Tinkering with Wire

  Lately, I've been tinkering with some wire. It's been a long time since I've made any kind of jewelry accessories. There are lots of tutorials and videos out there for jewelry making and I've been taking advantage as well as coming up with my own designs. Here are some of my creations. Everything is made of brass, copper, or aluminum. I haven't made my way to the more expensive metals, since I'm still experimenting.

Ear Cuffs

Ear Cuffs

Love Ring

Bead Rings

Knot Rings

Treble Ring

Perfectly Imperfect

Silver Hearts

Lil' Tree Earrings

Quick Easy Winter Beanie Tutorial

  I've been meaning to make this video to go along with my pattern for a long time. I finally got a chance to get to it. It's my first time actually talking in a video. It was a little weird at first and I ended up recording over my initial audio. Let me know what you think. Some parts are a little slow going, but overall not so bad for an amateur. Here's the video:

Click here for the link to the written pattern.

Crocheted baby Groot

   If you haven't seen Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy yet, you most likely don't know who this little guy is. He's baby Groot. Seen it or not, he's still so cute. I found this pattern featured on the home page of ravelry.com. It's a free pattern written by Twinkie Chan and can be found at this link. 

   I made this guy using a size F hook. My worsted weight wool was a bit old and thin. He's about 6 inches tall (7 if you count the tallest branch). I need to find a better pot to put him in. I just stuffed some green tissue paper in there to give him some height and help him stand on his own. It was purely for pictures, because I couldn't wait for the actual finished product. I'll have to make a special trip to look for his new planter home and update the pictures later.

**here's an updated picture**

Turtle Power!

   It's not a ninja turtle, but it can be a baby in a half-shell! I found another cute baby photo prop to crochet. A sweet turtle shell and baby beanie. I found the pattern on Etsy.com written by Ruth McColm at Simply2Irresistible. It is written in both US and UK terms and you can download the one you prefer. Unfortunately, this is not a free pattern, but it's a steal at $2.99. It includes the shell, beanie and a flower. I haven't gotten to the flower yet, but I will try it out. The only things I did different with the pattern was that I added a crab stitch in the last rounds of the shell and beanie and I made the tail a little wider than the pattern called for. It is easy to follow as well as easy to improvise with your own flair.

Mer-Baby Headband

  I made a matching baby headband for the mermaid tail. I found the free pattern at this link. I sewed on one of the starfish that I crocheted. I can't wait to see some precious baby girl modeling my creations! What other photo props can I make?

Crochet Mermaid Tail Fin Pattern

 

   As I said in my previous post, I got the main mermaid tail pattern from this link. It's a free pattern for an infant written in UK crochet terms. If you need any help with the pattern just let me know by leaving a comment below or via email. This pattern is only for the tail fin pictured above.


Materials:

• Worsted weight yarn or same yarn used for main body
• Size I hook or same size used for main body
• Needle for sewing and weaving in ends

Notes:

• Make 2
• All stitches are to be crocheted in the back loop (BLO)

Pattern:

Begin with a slip stitch and chain 41

Row 1: Hdc in second chain from hook and each stitch across, ch1, turn (40 stitches)

Visual aid:  After turning

Row 2: Hdc in next 38 stitches, ch1, turn (38 sts)

Row 3: Hdc in each stitch across, ch1, turn

Row 4: Hdc in next 36 stitches, ch1, turn (36 sts)

Row 5: Hdc in each st across, ch1, turn

Row 6: Hdc in next 32 stitches, ch1, turn (32 sts)

Row 7: Hdc in each st across, ch1, turn

Row 8: Hdc in next 30 stitches, ch1, turn (30 sts)

Row 9: Hdc in each st across, ch1, turn

Row 10: Hdc in next 28 stitches, ch1, turn (28 sts)

Row 11: Hdc in each st across

Fasten off for first side then repeat the pattern for your second piece. 

At the end of the second piece (after row 11) do not fasten off.

You should now have 2 pieces that look like this:

Construction:

Remove your hook and match up both pieces like this. The piece with yarn attached should be on the bottom. (Be sure not to pull any stitches out)

Place your hook through the first stitch on the first piece made and pull the loop from the second piece through the stitch, then ch1.

SC in same stitch and the next 25 stitches (going through both layers) for a total of 26 stitches leaving the last two stitches unworked. It is not necessary to do BLO here.

Fasten off.

Place the seam in the back. When you open it up it should look like this:

At this point, you would fold your fin around the rest of the mermaid tail. Place the tail on your fin with about a half inch overlap for sewing.

I only made a fin for this tutorial, so you may have to refer to the first pic for an idea. Fold over the sides meeting in the middle, like this:

I sewed the corners together, then sewed the fin to the tail. Unfold the bottom of the fin and shape as desired.

If you like, you can sew the sides to the rest of the fin to keep it's shape. I left mine like this. 

  I love seeing finished products from my patterns. If you want to be featured on my blog with your finished items, just shoot me an email. If you don't want to be featured but still want to send me pics, that's great too! Just let me know in the email if you want me to post your pics or not.

daperfectmix@gmail.com

Crochet Baby Photo Props

   I may have lost my mojo for a little while. I haven't been crocheting or crafting much lately. Maybe because it's summer time. I usually slow down during the summer, but not this much. I think this was more like a writer's block or crochet block, if you will. So I picked up a hook the other day and decided to get stitchin'. I'm in the process of making some photo props for a friend. I don't have any baby models, so you won't really get the full effect with my pictures. The first thing I made was a baby nest. I found the pattern on Ravelry and you can find it at this link. Hopefully it's a good size for her models.

   The next one is a Mermaid tail. I got the pattern for the tail at this link. The pattern is written in UK terms, so I had to frog it a few times before I figured that out. DC = SC, TR = DC. The shell increasing and decreasing was a little confusing, but once I got it, it wasn't so bad. I did something different for the fin. I felt like the fin in the pattern is a bit too small. I would think you need a rather large fin to swim around as a mermaid, but who knows for sure?  I made my own fin pattern, which I will post later. I got the idea for the fin at this link. The shell and starfish patterns can be found here. All of the linked crochet patterns are free! If you decide to try them and run into problems or get stuck, I will be happy to help you out. Just leave a comment or email me.

Wedding Card Box

  Wedding Season is upon us. Have you received any invitations yet? I got two so far. All those lovely brides are busy spending time, money and making arrangements for their special day. Fun times.

   I volunteered my crafting skills to make a card box for my best friend's wedding. I've seen some of those fancy card boxes range anywhere from $20- $80!! Mine didn't cost so much. Fabric, boxes, a little bit of sewing, gluing, and sticking. I love the bright red and silver together. I happened to come across that shiny braided ribbon at Walmart. Well, everything except the boxes came from Walmart. They have a ton of cute stickers in the scrap-booking section for all kinds of occasions.

Crochet Flat Cap

  A few years ago I was searching the internet for a crochet pattern for a flat cap. The only one I found was a knitted hat and there was no pattern. Eventually I came across Men's Jeff Cap by Ken Jones AKA Crochetguy. It was the best flat cap pattern out there at the time in my opinion. If you've been with me for a while, you might remember that I made this a little over 3 years ago, and as you can see it is a bit small.

Even though I wanted it small, the first one I made was for myself and it was too small as well. I never got around to tweaking the pattern. I found another pattern recently and my hat turned out much more to my liking. It's a free tutorial by OneVirtuousWoman. She said her inspiration was from the Jeff's Cap pattern. I found her tutorial on YouTube. Click here to see it.

Here's my newest flat cap, or as she calls it "Crochango" as in crochet kango. Yea, why didn't I think of that?

Show & Tell

     I have two to show today. First up is Laresa's cell phone case. It's a lovely spring yellow and the butterfly is too cute! She added a button and a strap. Very nice! Click here for the free pattern.

     Next is Nancy's floppy sun hat. I like how she mixed it up with a different color brim. Click here for this free pattern.

     Thank you so much, ladies, for the lovely pictures! Have you made a project using one of my free patterns? I would love to see it. Email me! 

Skirt and Matching Swag

    Here I am messing with my sewing machine again. Isabel actually started making this bag right after I made mine- Funky Little Bag. I used the extra fabric to make a skirt, or attempt to. I don't know what happened, but my measurements were way off and I ended up with a skirt that would fit one thigh and a half... maybe. I was trying to figure out how to save it with the least amount of work. I know, sad but true. So I used some scrap fabric from the circle skirt I made recently. My original idea was to add a piece to each side, but after the first side was added it was just the right size. Remember, we're going for minimal work at this point, so I decided to leave it as is. It doesn't matter how you get to fabulous, just as long as you get there. Right.. Needless to say, I am happy with the outcome.

     Like I said earlier, Isabel started the bag and like most teens with short attention spans, she got bored with it. Whatever her reason, she was taking too long to get back to it and it was taking up space in my craft room, so I finished it for her. I can't force her to like sewing. I added an insert with an inside pocket using the same fabric that I used for the side of the skirt. This bag is the smaller version of the other one I made. If I make another I think longer straps would be better. I think I had an issue with the straps on the other one too. Oh well, you've got to live and learn.

Show & Tell

  Here is Holly's beautiful creation that she made using my Floppy Sun Hat pattern. I love the color changes in this yarn. She used Bernat Mosaic. Thanks so much for the picture!

                 Have you made a project using one of my free patterns? I would love to see. Email me!

Funky Little Bag

   Ok, this was an accomplishment for me. I used a sewing pattern for the first time, and it wasn't a total disaster! I must have bought this pattern about 2 years ago and never got the nerve to actually do it. It's just a bag, so when I brought it home I thought, how hard can this be? I pulled everything out of the package, took one look and put it right back in. It sat in my drawer for all this time. Since I've been sewing more lately, I figured it was about time to give it a try. I took my time (it took all week) and stuck through the frustrating parts. I have to say I'm pleased with the outcome.

   I think I had the most trouble with the straps and figuring out the bottom corners of the bag. The straps were a problem because for some reason I can't sew completely straight. So you can clearly see my lack of sewing skills. I'm still happy with the final piece. All I need now is a liner and it is ready to hit the road. I think I will make the inside bright orange. Since it's an afterthought, it won't be as good as if I had sewn it in before, but it will make the inside look much better. Right now I have fraying ends and seams showing on the inside.
   I thought the zipper was going to give me problems, but it was surprisingly easy. I did watch a video on zipper foots before I sewed mine. That helped a lot.

   I love how the pockets go all the way around in different sections. If I make this again, I might do something different with the straps. Maybe make a long tube, so I don't have that middle (crooked) seam showing all the way through. 

Sewing project

   I think I might be getting the hang of this sewing thing. Of course I could definitely use some more practice. I got some cheap fabric from Joann's the other day. I'm too scared to mess up any good fabric, so I just stick with cheap and recycled for now. After watching multiple videos on different kinds of circle skirt sewing techniques, I made one that I wouldn't be embarrassed to wear in public! The material was a little difficult to work with. It's a 100% polyester bridal satin. I think a jersey knit or something with a little give would have been better. The biggest challenges for me were sewing the elastic and the hem. I didn't give up though, I pushed through. I actually stretched the project out over a few days, but that's ok because I still came back to it and finished.

   What do you think? I think Isabel likes it. Just watch her twirl! 

Crocheting with Family

  I had a fun and busy weekend with my family. One aunt came from Hawaii and will be making her way back to the Philippines. My parents came from Pennsylvania, another aunt, uncle, and cousins came to visit from New York. It was a full house. I got to show off all of my creations, and it felt nice having people here who are genuinely interested. My cousin was my weekend model and posted her "selfies" on Facebook. She even got me a few sales! Thanks cuz!

  I started on my orders and then we had this crochet party going! I showed them how to crochet the hat that my cousin in wearing above. The pattern is a free download from Ravelry.com, called Emm'hat by Mathilde Plus. It's made with chunky yarn and a size N hook. Here we are. My mom on the left, me in green, my aunt next to me and my cousin next to her. My husband was so amused when he saw us here crocheting so he snapped a picture.

  Unfortunately, I only got a picture of one finished product (and that's because it was left behind). This is my aunt's finished hat. She used two strands of worsted weight yarn since I didn't have any more bulky weight. It came out great! I guess she didn't want to take it, because it doesn't go with her outfit, plus it's hot in the Philippines. ;) Love you, Tita, have a safe trip back to PI!