Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Guest Post : Miss Dixie with Crochet Your Own Snood!

Recently I put a call out amongst the members of my Facebook group - The Sew Retro Rose Lovely Ladies - for some guest posts for my blog.  I have some big plans that require me to put my attentions elsewhere for a little while, and the last thing I wanted to do was leave you all hanging if I didn't have to!

You will still hear from me here, and I will still be on my Facebook page, but trust me - this other thing I'm putting my attentions into will be worth it for all of us!

So without further delay from me, here's Dixie!

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Hello all you lovely readers of Sew Retro Rose!

Beccie has been lovely enough to allow me to take over her blog for a post, so I thought I’d give you all a nice easy quick project. If you have a slight understanding of crocheting, you can get this done in under an hour. If you’re a complete novice, it may take a bit more time, but it is really easy, I promise!

Now I will apologise in advance, I am not a very experienced Crocheter myself, so I may not use the correct terminology all the time, but I will try my best to make this pattern/tutorial as easy to follow as possible.


Supplies:
  • A reasonably thin yarn (not thick and fluffy) I am using Patons Cotton Blend 8 ply which is a fairly tightly wound yarn, that almost has a rope like feel, rather than a fluffy wool type feel. Thin 4 or 5 ply baby wool/yarn also works. It’s all about getting the right tension so that the snood has lots of flexibility and movement.
  • A large guage crochet hook. I am using an 8mm for this one, but have previously used a 6.5mm with 4ply baby wool
  • Some narrow elastic, enough to fit around your head where you want the snood to sit, minus roughly 1 inch/2.5 cm. I am using 6mm braided elastic, but anything narrower will work too, this is just the smallest I had. You could even use hat elastic, but you may need to use a shorter length to make sure it sits snugly.
  • A pair of scissors
  • Some Chocolate and a hot beverage of your choice to keep you going. (Every project should be accompanied by hot beverage and chocolate! - Beccie)
Start by making a slip stitch loop



Pull the knot tight while the loop is on your crochet hook

 
Hold the knot section firmly between your left thumb and middle finger (or whatever works best for you) and have the yarn (that is attached to the ball, not the short end) going over your index finger and being held in your hand with your ring and pinky finger. Holding the crochet hook with your right hand, hook around the yarn.


Now pull the yarn through the original loop. Turning the crochet hook can help it get a better grip on the yarn.


Now you have completed 1 chain stitch. Repeat this process of pulling a new yarn loop through the existing yarn loops until you have 8 chain stitches.


Your 8 chain stitches should look something like this.


Now, while keeping the existing loop on your hook, put it through the first chain stitch you made, forming a ring of stitches.


Use your hook to grab the yarn.


Then pull the yarn through both of the loops already on your hook.


Use your hook to grab the yarn again, to pull through to make another chain stitch.


Make 2 more chain stiches, giving you 3 in total.


Now we are going to start our first Treble stitch. This may seem a bit confusing at first, but hopefully my directions make sense, and by the time you finish your snood, it will come easily. Firstly grab the yarn with your hook.


Bring the hook downwards, making sure the yarn stays looped around it.


Insert your hook through the middle of the ring of stitches from the front to the back.


Use your hook to once again grab the yarn.


Pull the yarn through the middle of the ring to the front.


You should now have 3 loops on your hook. Grab the loose yarn with your hook again.


Pull the yarn through the first 2 loops only, creating 1 new loop and leaving 1 existing loop.


Grab the yarn again, and pull it through the remaining 2 loops on the hook.


Yay! You have now completed your first treble! Now make one chain stitch.


Start on your second treble, by grabbing the yarn and going through the middle of the ring. Once through, grab the yarn again, come back through to the front, grab the yarn once again, pulling it through the first 2 loops, then grab the yarn with your hook once more and pull through the remaining 2 loops. Make one chain stitch.


Oh look! Now you have 2 Trebles!


Repeat the pattern, treble, chain, treble chain until you have a complete circle. I did 10 treble Stitches (not including the original 3 chain stitches).


Attach the last stitch with the original 3 chain stitches by inserting the hook through the gap made by the chain stitches and the first treble and grabbing the yarn through it.


Pull the yarn that you grabbed through the gap all the way through the existing loop on your hook (so you should just have 1 loop on it).


Make 3 chain stitches, then another 1 chain stitch (4 in total).


You are now going to do the same as the previous row, but each treble will be made in the gaps made by the previous row, and between each treble you will now be making 2 chain stitches instead of one.


When you have completed the row, join it the same way as the row before. The third row is completed the same way as the second, but increase the gaps to be 3 chain stitches instead of 2.


The fourth row is slightly different. We will be going back to treble, chain, treble, chain, but in each of the gaps formed by the row before, we are going to be attaching 2 trebles, with a chain stitch in between. Finish the row the same as previous rows.


The fifth row is stitched the same as the second row. Treble, 2 chains, treble 2 chains, repeat to end.


The Sixth row follows the same pattern as the third row. Treble, 3 chains, treble, 3 chains, repeat to end.


The seventh row is as the fourth one was. 2 trebles in each gap, with 1 chain stitch between each treble.


At this point I have a wide cone like shape, roughly the size of my head. If yours is quite a bit smaller, your tension may be too tight, or your hook too small. Either add extra rows following the pattern we have been using to increase the size, or start over using a larger hook or looser tension. If yours has turned out too large, simply unravel a row or 2 til it is the right size. 


For the next (Eighth) row, I am up to treble, 2 chain, treble, 2 chain. If you have changed the size of your base you may need to use a different combination (treble and 1 chain, or treble and 3 chain) At the time of this photo, I had done 4 rows, and you can see the edge has turned upwards. I then stitched another 4 rows in this pattern, then decreased slightly for the next 3 rows by stitching only 1 chain between each treble, instead of 2. If you have a lot of hair, you may want to make yours deeper by adding in extra rows.


Take the piece of elastic and sew the end together to form a loop, or if using hat elastic, tie the ends together with a secure knot. Attach the Elastic to the snood by crocheting around it.


Hold the elastic loop up against the edge of the snood. Take your crochet hook and insert it through the gap to the back of your work and grab the yarn with the hook.


Pull the yarn through to the front, then use the hook to grab the yarn again. 


Pull the yarn that you have just grabbed with your hook through the 2 loops already on the hook. Repeat this stitch 3 or 4 times in each gap, so they yarn mostly covers the elastic.


Here’s what it should be looking like.


Once you have completely gone around the elastic, pull the end of the yarn through (cutting of the extra yarn first) and pull tightly. If you want, tie the yarn around the elastic once or twice to make it more secure, then cut off the excess yarn.


As you can see, by the time I finished I had very little yarn left, so if you need to make yours bigger, or your tension is very different to mine and uses up more yarn, you may want to purchase 2 50g balls (or a 100g ball) Also, different yarns may have different lengths, but the same weight. The label from the yarn I used says it is approx. 95m.

Finished!




And now you have a fabulous new Snood to wear with pride! I like to wear mine with victory rolls, and use 3 bobby pins to hold it in place. 1 behind each ear and 1 on top of my head!



See how great it looks? I’m going to be making these in every colour!

If you’re interested in seeing more tutorials/patterns/recipes/reviews or just general ramblings, please head over and give my blog, Miss Dixie O’Dare some love.

Thanks for having me here,
Dixie


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Oh well done Miss Dixie!  I've been looking at snoods just recently, but the commercially available ones have too much space for hair.  Now I can make my own!!!  Thank you so much for sharing your pattern.

Beccie
xxx

Friday, April 10, 2015

Capelet Sewalong : The Final Round-up!

What a great sewalong!  I hope you all enjoyed following along if you weren't sewing.  Thanks also goes to Decades of Style for giving us all a discount on the pattern.

Since finishing and wearing our capelets, and posting photos wearing them in the Facebook group, we have noticed just how versatile this garment is!  It can be dressed down with jeans, it can be dressed up with a fancy skirt or tailored pants, it can even be made from light fabric and worn as a blouse!  I honestly don't think this pattern is given enough credit, and I also think a lot of people have passed it over as being too odd.  Not true!

And here's the proof - our finished garments!  I'm pretty sure that once you've seen these you will want to sew one for yourself.

Diana Cruz-Hasler
Diana used some favourite fabric from her stash to make her capelet.  I love how the gold buttons bring out the gold in the fabric.



Meet Diana's two 'monkeys' Sierra and Chloe, who insisted in being in one of the photos.

Eszter Molnar
This lovely lady speed sewed through her capelet, only starting three days before the deadline - but how amazing is this ice blue colour on her!  In love!!
 



Janine Robertson
Janine also had a last minute run at the deadline and did really well to get it finished, as her capelet is lined as well.  She did make a small boo-boo, but we aren't going to talk about that here (10 points to anyone who can pick what it is).
 
In love with this colour too!

Joanna Hehn
Joanna picked some lovely fabric that really doesn't read well in this photo - its a brocade with a little floral paisley print in green, pink, and blue.  Great fit Joanna!


Kacy Burchfield
Kacy picked a fabulous pink and brown houndstooth print fabric, which was challenging to do bound buttonholes on, only because it made you cross-eyed!  Kacy also made a boo-boo, funnily enough the same one as Janine.  Have you picked it yet?
 



Katherine McRae
Contrary to the expression on her face, Katherine really loves her capelet!  What she wasn't loving at this time was wearing heels on wet grass, and the sun in her eyes.  She wore this outfit to church and got lots of compliments.  I'm not surprised either - how great does it look with more casual pants!




Naomi Brick
Naomi loves her capelet and is already planning a couple more.  This one came out a bit tight across the bust, but I think it is still very wearable!



Rachael Coutts
Rachael was the first finishedAnd look at that happy face!  Its the result of someone who challenged themselves with their sewing and succeeded!  Rachael only started sewing THIS YEAR so all of you that think this project is too advanced for you - think again!


By the way Rachael - that building behind you is magnificent - what is it (besides a glasshouse)?


Tanith Kovari
Tanith is another one who challenged herself with this pattern, and I think the result is fabulous.  And that amazing fabric will go with just about anything!
 

Then there was me.  I made two capelets, one in gaberdine and one in velveteen.  I also made items to wear with my capelets.  A dress for the gaberdine capelet, and a skirt for the velveteen one.  Except there was a problem... the dress didn't fit.

It took me 24 hours to dust myself off from that - it really rocked my confidence in how I felt about myself, and how I thought I looked.  But dust myself off I did, and here are the results.

My gaberdine capelet:



And my velveteen capelet and skirt:



I love both outfits and I think they are going to be worn often as the weather here cools.

The lovely people at Decades of Style were so happy with the response to the sewalong that they have generously donated a US$50 voucher, so I had Stella help draw me a winner from the girls who participated.  I assigned numbers to the girls in the order that they submitted their photos.  This is the number Stella drew:


Its upside-down, but thats the number 3, and number 3 was:

JOANNA HEHN!!!

Congratulations Joanna!  Send me an email to collect your voucher.

Ladies, once again WELL DONE.  Each and every one of you did a magnificent job, thanks so much for participating!  And for those of you that weren't able to join in, I hope that seeing the finished products made by sewers with different experience levels makes you want to take out that pattern and have a go for yourself!

Beccie
xxx

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Cinderella : The Ultimate Costume Porn

Ever since I saw the preview online for the recently released Cinderella movie, I knew I just HAD to see it!!!  And I wasn't even going to bother borrowing a child from someone as camouflage!

This movie was a visual feast from start to finish, and while everybody is raving about the blue gown that Cinderella wears to the ball (and with good reason - that thing is incredible!), the standout for me was just about everything Cate Blanchett wears as the evil stepmother.


From the minute she walked on screen (in the above outfit, actually), I was completely spellbound.  Her costumes were such an incredible mix of 1940s screen goddess and 1880s victorian that I just couldn't look away!  The costume designer for this movie (who is now my hero) is Sandy Powell, and she based the evil stepmother's look on 1940s icons like Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford, and then blended those elements with the 19th century look of the rest of the film.

If I could walk around like this every day I would be eternally happy.

Yes, that is a cat on a lead...

This chartreuse colour (which was very popular in the 40s) seems to be the characters signature colour, as most of her outfits features it.  Unless she's wearing leopard...


This is the only full length photo I can find of this outfit (sadly, cause its awful), and I let out an audible groan when it came on screen.  If I can find an appropriate fabric, keep an eye out for me sewing my tribute to this in the coming months.

The outfit she wears to the ball once again features the signature chartreuse colour, and an amazingly sculptural collar reminiscent of the architectural quality of Charles James.



My other favourite characters to watch were the evil step-sisters.  I loved the way that they always had matching outfits, just in different colourways.  And as much as their mother was 1940s, the girls were 1950s with accents on their outfits like peter pan collars, and little cropped sweaters and knitted boleros.


But just like everyone else I was completely spellbound by Cinderella's gown as she attended the ball. 


I completely stopped listening to the dialogue, and could pay attention to little else than the skirt every time she was on screen.  The way it floated was incredible, and every time it flicked around I tried to get a decent look at what was going on underneath!

Look at it float!

I've done a bit of reading since, and the foundation for the skirt was a crinoline cage - something like this:



Then their was a couple of petticoats loaded with frills on the hem and on the inside (these are what you see when she dances).  The next layer was a "really cheap" iridescent pale white fabric, with five or six more incredibly light and floaty layers over the top of that, in colours like silver, lilac, lavender and blue, which all mix together to form that iconic colour.


There has apparently been a fair bit of controversy on social media about the size of Cinderella's waist and how it must have been digitally altered.  Clearly these people have never seen the effects that a well fitted corset and a massive skirt has on how a waist looks!

The other epically amazing gown that Cinderella gets to wear is her wedding gown.  It took 16 people 550 hours to make, and its on screen for less than 30 seconds I'd reckon.  Oh, and all those flowers were HAND PAINTED after the gown was constructed.



If you haven't already seen it, do yourself a favour and get to a cinema.  I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

Beccie
xxx