Eindelijk… tadaah! - Long overdue: tadaah!

Vorig jaar in juli had ik het terloops over een crea-project waar ik mee bezig was. Ja, inderdaad VORIG JAAR! Het leek wel eeuwen voor ik eindelijk trots kon zeggen: ‘t is af! Tadaah… Maar nu is het echt af :-)

Last year in July I mentioned some kind of creative project I was working on… Yes, LAST YEAR… It took ages before I could really say: Tadaah! But now it’s time :-)

Het begon allemaal met een oude koffer van de kringwinkel, Mod Podge en vintage stofjes.

It all started with an old suitcase from the thrift store, Mod Podge and vintage fabrics.







Het oude, lelijke papier moest eruit en werd vervangen door de oude, mooie stofjes.

The old, ugly paper came off from the inside and got replaced with the vintage fabric.





De buitenkant van de koffer kreeg eerst een laag witte verf, daarna met de Mod Podge nog een stofje erover en een bandje als afwerking.

The outside got a coat of white paint, also a fabric cover and a ribbon to finish the edges.







Ik maakte een kussen op maat van de bodem, het roze, gehaakte dekentje en de slinger mochten ook meedoen. En het resultaat is…

A pillow was made to fit the bottom, also the pink crochet blankie and the bunting got involved. All that resulted in…









Een kattenbed voor de koninklijke kat!

A pet bed for the queen of the house!







En? Is ze geslaagd?

So, what do you think?

Love, Zjizjipke!

Something fluttering in the flowers: crochet butterfly pattern.

A while ago I came across a really nice pattern to crochet a butterfly.





I like working with a magic circle, so I adapted the pattern a bit. It’s in UK terms (chart for US), the Dutch pattern is below. The yarn I used is Catania cotton with a 3 mm hook, but you can use any yarn and hook size.

Make a magic circle and work row 1 into the circle.

Row 1: *3 tr, 2 ch* repeat 8 times, so you have 8 clusters of 3 tr. Sc into the first tr you made.

Row 2: Sl st across top of first set of 3 tr to first space between sets. Ch 3, 2 tr, ch 2, 3 tr in first space (making total of 6 tr, ch 2 in that space). Ch 2. *3 tr, ch 2, 3 tr in next space. Ch 2*. Repeat between ** in each of next 6 spaces. Sc last ch into top of the original ch 3 to close the circle. At the end of this round you’ll have created 16 spaces.

Row 3: To create the scalloped edge: 8 tr in first space. Sc into next space. Repeat to make 8 scallops. End with a sc into the last space. Finish off and tuck in the end.



Fold your creation in half and to create a body and antennae, you can use a chenille wired stem. Fold the stem in half around the butterfly, twist at the top and shape the antennae.

Tadaah!






Pattern in Dutch:

Maak een magische ring en haak de eerste rij hierin.

Rij 1: *3 stokjes, 2 lossen* herhaal 8 keer, zodat je 8 groepjes van 3 stokjes hebt. Sluit met een halve vaste.

Rij 2: Haak een halve vaste in de eerste opening tussen de groepjes stokjes. 3 lossen, 2 stokjes, 2 lossen, 3 stokjes in de eerste opening. 2 lossen. *3 stokjes, 2 lossen, 3 stokjes in de volgende opening. 2 lossen.* Herhaal tussen ** in elk van de 6 volgende openingen. Sluit met een halve vaste. Op het einde van deze rij heb je 16 openingen gemaakt.

Rij 3: Om de golvende rand te maken: 8 stokjes in de eerste opening, halve vaste in de volgende. Doe dit in totaal 8 keer. Eindig met een halve vaste in de laatste opening. Hecht af en stop de draad in.

Vouw je creatie dubbel en gebruik een mooi gekleurde pijpenrager om het lichaam en antennes te maken. Plooi de pijpenrager in twee over de vlinder, draai om vast te zetten en vorm de antennes.

Klaar!



Love, Zjizjipke!

This pattern is not created by me, I found it here. I only adapted it to work with a magic circle, translated it to Dutch and added some of my own pictures.

What I made for Chrismas: Hot Water Bottle Cover

I had this baby in mind for a few months now and figured it would make a really good present for Christmas. Off course me being me, I started making it last-minute :-) But it was finished just in time to be wrapped and then unwrapped by the more than happy receiver!

I would like to present you a tutorial with pictures and directions, but fact is it depends on the size of your HWB, the yarn and crochet hook you use… So I’m just going to give some hints as to how I made mine!

I used the leftover yarn from my blanket: Caron Simply Soft. With my crochet hook number 5, I made a chain just slightly longer than the round curved part of the HWB, that was my base.

Then I started crocheting away… Single crochets (US) to get a good tight cover, following the curves from the bottle by increasing stiches where needed. When the cover was long enough to reach the neck of the bottle I started decreasing and increasing along the end of the HWB.


Actually you make up your pattern as you go along. After finishing the grey (back) part of the cover I realised it could be a little on the small side…


You see that it would be a little too small if I didn’t make the front part wider… So the stripy (front) part got a few more stitches to it :-) It ended up about a cm bigger on both sides.





As both sides where done, I laid them out, good sides together and began to sew around the edges. Starting from the top of the cover going down, but leaving the bottom part open! When the sewing part is done, you turn the cover good way out and stuff in the HWB. I closed the bottom with slipstitches, but you could sew it shut if you like.

And ta dah!! Your own custom-made hot water bottle is finished!



Yes, since the finishing part took place at night, I forgot to take pictures :-) So this is one after the unwrapping took place on Christmas eve!

Love, Zjizjipke!

The colours I used are Caron Simply Soft Grey Heather, Blackberry, Soft Pink, Victorian Rose and Raspberry.

Merry Christmas from Rudolph!

We want wish you all a very, very merry Christmas! With lots of prezzies, good food and in the company of loving friends and family!

To welcome those who pass by my door I made a wreath this year. What did I use? A Styrofoam circle, wool, a fork, a crochet hook and my new glue gun (love it!)


I wrapped the grey wool around my Styrofoam, regularly securing the wool with some glue.

With the fork and some white yarn I made some cute mini-pompons, gluing them to the wreath:

Online I found a nice pattern for a sweet little crochet reindeer. Rudolph was born and glued to his new spot from where he can greet visitors.

Ta dah!

Love, Zjizjipke!

My new/old type case!

Months ago I came across an old type case (letterbak) in my favourite thrift store. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was! Wanted one for ages… Then the procrastination set in, yes indeed! I sanded it down and it disappeared in the closet :-) Finally a few weeks ago I painted it white (took 4 layers, I didn’t use the right paint, but it came out white, so mission accomplished!)

After spending a few hours choosing paper, measuring, cutting and gluing, it is time for the big reveal!


Isn’t she a beauty?

Love, Zjizjipke!

In the meanwhile…

I’m working on about four crafty projects! Today I’ve been cutting and measuring (well, measuring and then the cutting off course!), there was some glue involved too…

What’s it going to be? Stay tuned!

Love, Zjizjipke!