crochet

Crochet Teddy Bear Skirt (free pattern)

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Crochet Teddy Bear Skirt

I had a bit of a decision making process that I went through a couple of weeks ago regarding my crafting desires. I was in the middle of making a quilt when my sewing machine jammed up and really made me frustrated. I decided then and there (without even finishing that particular quilt) that I was ready to give up sewing. It wasn’t the first time the machine had caused that kind of problem, and I was done.

Combine machine problems with the fact that I’ve never felt that I was that great at sewing (adequate at best; definitely not talented), and I was ready to call it a day, so to speak, with that particular hobby. I decided to focus my creativity on yarn crafts instead.

I knew how to crochet already, and am actually pretty good at that. And after telling Will about my decision, he thought it would beneficial for me to learn to knit so we explored local classes on that hobby (more on what we found in a different post).

I was so at peace with my decision – excited even – that I couldn’t sleep that night. Of course, a 3-month-old baby didn’t help that aspect ;). But even while I was holding Dragonfly while he slept on the couch and I tried to (lying there with my eyes closed), my mind was whirring with excitement and ideas over all the different things I could create now that my focus would be less divided. The one that kept playing out over and over in my head was this one: a teddy bear skirt. I’m not entirely sure why this was the first project I invented considering I have all boys (their teddy bears are also boys – not a girl among them!), but it was. Now that the skirt is completed, it will probably find a home with one of the boys’ girl friends for her bear.

Special thanks to Small Fry for letting his bear, Toby, be the model.

Crochet Teddy Bear Skirt 2Crochet Teddy Bear Skirt Pattern

Designed for a standard “Build a Bear Workshop” bear

Materials:

  • Worsted Weight (regular) Yarn (I used Caron Super Soft)
  • Size H and Size I crochet hook

Abbreviations:

  • HDC = Half-double crochet
  • DC = Double crochet
  • Ch = chain
  • Sk = skip the specified number of stitches

Directions:

  1. Chain 75 using the Size I hook.
  2. Switch to the H hook. Use this one for the remainder of the pattern. (I find that making my base chain with a larger hook eliminates the arch that is caused when the chain is tighter than the stitches.)
  3. Row 1: Starting in the second chain from the hook, HDC across.
  4. Row 2: Ch 2. Turn. HDC across.
  5. Row 3: Ch 2. Turn. HDC in first two HDC. Ch 2, sk 2. HDC the rest of the way across.
  6. Row 4: Ch 2. Turn. HDC across.
  7. Row 5: Repeat Row 3.
  8. Row 6: Repeat Row 4.
  9. Row 7: Ch 2. Turn. *2 DC in first stitch, DC in next stitch.* Repeat from * around.

Here’s where it gets a little interesting. After you crochet row 7, you’re going to join the last stitch to the first one using a slip stitch. Be careful not to twist the work when you do this; you want a flat skirt. Continue the pattern as follows.

  1. Round 1: Ch 2. *2 DC in first stitch, DC in next two stitches.* Repeat from * around.
  2. Rounds 2-7: DC around.
  3. Tie off. Weave in ends.

When you’re done with the crochet portion, sew buttons onto the yoke of the skirt (the portion created with HDCs) to line up with the buttonholes that were created in Rows 3 and 5. Sew them far enough in that when buttoned, the skirt fits yours (or your child’s) teddy bear.

Please feel free to make this pattern. If you write about it online, please link back to my blog – and leave me a comment so I can see how it turned out for you. Thanks!

Blessings,

 ladybug-signature-3 copy

 

This post is part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew’s roundup on Crafts. That post will go live on Friday, March 4th, 2016.

Crafts / Handiwork Ideas and Tutorials

Crochet Cloche Hat with Flower

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crochet cloche hat with flower

At Christmastime, I got a couple of new sweaters to go with my skirts to get me through the cold weather (tank tops aren’t really appropriate when it’s below freezing outside, even with a coat on…). They matched my two skirts perfectly – one blue and one pink – and I love them. While we were moving from the sweater section to the dressing room to make sure the sweaters fit, we passed through the hat department and found the absolute perfect hat. It’s a 1920s style bucket hat with a brim and a thin band around the base. It’s pretty much an exact match to my blue outfit.

I knew pretty much right away that I wanted to get another one to match my pink outfit, too, but that’s proven more difficult to find. So what does a crafty girl do? She makes her own! And that’s exactly what I did.

crochet cloche hat with flower 2I spent a bit of time trying to find the perfect pattern, and I found a couple that were quite nice. But the problem was that I could tell about halfway through the crocheting process that they were going to end up way too small. So I ripped out all the stitches (I didn’t really want to waste my $9 yarn) and tried again. Same thing happened with the second pattern. So I decided to research what made a “1920s flapper hat.” Turns out, it’s called a Cloche Hat, and it’s basically just a beanie with a brim. That’s easy enough to do, so I gave up on the specific patterns (except for this one, which I used for the beanie portion of my hat, sans embellishments) and just added a brim to the beanie. Then I found a pattern for a lovely flower (I think they’re calling it a dahlia; I’m not that huge into flowers, so I’m not sure how much this actually looks like a dahlia…) and added it to the side of my hat.purple cloche hat

I liked the way it turned out so well that I headed straight back to the yarn store and purchased two more skeins of the same yarn (100% Peruvian wool) in different colors and have since made a second hat, this time with a rose on it. I think I’m going to gift it to my mother-in-law (step-mother-in-law, if we’re being technical). I really love this pattern that I hodge-podged together from others. It turned out exactly the way I’d hoped. I definitely plan to make these for gifts for people as we need them.

Blessings,

 ladybug-signature-3 copy

 

This post is part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew’s roundup on crafts. That post will go live on Friday, March 4th, 2016.

Crafts / Handiwork Ideas and Tutorials

Crochet Round Basket (free pattern)

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KIMG0216

KIMG0213I was recently in the “market” for a free crochet pattern for a basket. I was unable to find quite what I was looking for, so I used my hat making skills to design my own. To be fair, even though I didn’t find an exact pattern for something I liked, I was able to glean tips from some of them that made my basket better than it would have been had I embarked on this mission without looking for patterns. So there’s that.

This basket is made using two strands of yarn held together and crocheted as one. By doing this, you get both an interesting look to your basket (especially if you choose different colors) and a bit more strength. And crocheting with two strands together is much easier than using thicker yarn in the first place – I’m not sure why, but I found it a nicer way to work.

I like how versatile this pattern is. Though I’ve included instructions for one the height of what I made, you can easily make it bigger or smaller by including more or fewer increase rounds. You can make it taller by adding more rounds after you’re done increasing but before you get to the handles; similarly, you can make it shorter by crocheting fewer rounds. Super simple.

Since I created this myself, I’m comfortable sharing the pattern. I hope you enjoy it.

Using 2 strands of worsted weight (normal) yarn held together:

KIMG0214Magic Ring; chain 2

Round 1: 11 DC inside magic ring. Join with slip stitch. Chain 2.

Round 2: 2 DC in each DC (22 DC). Join. Chain 2.

Round 3: 2 DC in first DC, one DC in next DC, repeat around (33 DC). Join. Chain 2.

Round 4: 2 DC in first DC, one DC in next two DC, repeat around (44 DC). Join. Chain 2.KIMG0215

Round 5: 2 DC in first DC, one DC in next three DC, repeat around (55 DC). Join. Chain 2.

Round 6: 2 DC in first DC, one DC in next four DC, repeat around (66 DC). Join. Chain 2.

Rounds 7-12: DC in each stitch around (66 DC). Join. Chain 2.

Round 13: (To make handle): DC in first 9 DC, ch 17, DC in next 17 DC (connect it to the 18th stitch), ch 17, DC to end.

Round 14: DC in each stitch around.

Tie off. Weave in ends.

I hope I’ve made this clear enough. If you try making this basket and run into problems, please leave a comment, and I’ll try to help.

Blessings,

ladybug-signature-3 copy

 

 

This post is part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew’s roundup on crafts. That post will go live on Friday, March 4th, 2016.

Crafts / Handiwork Ideas and Tutorials

Ladybug Themed Baby Gifts

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A friend of mine recently (well, in late April) had a baby. As soon as she told me that she was expecting, back in November, I knew I wanted to make her some gifts. I just wasn’t sure what. Then I moved my blog here, to Ladybug Daydreams, and it hit me: a ladybug theme! When she told me she was having a girl, it was solidified in my mind that ladybugs would be a lovely theme for the gifts.

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Newborn Ladybug hat

 

I love both crocheting and quilting, so I focused my energy into those two mediums for the gift. It was fairly easy to come up with ideas once I had a theme: a baby quilt, a newborn hat, and a stuffed toy. All I had to do then was find patterns. The hat and quilt were easy enough; I’ve made countless hats and quilts over the years, so I got those done first. The stuffed toy took a little more energy to find a pattern for. There are loads of patterns on the internet, but very few for free.

 

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Dotty the Ladybug

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Dotty’s Belly

After hours of searching, I finally found one that was both free and adorable, so that’s the one I went with. (I don’t have the link handy, but if you’re looking for something like this, it’s called Dotty the Ladybug and I found it on Ravelry.) I decided to make the colors so that they’d catch a newborn’s eyes. This means that I chose red, black, and white, with different colored dots on each color (red has black, black has white, and white has red). The pupils in the eyes are just black buttons that I hot glued on. (The black with white spots is underneath the wings.)

Everything is pretty straightforward, but there’s one special thing about the quilt that I want to share. I didn’t use a traditional batting and backing for it. I left the fabric store with my ladybug and flower fabrics and headed next door to Goodwill (where Will and the big boys like to hang out while I’m looking for fabric). They weren’t done browsing yet, so I headed back to the linen section. It’s not unheard of to find great prices on fabrics at Goodwill, after all, and I was definitely not disappointed this time around. While I didn’t find a backing fabric for the quilt, I did find something much better: a two-layer baby blanket that was fleece on one side and that soft velvety stuff on the other side (how’s that for a quilter not knowing fabrics?!). And the best part was that it was tagged with the weekly half price color, so I snagged that for around $1.50 and it served as both the batting and the backing of the quilt.

100_2003When I finished the quilt top, I quilted it right to the fleece side of the blanket (because it was used, the fleece wasn’t all that soft anymore anyway), leaving the velvety side as the backing. Then I stitched the binding on as usual. I think it turned out great!

What’s your favorite baby gift to give expectant mothers?

Blessings,

ladybug-signature-3 copy

Crochet Spring Wreath

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Crocheted Spring Wreath | Ladybug Daydreams

I was recently inspired and challenged by the lovely people over at Patience Brewster to create a “non-Christmas wreath.” (For any who don’t know, Patience is a designer and creator of handmade Christmas ornaments.) Because I’d recently seen something like this on one of the other blogs I read, it was already in my mind a bit, so I accepted the challenge.

Other than the idea, this post is not sponsored in any way. I purchased all of the materials with my own money and created my wreath in my spare time. I was not compensated for my time or costs at all.

The first thing I did (after I had my materials, of course) was to crochet the piece to cover the wreath base (which I got for about $5 from JoAnn’s). I chose purple because it seemed like a nice springtime color that would make a lovely base for my wreath. To do this, I crocheted a “scarf” using all single crochet stitches that was 20 stitches wide and 150 rows long. This process alone took me a few days because it wasn’t the only thing I had going on. When I’d finished crocheting this piece, I sewed it onto the wreath base. See this post from Repeat Crafter Me for a picture tutorial on how that works. [Read more…]

Crochet Scribble Hat

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Scribble Hat 1

 

After spending much of the month of December crocheting hats using patterns from Repeat Crafter Me, I wanted to make something that was “mine.” But even though I can create things, I’m not typically very creative. I always need some sort of inspiration. A nudge. When I went to JoAnn the other day, I decided to look at their buttons to see if I could get the push I craved in order to make my own item. I lucked out and found several different shapes of buttons for a great price, and I picked up three packets. The first project I tackled was using these crayon buttons, and I’m very pleased with the result. [Read more…]

A Plethora of Crocheted Hats

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A Plethora of Crocheted Hats from Ladybug Daydreams

I’ve been busily crocheting stocking hats for all of our nieces and nephews for Christmas. There are nine of them altogether (five nieces and four nephews), so we could really go broke if we bought toys for each of them, because those are in addition to our own three children. Besides that, it kind of goes against our life philosophy of simplicity to buy cheap plastic toys. [Read more…]

Winter Hats

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Welcome to fall! With fall comes, of course, cooler weather. And with cooler weather comes … colds. We’re only a third of the way through fall, which means at least five more months of cooler weather before spring, and my older boys have each been sick twice already. This does not make a mama happy. So I headed over to my local JoAnn store to get some yarn using my half-price coupons to make stocking hats for them to keep their heads warm during the next 5-6 months – until springtime.

I wasn’t entirely sure what I was looking for when I went in, except that I didn’t want a “regular” yarn. I wanted something soft and moderately warm so that it would do its job when turned into a hat. What I found was Sensations brand “Angel Hair” yarn. It’s magnificent. If you knit or crochet, I highly recommend you go to your JoAnn store and buy a skein or two to try out. Even hubby agreed it was wonderful feeling :).

The hats are just a basic beanie. You can find the pattern here. You’ll notice that I didn’t do the stripes in the pattern. That’s because my yarn was already striped, and I loved the way each color looked on its own; I didn’t want to take away from the beauty of the main color by adding those stripes. If the yarn had been a single color, I probably would have given each boy’s hat stripes in the other color. But since it wasn’t, I didn’t, so it’s a moot point :).

Welcoming a New Nephew

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My sister-in-law just had a baby on September 19th (a week after his due date). He’s my second nephew, joining the ranks of 5 nieces (none of whom he’s related to, although he does have loads of girl cousins on his mom’s side of the family – he’s the son of my brother and his wife). My first nephew is also the son of my brother and his wife, ironically enough, which means my mom is blessed with 5 grandsons and no granddaughters.

But enough about the family make-up. A new baby means, of course, a baby gift!

Here’s what I started with:

And here’s what I made:

When it came time to start crocheting, none of the patterns I looked at “floated my boat” so to speak, so I just did a basic one row of single crochet, one row of double crochet, repeat. Even with such basic stitches, I thought it turned out pretty :). Let me know what you think of it.

Cheers!

A New Hat (and an update!)

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Wow, I didn’t realize it had been so long since I’d made a post! I knew it’d been a while, but I didn’t remember just how long.

So, I recently made this hat. I love the colors, don’t you? 🙂 Funny thing about this one: I stitched a sample for determining gauge, and adjusted my hook size accordingly, but then when the hat was done, it was way too big, so I ended up pulling the whole thing apart and making it again with a smaller hook. But as my hubby said, “At least you got good entertainment value from that skein of yarn!” He’s always looking at the bright side of things :).

As for the “update” part of this post, part of why it’s been so long since I made a post is because Small Fry was born! He arrived via scheduled c-section (which I do not recommend!) on July 12th, 2012 at 8:15 a.m. PST. He weighed in at 6 pounds, 8 ounces, and was 19 3/4 inches long. He was born with a shock of black hair, which was a surprise for all of us considering both of our other sons have red hair! But his facial features are pretty much identical to Munchkin (our 5-year-old) as a baby, so despite the difference in hair color, there’s no doubt that they’re all brothers.

I’ll still continue to add posts of my creations as I’m able, but until Small Fry is a bit older, it’ll probably be longer between them. Having a newborn makes it hard to find time for crafting! But I wouldn’t trade him for anything.