Having a ribbed edge on a project is perfect for all sorts of making including: hats, cowls, gloves and sleeves for jumpers. Its something I have often been asked on how to do so I thought i’d put together little how to…..
‘How To’ guide for starting a ribbed stitch using sc stitches.
Make a ch of stitches to the length/thickness of ribbing required, then add an extra sc.
Row 1: sc into the 2nd ch from the hook and sc along the rest of the row.
Row 2: ch1 (doesn’t count as a stitch), in the back loops only: sc along the row.
Repeat row 1 until you reach the desired length. Fasten off.
Notes:
To work into top edge of the ribbing sc along the top edge placing an sc stitch into the end of each row.
You can do this without joining the start and end of the ribbing together and not joining at all/joining at the end of the project, or join the ends together (sew to join or join using sc stitches to make a round before continuing in the round.
As the weather starts to get colder I realise its time to get the hats and gloves out from their summer storage spaces and do a check on whether I need to make some more for the colder months ahead. This check highlighted that I need to make quite a few new hats, scarfs and gloves. Luckily I have had a few ideas in mind for some hats etc. that I haven’t yet had a chance to make, so I decided it was time to get these ideas made!
First up is a crochet ear warmer – its been too long since I made a project using block stitch so decided to combine these two together to make a crochet block stitch ear warmer.
I had some wool left from another project which was perfect for this project as it was nice and fluffy: Rowan Cosy Merino in Glacier (005). I continued this with another wool I had as the colours looked really nice together: Stylecraft Special DK in Spearmint (1842). You could use any wool colours and could always do a mix of different colours too.
Crochet Block Stitch Ear warmer Pattern:
Materials:
4mm crochet hook.
Wool: 2 colours. I used Spearmint for my colour 1 and grey for my colour 2.
Scissors.
Darning needle.
Notes:
Change colour in the last yo of the previous stitch.
Ear warmer pattern:
4mm hook, using colour 1.
Row 1: ch20, sc into 2nd ch from hook, (ch2, skip 2, sc into the next stitch) 6 times.
Row 2: ch4, 3tr/dc into ch2 gap, (ch1, 3tr/dc into ch2 gap) 5 times, ch1, tr/dc into final sc. Change to colour 2.
Row 3: ch1 (doesn’t count as a stitch), sc into top fo tr/dc, sc into ch1 gap, (ch2, sc into ch1 gap) 6 times, sc into 3rd ch of the ch4 at the start of the previous row. Change to colour 1.
Repeat rows 2 and 3 until the band is long enough to go comfortably around your head, ensuring you finish on a row 3.
Fasten off.
Fold the band in half right sides together, cast on using 4mm hook and colour 2:
Insert hook, pull up loop, ch1, sc into same stitch. Then complete sc stitches along the row to join the ends together.
I often get asked how to make a Pom Pom when you don’t have a Pom Pom maker, or if you don’t have a Pom Pom maker for the size you are wanting so I have put together a how to make pom poms in any size.
How to: Make a pom pom
Materials:
Wool in your chosen colour(s).
Cardboard.
Compass/something circular that is the size pom pom you are wanting, and a smaller circular item to draw a smaller circle.
Scissors.
Darning needle.
Pencil.
Step 1: Making the cardboard circles.
If using your compass: set it to span half the diameter of the circle you are wanting, then draw 2 circles onto the cardboard. Next make the span of the compass smaller and draw a smaller circle in the middle of the larger circle.
If using a circular object, draw around this object to get your circle, then draw around the smaller object for the middle circle.
Cut out the two circles and then cut out the smaller middle circle.
Stack the two circles together.
Step 2: Wrapping the wool.
Using your chosen wool colour: cut a long strand of wool and thread it onto the darning needle, hold the tail end of the wool and wrap the wool around the card board template.
Continue to wrap the wool all the way around the cardboard circle – using the darning needle will make it easier towards the end when the middle circle starts to fill up. If you run out of wool, cut another strand and continue, holding the tail of the wool and wrapping around the cardboard.
Keep wrapping the wool around until the circle is completely covered and the middle smaller circle is full of wool.
Step 3: Cutting the wool.
Cut around the edge of the circle, lining the scissors up in the gap between the two pieces of cardboard.
Step 4: Securing the wool.
Cut a piece of wool 20cm long and tie it around the middle of the pom pom in between the two cardboard circles. Tie a knot to secure it, then cut the longer length so it is the same length as the wool in the pom pom.
Remove the 2 cardboard circles (you may need to cut them off).
Finished!
Notes:
You can make a multicoloured pom pom just by using different wool colours while wrapping the wool around.
You can make pumpkin themed pom poms by wrapping green wool only around the top middle section of the cardboard circle, and wrapping orange wool around the rest of the circle.
If you want to display some pom poms you can make a ew in different sizes, attach them to fabric and display them in an embroidery hoop.
This large Christmas holly decoration is a perfect last minute sewing make
I always end up near Christmas in a frantic rush as I have forgotten to make something or something will happen that I need a make for, this year I am ahead and I have made a couple of extra things that I can use if needed. First up is a large Christmas holly decoration – I have had something like this in mind for a while now and am really happy I have finally managed to get one made. This is perfect if your needed a last minute make as it does’t take long to put together and can be made using leftover fabrics.
I made this using some leftover fabrics from the Colourful Christmas fat quarters set gifted to me by The Craft Cotton Company – The rest of the fat quarter set was used to make a Christmas themed tutorial for their blog.
Large Christmas Holly decoration:
Materials:
2 Fabric fat quarters, you could also join smaller fabric pieces together to make a patchwork holly.
A4 piece of paper.
Pencil.
Thread.
Needle.
Pins.
Red wool.
3.5cm pom pom maker, or two pieces of card with a 3.5cm diameter.
Making the Christmas holly decoration:
Step 1: Take the paper and pencil and draw out a large holly shape, cut out to make your template and then use to cut out 4 pieces of fabric leaving a 0.5 cm seam allowance. Make sure when cutting that the front pieces are cut with the fabric facing right side up and for the back pieces that the fabric is paced right side down. This will give you two front and two back pieces.
Step 2: Take a front and back piece and place right sides together, sew around leaving a 6cm gap for turning. Turn out the right way and sew the gap closed. Repeat with the remaining front and back piece.
Step 3: Add detail to the leaves by sewing a line down the middle of the leaf and then add some extra lines starting from the middle line and going out towards the edges.
Step 4: Place the leaves together with one slightly over-lapping the other and sew along the edges to join.
Step5: Make the pom poms using the red wool and the pom pom maker/card circles. Then sew to the holly leaves.
Since making my crochetR2-D2 I have been thinking about making some crochet lightsabers but I wasn’t too sure whether I would be able to make something that would look ok. After much deliberation I thought I would give it a go and see what I could come up with. After a while of researching lightsabers (I never realised there were so many different ones!) I got cracking on making the lightsaber using a rough design I sketched up based on some I had seen. After completing it I was very pleased with how it came out, so much so in fact I’ve decided to make a couple of other slightly different ones including a dark green, light green and mini lightsaber.
These decorations are a perfect quick Christmas sewing make – they also make great gifts.
Its that time of year where it all gets a little manic as I realise theres not long left for me to finish off all my Christmas present makes, no mater how early I start I always seem to end up at this stage with me looking at the calendar wondering if I will actually manage to get them all finished. Luckily I have always managed to finish just in time – although I have been known to be frantically finishing off an item on Christmas Eve ready for the next day!
I have got most of the Elf gift bags finished, and have now decided to focus on some of my sewing Christmas makes. First up is a fabric Christmas tree, these are perfect presents – especially if you are needing to post them as they are nice and flat.
I made these using fat quarters from the Christmas Birdhouse and Essential trends (red version) fat quarter sets by The Craft Cotton Company.
Take two pieces of the same size and placing right sides together sew around leaving a gap for turning. Turn out the right way, press and slip stitch the gap closed. Repeat with the remaining pieces, ending up with 5 squares.
Lay out the squares on top of each other in size order from largest to smallest.
Starting with the smallest square fold up the bottom point and sew to secure, next sew a button onto the folded part of the square. Repeat with the remaining squares.
Take the two trunk fabric pieces, and placing right sides together sew down the side, along the bottom and up the other side leaving the top edge unsewn. Turn out the right way, press and slip stitch the gap closed.
Sew the trunk onto the back of the largest square 1cm up from the bottom edge.
Take the ribbon and fold in half, place on the back of the smallest square 1cm down from the top of the square and sew to secure.
Hook Stitch Sew 
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