Beatrice Shrug

The Beatrice Shrug is my latest project. My mom was looking for a stylish way to cover her shoulders in the evening. She found this free pattern online. When looking at the picture and reading through the pattern it seemed like an easy project. I soon realized that there were some mistakes in the pattern that made it a challenge. Not to mention, time consuming, because of all the loose ends that needed to be sewn in from changing colors every 3 rows: one of my Grandma Gidley's favorite things to do, but not one of mine.

I haven't told my mom this, but if I would have been working on this project for myself, I would have quit. I'm glad I didn't because the end product turned out beautiful! Doesn't it look awesome on my mom!

Crochet Rosette

My friends over at The Girls In Grey were the inspiration behind these little creations. I love the rolled fabric hair pieces that they create. I decided it might be fun to make crochet rosettes that resemble their fabric rosettes. I picked a yarn that has sequins so the hair piece has a subtle sparkle. Here's what I came up with last night, an elastic headband, an alligator clip and a 3-

stranded crochet headband.

The pattern is really simple.

Medium Crochet Rosette:

ch 51

Increase the number of chains depending on how big you want the rosette.

Row 1) slip stitch in each ch, ch 1

Row 2) reverse sc in each sc

Tie off leaving a long tail for weaving and sewing.

Roll rosette from the starting point not the long tail. Then weave tail through rosette several times to hold it together.

What do you think? I'm thinking GIVE-AWAY!!!!!!

Carter's 8th Birthday

Carter's 8th birthday party is tomorrow. When I asked him what he wanted on his cake, his reply was, "Captain Underpants!" I printed off a picture of Captain Underpants and sent it to the Confectioneiress. Here's what we picked up today! Isn't it awesome! The bottom layer is chocolate with cookies and cream filling and the top layer is chocolate with raspberry filling. YUMMY! I'm not an expert on cakes, but I will say that Mica's cakes are unbelievable. I can't wait to cut into this one!

You can follow the Confectioneiress on Facebook or her blog. Just click on the links.

Crochet Bodice Dress

My mom was going through her old clothes, gathering stuff to take to Good Will, when she came across an old skirt. She decided we had to come up with a use for the fabric, and I had been kicking around the idea of making Lillian a dress with a crochet bodice and a pleated cotton skirt. I told her my idea, we shared some measurements, and she sent me this picture (she lives 2 hours away so we worked together on this over the phone and by e-mail).

After I saw a picture of the skirt, I went through my yarns and found a perfect match for the orange flowers. Normally, I would not have chosen orange, but I was trying to keep costs down for this dress because we had no idea what we were doing. Here's the finished bodice.

I received the finished skirt from Mom in the mail today, and I couldn't wait to see the finished product. Here's the picture of them pinned together! Perfect fit!! Now for the sewing.

I was nervous about using my sewing machine to join the bodice and skirt (normally I would hand stitch these together). I have to say, it worked like a charm! Here's Lilly modeling her new dress! I thought it turned out pretty cute for costing us next-to-nothing!

Crochet Flower Hair Clips

I'm in love with hair clips for my Lillian. Her hair is just long enough to start accessorizing, so I decided to make some. Don't they look yummy enough to eat!

Here's what you need:

1.75" Alligator Hair Clip

3/8" Ribbon

Hot Glue Gun

Embroidery Floss

Size D Crochet Hook

Felt

Fabric Adhesive

Sew-On Gem

Nylon Thread

Covering the clip with ribbon:

Follow these instructions for covering the alligator clip with the ribbon.

Crochet Flower Pattern:

Rnd 1) Ch 2, sc in 1st ch, ch 3, sc in same st as 1st sc, *ch 3, sc in same st as other sc's*. Repeat 4 more times, so you have 6 ch 3 loops altogether.

Rnd 2) Ch 1, for petals, (sc, hdc, dc, hdc, sc) in each ch sp around. Join with sl st in 1st sc while changing colors if desired.

Rnd 3) Ch 1, holding petals forward, sc around post in between petals on back of rnd 1, ch 3, *sc around post in between petals of next sc on rnd 1, ch 3,* repeat from * around, join to 1st st.

Rnd 4) Ch 1, for petals, (sc, hdc, 3dc's, hdc, sc) in each ch sp around, join to 1st sc while changing colors if desired.

Rnd 5) Ch1, holding petals forward, sc around post in between petals on back of rnd 3, ch 4, *sc around post in between petals of next sc on rnd 3, ch 4* repeat from * around, join to 1st st.

Rnd 6) Ch 1 for petals, (sc, hdc, 5dc's, hdc, sc) in each ch sp around, join to 1st sc. Fasten off and tie knots with loose ends.

Sew on gem with nylon thread

Applying the flower to the clip:

Cut a half dollor size piece of felt and use fabric glue to fix this piece to the back of the flower, hiding all the knots and loose ends.

Use the fabric glue to fix the flower onto the ribbon-covered hair clip.

Here's Lilly modeling hers!

Mommy Time

After the birth of my daughter, I felt the need to focus less on baby dresses and more on a dress for myself. My daughter was born in January 2010 and we were invited to a wedding that would take place in New York in May. I only had a few months to come up with something. In the past, I had made a few articles of clothing for myself but I had never tackled anything quite like I was about to.

I began the search for the perfect dress pattern. I found an elegant, trendsetting, yet traditional lace dress at http://www.interweavestore.com/Crochet/Patterns/Lace-Dress.html.

The dress looks intricate but is actually made up of very basic crochet stitches worked in horizontal bands. The tricky part was finding the perfect yarn. I chose Vanna's Glamour yarn because it has a little bit of sparkle and stretch, not to mention it is very reasonable priced!

I started the dress in March and finished it sometime in April. Here's me modeling my dress. I can't tell you how fun it is to wear something that you put a lot of love into. I will definitely take on a challenge like this again!

Newsboy Cap With Zipper Flower

After I posted the Lilly Cap on my Facebook Store I had lots of requests for an adult newsboy cap. Here's what I found in CrocheTrends etsy shop.

I like this cap with its ribbed body and accent color in the band. But what I love about this hat is the zipper flower! I can think of so many cool projects to add one of these to: headbands, bracelets, necklaces, pendants. Its a never ending list! The tutorial that came with this pattern is a little confusing. Here's a link to a video tutorial that is much easier to follow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WMz7j5eH8Q.

I can't wait to get started on this hat. It will be for sale soon! Good luck to all of you who are brave enough to try the zipper flower ;-)