Lavender Bolero with Flower Motifs

Posted on January 22, 2012 by fats

With Dora Ohrenstein’s “Glitter Girl Bolero” (in “100 Crochet Projects”) as basic shell, I completed this flower trimmed bolero in cotton thread size 8. This is in size Medium for my mom.

The finished bolero as to be worn with a dress underneath.

Project Notes:
See New Paths with new crochet materials
Jan 5: I am working on a size M now using cotton 8 thread. I increased by adding the next multiple. For example, the pattern starts with ch 92 (110, 128) which are sizes S, M, L in increments of 18. So for cotton 8 thread that’s 128 for small, 146 for medium and 164 for large.

At row 3 the patterns says V-st in next V-st 14 (17, 20) times. Those are repetitions in multiples of 3, so for cotton 8 thread that should be 23, 26, 29.

In the original pattern, there are two additional rows for sizes M and L (starting at Row 10). I am tempted to add rows in multiples of 2 for cotton 8 thread but I’m not sure if that’s correct. That would probably need working out by actual measuring rather than adding rows. But I’ll need to double-check when I get there!

Finished the motifs and trimmings around the sleeves then ran out of thread to finish off the bottom hem.

Jan 7: Continuing my work on the bolero in size Medium and lavender colour.

So far I am at the back section of the bolero and I have been taking measurements as I work. I base my measurements on schematics in some knitting magazines that I got a few years ago. I don’t knit and these back-issue magazines were cheap, and they have proven their usefulness in terms of a chance to study garment sizing through the schematics.

I also found out that “The Glitter Girl Bolero” pattern has a rather tight armhole. When I worked in size Small I added two extra rows at the shoulders. This time, working in size Medium, I added one extra row at the lower section of the garment and then two extra rows at the shoulder to increase the armhole size. At the moment, I am confident that this will be the right fit for my mom.

The shops didn't carry any of the lavander thread anymore so I used variegated ochre-white thread for the bottom edging which matches the color of the ribbon and some of the flowers.

The shops didn't carry any of the lavender thread any more so I used variegated ochre-white thread for the bottom edging which matches the colour of the ribbon and some of the flowers.

I have done this bolero earlier in size Small, as shown in Crocheting in 2012 and http://crochetology.net/2012/01/first-fo-in-2012/

Detail of the ribbon and motifs.

New things learned while working on the lavender bolero:

Some of the flowers at the back of the neck tended to fold over. One way to stiffen them was to sew nylon thread through the edges of the motifs. I learned this method while washing a chiffon dress (beach dress) which used nylon thread along the hem to give it weight and keep the dress from being blown up by the wind.

Perhaps next time, I can make a bolero made entirely of flower motifs.

The use of tailor’s patterns for crochet is not such a bad idea. It provides a basis for shaping into what they call “tailored” or “tailor fit” which can be rather nice with certain garments. I would like to try this some time with skirts since crocheted skirts tend to hug the body in unflattering ways.

Running out of thread meant implementing a new design feature. This happened to the bolero in a small and simple way. The shops didn’t carry any of the lavender thread any more so I used variegated ochre-white thread for the bottom edging which matches the colour of the ribbon and some of the flowers.

First FO in 2012

Posted on January 4, 2012 by fats

Today I completed my first crocheted garment for 2012.

The finished bolero.

The bolero is based on Dora Ohrenstein’s “Glitter Girl Bolero” as found in the book “100 Crochet Projects.”

I selected this bolero as “base” for my motif experiment because it is a simple but elegant construction and looks easy to modify. There is also ample trim space around the sleeves and around the neckline and edges of the bolero where I may do my work of incorporating Irish crochet motifs.

Detail of the motifs. Frosted organza ribbon ties the front of the bolero together.

This turned out much easier than I expected. I have been thinking of a project like this for some time now and thus only a few challenging design decisions needed to be made throughout the process of completing this project.

Some notes:

To work with cotton thread 8 for my size (32-34) using the pattern, I use a hook 3mm (for lower half) and a larger hook, 3.5mm (for upper half). I use different hook sizes because I want the lower section of the bolero to be smaller and closer to the body to make a nice shape, and the upper section to be a bit loose.

I don’t sew the shoulder seams until I am sure of the fit: I tie the seams with yarn and wear the bolero. I see that the armholes will be a little bit tight, so I add 2 extra rows at the shoulders.

For the sleeves, I used 6-ch meshes, a total of 18 loops all around the armhole. The loops are joined to the armhole with sc in every space, rather than in the stitches. By round 5 I switched to the smaller hook. I also thought that 6 rounds was enough and let the rest be made up of joined motifs.

The idea of using a basic garment pattern to establish the structure (i.e. base or skeleton) for the intended finished garment turned out to be quite a good one. Although life would’ve been easier with a tailor’s dummy, this was a good alternative.

“Glitter Girl Bolero” was a good choice. Along the way, I realized that a whole dress could just as well be made with this basic process. More motifs could be added on the front of the bolero, and down towards the torso and around the body. The sleeves could be made up of motifs as well.

Color choices proved well. The photographs don’t show the exact colors (the base bolero should be more on the side of red than blue), but what I have here are combinations of purple, green and orange.

The small orange circles were a final touch and broke the boring alternating colours of green and purple. Multi-colour threads also gave the motifs better texture and altered the flatness of the bolero’s mesh pattern.

The edges of the sleeves are worked in ch2, hdc, picot, hdc, ch 2 and the lower hem of the bolero is worked in ch 3, 2dc-cl, sc. I was tempted to make the sleeves and hem wider, lacier and more decorative but decided to restrain myself. A good decision, I think, because it was better to focus on the motifs and keep the rest of the garment subdued.

The frosted organza ribbon works beautifully. I am so glad I got these ribbons – frosted organza in different colours is just so beautiful!

I am thinking of making another one of this, in natural cotton and more subdued colours and in larger size. The re-sizing for cotton thread is one of the more exciting stages in this project, and I am curious if I can re-size this for size L and XL.

Motifs on a mesh

Posted on December 2, 2011 by fats

Two weeks ago, I started working on a purse and left it in this state (photo below).

Start with a zipper and a lace edging.

My intention was to sew the two lace edgings onto the zipper and then build up the body of the purse by joining flower motifs of various sizes either by crocheting or by sewing.

When I returned home from Manila four days ago, I took some time browsing the two other Duplet Magazines that I ordered and had shipped in Manila several months earlier.

Duplet Crochet Magazine Issue #127

From one of the magazines, I found several wonderful mesh patterns and decided to use one. On page 47 of the magazine is some photos and charts for bruge lace. I am experimenting with bruge lace now but for the purse, I decided to use one of the mesh patterns used with bruge lace.

Page 47 of Duplet Crochet Magazine Issue #127

And here is my finished purse!

The finished purse.

I am very happy with the result of this experiment. Although I intended to crochet the motifs together, the shift to sewing the motifs onto a mesh worked very well.

The finished purse.

The hardest part in completing this purse had to do with design decisions – the arrangement of the motifs on both sides of the purse.

The zipper is sewn by hand.

Technically, I also had difficulty sewing on the zipper. I don’t have a sewing machine (which will definitely make life easier) and so I do all of the sewing by hand. I have been thinking of getting a sewing machine but perhaps later when there is much greater need for such.

The purse holds a small notebook and a mobile phone.

Here I use the purse to hold a small notebook and a mobile phone.

The purse is not lined. I couldn’t find the suitable lining for it. Nevertheless, the purse is to be used for keeping larger objects and not for tiny things that can fall through the lacy holes.

Here is one side of the purse.

One side of the purse showing the motifs.

The other side has a different arrangement of motifs.

The other side of the purse showing an arrangement of flowers with leaves.

I enjoyed sewing the motifs onto the mesh. It can be a bit hard and the mesh needs to be blocked into shape before sewing.

Also, how the motifs are sewn determine the appearance and texture of the fabric. If sewn too flat, the fabric can look dull and uninteresting.

I was tempted to cover the entire purse with motifs since that would also cover the holes of the mesh, but I decided not to do this for now. I wanted the mesh to show through since it has a very pretty pattern.

I will try to make another one later, this time maybe with color.

Crochet-Joining and Needle-Joining Motifs

Posted on November 17, 2011 by fats

The other day, I completed a new flower motifs collar after nearly a week laboring the design and technique. As with previous Irish-crochet inspired pieces that I completed in several days, this collar consists of flower motifs, this time in multi-color cotton thread.

I started by crocheting the flowers separately and then arranging them on a flat surface. Typically, I crochet as many flowers as I like, sometimes guided by a general design idea such as “one large flower surrounded by medium sized ones and two or three tiny ones of different color placed somewhere along the margins.”

The next step is joining the flower motifs together all along the outside of the shape through crochet stitches. To hold the motifs together while working, I sometimes use pins as shown in the photograph below.

In the inside of the shape, I decided not to use crochet stitches this time, but rather to use a needle, as I have seen in some of the techniques in making needle-made laces. This results in a tighter, closer and stiffer join.

Here is the finished shape. I made two of these, each with three small rings along one end for joining together. Although, making these shapes wasn’t too difficult, I spent a lot of time testing and deciding on the final shape of the collar, as well as the method of joining them together and securing the collar in place.

I had thought of making two asymmetrical collars, a collar with a criss-cross tie like a lace-up corset, as well as using the shape as a hairband. The final design is so simple (a collar joined with rings in the middle and secured with flower pin) that one wouldn’t think I had to go through all the trouble of trying out all sorts of other designs.

The finished flower motifs collar, available at The Crochetology Shop at http://crochetology.net/shop/

With the collar now out of the way, I have returned to working on the motif top (or dress) which I started several weeks ago using a motif from a free shrug pattern from Pierrot Yarns Japan.

Motif dress in progress

I stopped at the point where I needed to make a decision whether to make a top or to make a whole dress. I am tempted to make a dress but couldn’t really bear having to make more of the same motifs. So this time, I decided to use two different motifs for the lower half of the dress.

Detail of one of the motifs.

For the lower half, I have started using a larger hook in order to make larger motifs to accommodate the hips. Without shaping, I will look like a springroll with a bulge in the stomach and the bum.

The new motifs are likewise crochet joined. The most difficult in this process is again the decision-making – which motifs to use? Which motifs will go well together visually and structurally? It was also necessary to modify the motifs that I used which came from crochet dictionaries and the shrug pattern.

For instance,I decided to lessen the number of dc’s in the dc-bobbles of the motif from the shrug pattern so that I can come up with a lighter fabric more suitable for the summer time. I also had to modify the last rows of the two additional motifs in order to use them together with a join-as-you-go method.

So yes, this crocheted garment is hopefully going to be a dress if I don’t get distracted into turning it into something else.

Layered scallops necklace

Posted on April 2, 2010 by fats

This necklace is made with crochet cotton thread size 8.

The Layered Scallops Necklace is a variation of the Crocheted Lace Necklace using the Shell and Bobble Trim that I made last year. These projects are based on the simple idea of turning crochet edgings and trimmings into jewelry using lace weight cotton thread, beads, sequins and other notions.