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.
