guest posting at everyday art!

today i’ve got the privilege of guest posting over at everyday art for their little ones series! why not head over and check out my little bunny blankie!

and if you’re coming from there and looking for the blanket pattern and instructions, click HERE!

making crochet cool, one hat at a time. {free pattern}

i’ll make this easy for you. when i’m gone and dead, and you’re all gathered together trying to think of the absolute, 100%, unequivocal winner of the title of The Coolest Thing Shannon Ever Made to engrave in tribute on my headstone…this is it. winner winner chicken dinner.

let me be clear: i’m not overstating this. and once you’ve seen it you’re bound to agree. ready?

waaiiiittt

for

              it……..

 

SHUT. UP. is that a crochet baby hat that looks like a shtinkin’ WONDER WOMAN WIG????
why yes. yes it is.

ARE WE EXCITED ABOUT THIS???

and i’ve even created this mind blowing photo for your pinning pleasure. ready?

BOOM.

i just won 1,000,000 internetz.

okay here’s the breakdown:

+ this is super easy—like beginner crochet. it’s a basic crochet cap. the spiral “curls”, the “crown” and star are separate pieces,  sewn on to the cap.

+ i made this for a little baby. littler than elliot, and that’s why little ms. peyton here is my model. (the same baby who received the star wars quilt and onesie)

+ did i also make a pair of crochet GOLDEN BRACELETS with a red rattle/star on them? which i forgot to photograph? YUP.

+ i based the idea for this off this crochet princess hat, which is a free ravelry pattern. hmmm…what other wigs can we crochet???

+ the hat isn’t heavy—peyton had no problem keeping it on her head. and actually quite loved it. in fact, she was having so much fun wearing it most of my photos look like this….

+ i’m sharing this pattern with you for free. FREEEEEE??? yes, free, with these small caveats: please link back to me and my blog if you make/share/blog this. and if you want to sell thousands in Ye Olde Etsy Shoppe, go forth and prosper. but PLEASE LINK BACK TO ME AND GIVE ME CREDIT FOR THE PATTERN. (and if you wanna cut me a commission i wouldn’t hate that if ya know what i’m sayin’)mmmkaythanksiloveyou.

Wonder Woman Crochet Hat

There are 4 major components to this hat (hat, curls, crown, star), which are crocheted individually and then sewn together at the end. I knot everything because I wanted this hat to be durable and potentially washable. I’ve had too many things slip apart eventually and then I get HULK SMASH ALL THE THINGS ANGRY.

These instructions are based on a 3-6 month old sized hat, but it can be easily sized up by making your beanie portion larger and a few more curls.

HAT
YARN: Black sport or worsted weight.
HOOK: H
+ + + + + + +
CH 3
Slip stitch into 1st CH to join, CH 1 (making a loop, or you can also start with a magic circle if you know how)
Round 1: CH 1, 9 HDC in ring, join with SL ST (9)
2: CH 1, 2HDC in each HDC around, join with SL ST (18)
3: CH 1, HDC in next HDC, 2 HDC in remainder of HDC, join with SL ST (27)
4: CH 1, *HDC in next 2 HDC, 2 HDC in next HDC, repeat from * all the way around. join with SL ST (36)
5: CH 1, *HDC in next 3 HDC, 2 HDC in next HDC, repeat from * all the way around. join with sl st (45)
6: CH 1, *HDC in next 4 HDC, 2 HDC in next HDC, repeat from * all the way around. join with sl st (54)
7-18: CH 1, HDC in each HDC, join with SL ST (54)
Fasten off, weave in ends.

this will make a size 6-12 month hat. if you’d like to size up or down, here is a good free pattern showing various sizes, or if you’re on ravelry you can see a few HERE

CURLS
YARN: same as hat
HOOK: G
NOTE: the curls are all made the same basic way: a long chain, then 2 or 3 treble/triple crochets in each chain. each is tied to the hat with a small piece of black yarn in roughly the center of the curl. i varied the lengths of the curls by chaining a different amount at the start, and did a 2-2-3 combo of TC back across. there’s not really a reason, just that the more stitches you put in each chain stitch the tighter the curl becomes. i thought 2 was a little loose and 3 was a little tight, so i did a combo, but you can do whatever works for you. (this is straight up mindless crocheting, perfect for TV watching ;) 
note: if you’re making a larger size hat you’re probably going to need more curls to adequately cover the hat. just make a few extra.
+ + + + + + +
CH whatever length you need.
going back along the CH, do (2 TC, 2 TC, 3TC) repeat until you have 2 chains left
1 SC and a SL ST to finish off.
knot ends

repeat over and over until you have a sufficient amount of curls to cover the hat. some longer for the back (chain 45-55ish) and some shorter for the front (chain 25-30ish)

CROWN
YARN: Gold/yellow sport weight 
HOOK: F
+ + + + + + +
CH 8
ROW 1: SC in 2nd CH, SC, CH 2 (7)
ROWS 2-9: SC, CH 2 and turn (7)
ROW 2: SC across, ch 2 and turn (31)
ROW 3 + 4: repeat ROW 2 (31)
ROW 5: SC 7 times, ch 2 and turn
ROW 6-8: repeat ROW 5
ROW 9: 3 SC in last ST, ch 2 and turn
ROW 10: 9 SC, CH 2 and turn
ROW 11: 8 SC, 3 SC in last st, ch 2 and turn
ROW 12: 11 SC, ch 2 and turn
ROW 13: 10 SC, 3 SC in last st, CHAIN 3 and turn
ROW 14: 13 SC (extra chain at the tip), chain 2 and turn
ROW 15: 9 SC, SC2TG 2 times (single crochet 2 together)
ROW 16: 11 SC
ROW 17: 7 SC, SC2TG 2 times
ROW 18: 9 SC
ROW 19: 5 SC, SC2TG 2 times
ROW 20: 7 SC
ROW 21-28: repeat ROW 20
finish by slip stitching across top of crown

STAR
Yarn: small piece of red
Hook: F
+ + + + + + +
chain 3
slip st into 1st chain and chain 1 (making a loop, you can also start with a magic circle if you know how)
15 SC into center
slip st into 1st SC to join and CH 4
*SC into 2nd chain from Hook, HDC (half double crochet) into next CH st, TC (treble crochet) into next CH st and slip stitch in 3rd chain of your round to join.
Repeat from * four more times to make 5 points of your star, join and tie off at the end.

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
sew the star to the center of the crown, then sew the crown to the front of the hat, lining up the straight edge of the crown with the straight edge of the hat.
holding your curls roughly in the center, tie them in various places around the hat with a small section of black yarn. it helps if you put the hat on something to see where the curls will naturally fall (a doll, a convenient child, your knee…). this will also give you a sense of how many curls you need and how long they should be. make sure and do one or two shorter ones in the front, and layer them down the back for that fluffy, just-fresh-from-the-superhero-salon look.

place on your favorite toddler/baby and enjoy.

toddler panties: free tutorial and pattern

EDITED TO ADD: I accidentally deleted photos from a bunch of old blog posts. I have replaced what I could find (there's over 7000 pics on my computer and I'm not always the best at naming/filing/putting in folders.) Sorry!

S E W I N G  N O T E S your only supplies are:

+ a pile of knits. somewhere in there try to have a thicker white cotton. i had a rib knit white tank, and this was perfect as a liner for the crotch. (i just said crotch. on the internet)
+ elastic. legs: (2) 12 1/2” pieces, waist (1) 18 1/2” piece. i used both F.O.E. (fold over elastic) and regular 1/2” elastic that i have on a big spool. the F.O.E. does look nice and professional, but i found the regular stuff much easier to work with.
+ scissors, thread, machine, pins. what you don’t need is a serger. it’s nice if you have one, but you can do these perfectly well without one.
+ this pattern, if you want.

(right click and save. print full size with no scaling)

+this tutorial!
dig through your knits and find some you want to use. the beauty of this is that you can use whatever you have. newsflash: striped panties are waaaay cuter than character ones. trust me.
old t-shirts, yoga pants—anything knit works. yardage varies. i played with my pattern pieces to get as many as possible from each item of clothing i used.

print out your pattern and cut out pieces. each pair needs a front, a back, a crotch from the outer fabric and a crotch from a decent plain white cotton. i just cut random pieces from coordinating knits for a mix-n-match look.

everything is sewn with approximately a 1/4” seam allowance. you don’t want big giant seams riding all up in their stuff, you know?
if using a regular SEWING MACHINE: when sewing elastic to fabric, use a small stretch stitch on your machine. when sewing fabric to fabric use an overlock stitch (see step 1)
now we sew.
sew the crotch
if you are using a SEWING MACHINE: wrong sides together, sew both crotch pieces at front and back with a fake overlock stitch. it’s the one that looks like this: /__/__/__/__

if you are using a SERGER: wrong sides together, sew at front and back.
don’t worry about the side seams, they’ll be enclosed by elastic.

sew the pieces together
SEWING MACHINE: match up the front panel to the crotch front and sew right sides together. repeat with back.
SERGER: same as for a sewing machine, or alternately you can do the first step (sew the crotch) and this step all together. if you gots mad serger skillllzzzz (which i do not.)

this pair i did with my serger. but i’ll be honest—i found it easier to use the regular sewing machine for these.

sew the leg elastic
(2) 12 1/2” pieces of elastic
fold in half and mark the center with a pin. match up the pin with the notch on the crotch of your panties. i pin it there, then at both ends and stretch to fit as i sew.

if using REGULAR ELASTIC: sew the elastic to the wrong side first, with the elastic overhanging the fabric by a little less than 1/4”. then fold the elastic over to the right side of the fabric (enclosing the raw edge) and topstitch close to the edge of the elastic.

if using F.O.E.: 2 ways. first, if you’re a sewing baller you can enclose your raw edge in the F.O.E. and zigzag away. one step and done.
i am not.
i do it in 2 steps—sew the fabric to the back side of the F.O.E., then fold it over and topstitch. if you can master the One Hit Wonder of F.O.E. Sewing…well, can i have your autograph? and also it’s a really professional and quick way of finishing these. so it’s probably worth the effort required to become Grand Master status. you probably also have those mad serger skilllzzzz. so WHY ARE YOU WASTING TIME ON THIS?

(NOTE: the above photos are of the waistband, but that’s just because i’m using them to illustrate the F.O.E. technique. you haven’t missed the “sew the waistband” part. carry on…)
E M B E L L I S H
at this point you can add any cute little octopi you’ve snagged off stained t-shirts in your upcycle pile, too. or not, because your kid will probably stain these with poo and you’ll chuck them in the garbage. whatever. YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME.

sew the waistband
(1) 18 1/2” piece of elastic
now we have lots of options.
first: regular elastic or F.O.E.? either way is fine, i used F.O.E. on these just to show both types of elastic in my sample pair. sew it the same way you did the leg openings.second: you can choose to sew one leg opening shut and finish the waist, then complete the 2nd leg opening; or sew both leg openings and then finish the waistband.
i find the 2nd option slightly less fiddly. so until you get the hang of it you may want to start there, even though it doesn’t give quite as nice of a finish.
to sew BOTH LEG OPENINGS AT ONCE: match up sides, and sew right sides together with slight stretch stitch. if you’re not using a serger, you’ll want to finish the edge with a zigzag, or sew with the faux overlock stitch.

METHOD 1

sew your elastic ends together.

center the seam and mark both sides of the elastic with pins. match the pins up to the side seams and add additional pins as necessary, stretching the elastic to fit. sew.

boom. crazy cute panties.



METHOD 2

to sew ONE LEG OPENING AT A TIME: match up ONE side, and sew right sides together with slight stretch stitch. if you’re not using a serger, you’ll want to finish the edge with a zigzag, or sew with the faux overlock stitch.

open out the waistband of the panties and pin the elastic at each end. add additional pins as necessary to keep it even. sew.

match up second side seam, sew right sides together.
boom. crazy cute panties in multiples.

with cute little bums.

fluffy bunny blanket {free pattern + tutorial}

how about a quick and cute sew for all the newborn babes in your life? or maybe a giant sized one for yourself, just because?

let’s get going…

+supplies+
-1 yard minky*
-1 yard flannel/other backing fabric*
*the minky i bought (from joann’s) is slightly wider than the flannel, so i had a bit of excess yardage of the minky to make the bunny head and arms from. if your two fabrics are the same width, i would get an extra 1/4 yard of the one you’ll be making the bunny from.
-small amount of stuffing
-small bit of embroidery floss
-thread, notions, etc.
-this pattern…

(right click and save to your computer. print at 100%)

+sewing notes+
this pattern includes a 3/8” seam allowance. i also recommend serging or zig-zagging your seam allowances to reinforce. hopefully your bunny will be getting lots of love. ;)

+instructions+
cut out all your pattern pieces:

sew each ear up, right sides together, along the long and curved edges. leave the bottom open for turning, and turn them right side out.
sew each arm up, right sides together, along the long and curved edges. leave the bottom open for turning, and turn right side out. lightly stuff the arms and baste them closed.

set your arm and ear pieces to the side and get your three head front pieces.

*optional: to help with attaching the back of the head later, fold the center head piece in half and mark the middle of it with a pin or small snip in the seam allowance.

now finish off the head front by adding in the chin piece.

now to attach the front of the head and back of the head…

you’re sewing from one bottom corner of the neck, up and around the head and down to the other bottom corner of the neck, leaving the neck bottom open.

now you need to attach your unstuffed bunny head to your blanket! i cut my two pieces of fabric (the minky and the flannel) into equal sized rectangles. set the flannel (or whatever your backing is) to the side and continue…

i simply eyeballed where to put the arms. i found i liked them better fairly close to the head.

attaching the backing to the blanket…

make sure the head, ears and arms are safely out of the way when you’re attaching the blanket back. you can pin them out of the way if needed.

i used pins to play with the placement of the eyes and nose. it’s amazing how moving them up or down a smidge changes the whole look!

and there you have it. i think there’s a ton of ways to play with this pattern: add a bunny head to a beautiful baby quilt, shorten the ears and make him a bear, cut the blanket down to make a little toy…i’d love to hear any other ideas you come up with---or any finished projects you make!