Stofjes opruimen – organising fabrics

In afwachting van mijn perfecte, creatieve paradijs zitten hopen stofjes, wolletjes, papier en andere spullen verspreid over verschillende kasten. Om toch het overzicht te kunnen bewaren probeer ik alles wat beter te organiseren… Alhoewel het soms wel leuk is om nieuwe stofjes in je eigen voorraad te ontdekken ;-)

While longing for my perfect, creative paradise heaps of fabric, wool, paper and other stuff are spread out in different cupboards. To keep a sort of overview I’m trying to organize all those things. Although it’s kind of fun to discover new fabrics in your own stash ;-)

Ik ben begonnen met mijn kleinere stofjes, de fat quarters en halve meters. Op verschillende sites verkopen ze van die speciale plastic of kartonnen plaatjes om je stoffen op te rollen, zoals in de winkel op de grote rol. Kostprijs en verzendingskosten in gedachten heb ik er zelf gemaakt!

I started with my smaller fabric pieces, the fat quarters and half yards. On lots of sites they sell special plastic or cardboard boards to roll your fabric on, just like in the stores. Price and delivery rates in mind, I made my own!



Een pak dun karton op a4 formaat, paperclips, plakband en een strijkijzer zijn zeer handig.
A pack of thin cardstock a4 size, paperclips, tape and your iron are useful.

1. Strijk je stof (geeft een mooier resultaat)/Iron your fabric (gives a prettier finish)



2. Vouw de stof dubbel in de breedte en nog eens dubbel/Fold your fabric in half broadwise and fold again.



3. Vouw je a4 karton twee keer dubbel (een keer in de lengte, een keer in de breedte) en plak de open kanten toe met plakband/Fold your cardstock in half twice ( once lengthwise and once broadwise) and secure the open sides with tape.



4. Leg je karton op de stof/Put the cardstock on the fabric.



5. Rol de stof op het karton/Roll the fabric on the cardboard.



6. Zet vast met paperclips/Secure with paperclips.



7. Zet al je stofjes mooi in een passend doosje/Store the fabrics in a fitting box.



8. Bewonder het resultaat :-)/Admire the result :-)



Voor de grotere lappen stof ga ik hetzelfde systeem gebruiken, maar dan dikker karton gebruiken, bv. van oude dozen.

For bigger pieces of fabric I’m going to use the same system, but with thicker cardboard, fi from old boxes.

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.

The making of a crochet bunting, part 2

Today I’m showing you how I transformed those crocheted triangles into a bunting.

I started with the 5 flags I made here.



Using the same yarn as before (Drop Paris) chain 8 (or more if you prefer), then you take one of the flags and dc (sc in US) in every dc of the top part of the flag.

When you come at the end of the first triangle, chain 2 (or more if you want the flags wider apart) and add the next flag, dc across the top, chain 2, next flag and so on, until you used up all your triangles, chain 8 (or the amount you started with).

Turn, chain and dc in every chain and dc until you end up back at the beginning.

Tadaah! You have made a bunting!

I spruced mine up with the help of some felt and my glue gun:



Yes, my cat is one spoiled little kitty! She even gets her own bunting :-)









My flags are really close together, but time will tell why ;-) So if you want them not as bunched up, just chain some more stitches in between the flags.

What do you think of my first crocheted bunting?

Love, Zjizjipke!

The making of a crochet bunting, part 1

For a big project I’m working on for months, I wanted to make a bunting too. The project will remain a secret for now (it’s not finished yet!), but I’ll show you how I made the bunting.



I used Drops Paris with a number 5 crochet hook. You just need to know two kinds of stitches for this. Chain and dc-double crochet in UK (or sc in US terms). For more information about the different kinds of stitches, I made a chart.



Start with chaining two stitches.

Row 1: Dc two into the second chain from the hook.

Row 2: Turn your work, chain 1 and dc two in each stitch (4st).

Row 3: Turn your work, chain 1, dc two in first stitch, dc one in the two next stitches, dc two in the last stitch (6st).

Row 4: Turn your work, chain 1, dc one in every stitch (6st).

Row 5: Turn your work, chain 1, dc two in first stitch, dc one in the following stitches (all but the last), dc two in the last stitch (8st).

Row 6,7,…: Keep repeating row 4 and 5 (so every other row the number of stitches increases with 2).

When my flag was wide enough for my liking, but not high enough, I did some rows without increasing stitches (the last three or four rows).


I worked in the ends and then blocked the triangles on a towel. Not mandatory, but it gives them a nicer finish :-)



Next time I’ll show you how I crocheted them together.



Love, Zjizjipke!

Tutorial: square for blankie n°2…

I’ve been making more squares for blankie n°2, the counter stops at around 80 for the moment… It seems like I made hundreds already, but then you start counting… Oh, so few?? Oh well, keeps me busy in front of the TV :-)

For those who are interested, I’ll post the pattern! Maybe somewhere somebody already made squares this way, maybe not… I kind of made up this square using individual rounds from various patterns, so if I’m not the first: sorry!

Pattern:

Chain 4 and join into a ring with a slip stitch or use a magic circle and work round 1 into the circle. (I‘m using the chain 4 method)

Round 1: Chain 3, crochet 11 dc's into the ring and join to third stitch of beginning chain with a slip stitch (slst). Cut yarn and pull through. You’ll have 12 dc’s now, in a circle.

Round 2: Join the new colour, ch 3, crochet 1 dc in between 2 dc's of the previous colour. Keep crocheting 2 dc’s in between 2 dc spaces, so you’ll end up with 12 pairs of 2 dc’s. Join to third stitch of beginning chain with a slst. Cut yarn and pull trough.

This will be your result so far:

A circle in two colours.

Round 3: Join new colour (white in my case) ch 3, make the first corner (dc1, ch2, dc2) in a dc from the previous row, crochet 5 dc’s in 5 dc’s from previous row, make second corner (dc2, ch2, dc2), dc5, third corner (dc1, ch2, dc2), dc5, last corner (dc2, ch2, dc2), dc5 and join into third stich of beginning chain with a slst.

Round 4: Still in white or if you want in a new colour, ch 3, make first corner (dc2, ch2, dc3) into the gap you created making the first corner from the previous row, 8 dc's in 8 dc’s across to next corner, *make corner (dc3, ch2, dc3), 8 dc's , repeat from * 2 more times, join to third stitch of beginning chain with a slst.

And you’ll end up with a square looking like this:

Tuck in those annoying ends and repeat process a lot…

The dutch version will come soon, for the moment you could use my translation spreadsheet!

I would love to hear your comments about my very first tutorial!!

Love, Zjizjipke!