Christmas Garland with Crochet Words! How to

This was relatively quick. There's still time.Do you have an odd ball of cream/white wool and one of red? A crochet hook?

I crocheted the stars from this pattern - I found them to be wonderfully quick easy and a bit addictive once i had the knack.

The letters are from a Handy Kitty free pattern HOWEVER - with 8 ply wool and a 3.5mm hook I found them to be a little too eensy weensy small so I changed the pattern ever so slightly.

"J" 
1. chain 14 
2. turn and work one slip stitch in each of the next 6 chains (7 slip stitches in all.
3. insert hook in next chain and pull through loop, insert in next chain and pull through loop (3 stitches on hook) then wool around the hook and pull through all three stitches on the hook (this makes the bend in the J)
4. slip stitch in the remaining 4 chains and slip stitch into the start chain and fasten off.

"0" 
1. chain 15 and join with a slip stitch in the 1st chain
2. work 1 slip st in the next chain, 2 slip stitches in the next chain and repeat this pattern. 
Join with a slip stitch into 1st chain. Fasten off

"y" 
1.chain 5, turn and work 1 slip stitch into second chain from the hook, 1 slip stitch  in each of the next 3 chain
2. chain 6, turn and work into the 2nd chain from the hook, 1 slip stitch in each of the next 4 chain

3 chain 5, turn and work 1 slip stitch into 2nd chain from hook, 1 slip stitch in each of the next 3 chains. join with a slip stitch in 1st stitch of step 1. Fasten off.

The worst bit is sewing in the ends.

I then made some little fork pom poms.To make a loop for attaching to the garland I tied the ends in a knot over the hook making a little elevated loop.

Next: Plan out your garland.

Then grab your wool and hook: 

1.
To make up the string, chain 12 and join with a slip stitch in the first chain,  creating a loop for hanging the garland

2.
chain 14 (or less of you want you dangly bits closer) and join your first dangle piece (star or pom pom) with a slip stitch through the top of the star or the loop of the pom pom.

3.
continue with 14 chains between stars and pom poms.

4.
when it comes to the word I found it easier to work the whole garland backwards - 

with the "Y" first. 
slip stitch into the top of the y, chain across the gap (around 4 chain)then a slip stitch into the top of the next arm of the "y" 

5.
chain across 6 chain and join with a slip stitch across three slip stitches at the top of the "O"

6.
chain 6 then slip stitch into the top of the "J" 

7.
continue with the 14 chain gap between dangly bits alternating stars and pom poms.

8.
finish with 14 chain then create the loop - 

9.
12 chain and back into the 11th chain from the end to create another loop.

Fasten off

Sew in pom pom ends and string ends.

Stretch the garland chain or press with an iron if you like.

Hang it up! Gift it! 

Or make the letters and stick to a card. Crochet alphabet garlands are pretty exciting! It opens a world of possibilities for funny quotes and song lyrics. I'm possibly a bit too excited.

School Fete Enviro Stall!

With the Autumn sunshine predicted for Melbourne tomorrow, the Merri Creek Primary School fete is looking like it will be a ripper! And it needs to be. The funds we raise at our school fete are really important. For a start, it means that the school can afford to keep and maintain our wonderful elm trees. And then there's all the other stuff like educating the youngsters...

I've had a great month getting involved with the environment stall. In fact I've been so busy plarning* and pom pomming and plastic-creating that I've had no time to be here, in blogland. Who would have thought that plarning, pom pomming and plastic-creating would be so labour intensive? (Oh, I must admit I have had time for tennis. And goodreads. Please don't be jealous bloggies! I promise you are my first and only true love.)Hello blogland! 

When I catch my breath after tomorrow, I'll post more about what we've been making. The Enviro Stall coordinator, Kasia, has been - please excuse the daytime-tv-gushiness - an inspiration with her innovative approach to recycling!Stay tuned....


*plarning is turning plastic bags into yarn for crocheting/knitting etc.

tassel garland how to

A factory around the corner was throwing away rolls of interfacing - we rescued them from the skip and have used it over the years for pattern making and other things. I wanted to make more tassels but in the spirit of keeping it eco I didn't want to got out and buy anything new!
Here's how I made the tassels....same technique for paper but you don't need the wire....

A friends Mum got married in the 1950's and had bridesmaids in rainbow pastel frocks. That's what i think of when I look at these. Swishing frocks and sugared almonds.

There's a zombie on the lawn!

 Halloween started this morning with a visit to Gleaners Inc to deliver some sugar skull garlands. I made these ones a bit rockabilly with lots of black decorative stitching and finished on vintage black ric rac

 Liz is hosting a wonderful Day of the Dead exhibition - I got a sneak peek and was dead impressed (no pun intended?) with the wonderful skully art work on display! Looking forward to the opening!

 Then I had a zombie on my lawn!

 My daughter Mattie is studying costume and make up and went to town on her five year old sister Pepper.

Pepper is playing the part to the hilt! Her identical twin sister Wanda doesn't like it at all and says it's too scary.

F.T.F...well almost.

I attempted to have a Finish Things Friday - and almost got there. I finished these recycled felt sugar skulls and flowers for a garland...

but they didn't quite make it onto the string yet.

Last year I made these with the sewing machine.This year I hand stitched (and glued) them. Yes it takes more time but it was so much more enjoyable. I sat and stitched in the back yard on a warm afternoon while my legs were used for the game of elastics the kids were playing.

Magpies warbled and wattle birds yodeled. We did a bit of warbling and yodeling too.

Do you remember elastics? What was the routine? Ours was: over right string, over the left string (twice) then in the middle and over both strings (twice) then a criss- cross move and out. I also remember the routine of landing on the strings but the little ones found that a bit tricky. I must say that my ankles are not as bouncy as they used to be!

My Creative Space

Cutting, gluing and stitching - my creative space today is all Mexicali skulls in sugary sweet bright colours.

Like last year, I’m making some sugar skull garlands for Dia de Los Mertos (The Day of the Dead)from mostly recycled materials. This year I’m using lace flower eyes and trying to make them more decorative. The lace is coloured with fabric texta (thanks Pepper for that idea!).

Better get back to work…..

Welcome Winter

It’s the first day of winter here so we’re celebrating with hanging a little snowflake  garland, made from felt, interfacing and doilies. Now when I say “celebrating” I should clarify that I really, really, don’t like winter. 

I am very sensitive to the cold! I seemingly feel the cold more than the rest of my family. And it’s not just the cold but those dull grey Melbourne skies. But what can you do? As the song goes, “you got to  ac-cent-tchu-ate the postive, eliminate the negative." Or as Machiavelli puts it, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”. Or simply “If you can’t beat ‘em, join em!”

As kids we had to catch an early bus to school. Oh! Those foggy, frosty mornings! Mum would put our shoes in the oven before we had to put them on! As a film student, our peak filming time was through the winter. For three years I managed to cope with outdoor shoots, night shoots and worst of all – outdoor night shoots – by wearing a snowsuit. The sound people would be very annoyed if I moved, but it was the only way I could manage to get through was by zipping myself into those overalls!

How do you cope with winter?

This first month will fly for the sister outlaws because we will be taking part in the Winter Artisan Market at the Northcote Town Hall! So we will cope by making and selling gorgeous wintry-recycled-felty-jumper-goodness!

Autumn Garland

 

 The garland pieces are all made from recycled jumper felt.....  with apples, three types of  autumn leaves, acorns and.....

Mr Fox in the centre.

 All stitched to vintage white cotton ric rac.

 It’s really l..o..n...g...

 And quite tricky to photograph!

The Autumn Garland will make it into to re-sew-cool kit form so that other people can make it too - although I'm a bit late for Autumn lovers in the southern hemisphere! Better get cracking on the other seasons! Three to go!

Deer, Hearts and Gentle People

I'm calling this my "deer, hearts and gentle people" garland. After the song. Do you know it? Are you humming it now? It is catchy. I’ll tell you more about the song in a minute. First – the craft.

The garland is made from recycled jumpers, felted in a hot wash. The decorative details are vintage cotton ric rac and recycled buttons.

The decorations all hangs on a length of mini white cotton ric rac.

One is for sale on our etsy page and if you are in the Brunswick area, our friend Liz at Gleaners inc has a couple for sale - including an extended  l...o...n...g...e...r  version with three deer heads, four snowflakes and four hearts.

Now. The song. “Dear Hearts and Gentle People” was written in 1949. Music by Sammy Fain, most famous for his film song compositions like “Secret Love” (from Calamity Jane) and “Love is a Many Splendoured Thing” and lyrics by Bob Hilliard. First recorded by Dinah Shore in 1949, the song has been recorded by many great singers over the years -  Bing Crosby, Jim Reeves, Marty Robbins, Pattie Page, Perry Como and Gene Autry. It’s a simple heart warming old fashioned song about a home town.

I love those dear hearts and gentle people
Who live in my home town
Because those dear hearts and gentle people
Will never ever let you down.

But here’s the sad part. The song was inspired by the words written on a scrap of paper found on the dead body of Stephen Foster in 1864. Stephen Foster wrote many songs and I know you know them. We all know them. “Camptown Races”,  “ Oh Susannah”,  “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair”, “Swanee River” and “Beautiful Dreamer” are among his catalogue of compositions. Yes, many a popular song. So popular we forget they were even written by someone. If this guy were around today he’d be like a pop star! He’d have a mansion and limousine and squillions. Maybe. But he died alone, impoverished in a New York hotel in 1864 with 38 cents and 3 pennies to his name and a scrap of paper with the words "Dear friends and gentle hearts" written on it. He was just 37 years old.

Now I don’t know if he was even a good person or not but it seems pretty tragic that someone who was so prolific and talented dies like this. Sorry. Gives the song a different air, doesn’t it? But let’s all be grateful for dear hearts, gentle people, dear friends and gentle hearts. And for those who never let us down.

a rattle of skulls

What's the collective noun for sugar skulls? A fright of skulls? A grave of skulls? A haunting of skulls?

Today I've been making a bunch of recycled felt sugar skulls for some Halloween decorative fun. Still need to stitch some embellishments and finish these off....