresa does, you clearly are meant to own the giraffe needle case.








And if your son is fascinated by elephants and is also learning to x-stitch like Dawn you are perfect for the elephant case.

Trick or Treat Tree & Jack O'Lantern Crochet

The JCS Halloween ornament issue has so many cute designs for Halloween that I would love to just stitch them all. I wish I had more little kids in my life to stitch for. I picked the "Trick or Treat Tree" by Pat Thode for my first finish from the magazine. A bit of a wonky finish, but that's par for the course when I do these things. I added a few cute buttons from a Dress It Up pack. The rick-rack worked out ok after hand basting first. And one more use for the crocheted treble chain as a hanger.


I was searching for Halloween motifs to crochet, and it occurred to me that I could use potholder patterns but crochet them in bedspread weight thread instead of using worsted weight yarn. So I tried it with this Jack O'Lantern pattern from Leisure Arts and turned it into a needle case. It has a clear plastic snap for a closure. I'd never tried the plastic ones, but I think I like them. I added it to few things I sent to Cathey (Ms Pumpkin Patch herself). I'm sure I'll use this idea again.

Penguins everywhere & the Crochet Lagoon

I stitched up this cute freebie penguin ornament, "Chilly's Gift", from Stitchy Kitty mostly because I was looking for a way to use the little crocheted penguin motif I had made. I had everything I needed in my stash: Cape Cod Sky fabric from Sassy, blue piping for the trim, a cute heart button for the 'gift', blue crochet thread for the hanger (yes, it's the treble crochet chain again!) and the blue backing fabric. The cutie pie penguin appliqued onto the back is another of the motifs from "Crochet a Little".




And for a quick visit to the crochet lagoon courtesy of Crochet A Little once again, take a look at these creatures. Now I have to think up uses for them! I think I'll try one more mermaid. That was the first one I made using those diagrams with much help from Kirsten. Maybe I can do her a little more neatly the second time round.

Summer Love shirt and other critters

When a designer creates a design especially with you in mind, you really can't do anything but take up the challenge. That was the case for me with Kirsten's "Summer Love". Modell's had an oversize shirt that was perfect for Jazzercising and part of a summer clearance for only five bucks. Who could resist? I tried to pick colors that would show up nice. That's always a challenge. The design elements may be a bit small, but I'm pretty happy with the results on this one, although my stitches are never really nice enough on a t-shirt. I've come to accept that!




And for those of you thinking of running away and joining a crochet circus, I have two friends you can join. These are my latest from the Crochet A Little blog:

I heart reindeer

The "I Love Reindeer" design in the July/August issue of JCS was such a cute idea that I had to stitch it up. The design is by Deborah Thorpe of Midsummer Night Designs and is stitched on Vikki Clayton linen. It has three cute little reindeer overlaying a background of snippets from the first verse of "The Night Before Christmas". Of course, that poem was not suitable for me so I changed up the background to be snippets from "Jingle Bell Rock"! You can listen to Bobby Helms, the original singer, sing it here or read the words here. For the finishing I used the same crocheted border from the heart sachet in my last post. It's backed with a red cotton fabric and thanks to a tip from Lee, I used two pieces of felt between the stitching and the backing to act as a stiffener, a quick substitute for quilt batting.




And the mention of Lee is a nice segue to show you the beautiful gift I received from her as a winner in a drawing she had on her blog. Lee is really a master needle worker and she has been making variations on this friendship heart idea. This little piece made my jaw drop when I opened it. It is so expertly done with the gorgeous beading, a delicate buttonhole stitch border, a teeny bullion rose and a dragonfly charm. A little "made with love" charm is attached on the back. It's so deliciously exquisite at only about 2.5" high. I absolutely adore it.

Little thngs

I wanted to the try the Sulky Blendables thread that has been enjoying such recent popularity so I bought a spool in "Jeweltones" since it was so pretty. This is size 12, about equivalent to 2 strands of DMC, but you stitch with one thread, not splitting into strands. I think the little heart design I picked got kind of obscured by all the colors, but the thread is great to stitch with and looks great so I may get some more. I turned this piece into a sachet filled with lavender that I can hang in my closet. The crocheted edging was the first row of a much larger crocheted border. I love it because it is another one that doesn't require a foundation chain. I just stitched it onto the top with sewing thread.

The heart design is a freebie from Le Grenier de Zoé



I've seen so many cute crocheted pincushions that look like hats lately. Nima even ran a challenge to crochet the one she designed, but I never got around to creating one of those. When I saw a pattern for this miniature one, I just had to make it since I knew it wouldn't take very long. The pattern is a freebie from Crochet Soiree called "Hats Off to Mother". It's just big enough to park a couple of needles. I used #10 crochet cotton and a US Size 7 hook.



I've also been crocheting some of the little motifs from Crochet a Little, a Japanese blog. The designer comes up with such cute ideas, and I'm gradually learning to read the diagrams with the symbolic notation in order to make these. Better than sudoku for taxing the mind! Here's a sample of a cute little girl that I finally managed to conquer! I'll find a use for her and some of the other motifs at some point. They are all too cute to keep hidden.

Angel meets giant ladybug...

After I finished the "My mother, my friend" quilt square from a couple of posts ago and was about to put away the JCS issue with the design, I discovered another sweet design in that issue, "Angel Joy" by Gail Bussi. And sure enough, Love Quilts had a quilt with a theme of angels that needed stitchers. I just stitched the top part without the bible verse. I would have loved to use the light tan linen in the magazine photo, but I had to go with white for the quilt. The model also used hand-dyed threads which would be unsuitable for this since they are not colorfast. I had to modify some of the conversions given to get a better look. I think when designers use the hand-dyeds and offer a conversion to DMC as well, they don't think too hard about the DMC colors. Not sure why the ladybug grew so large, but it seemed to drive the angel to make a peace offereing!