For Sale

A gift of ginantsilyo

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine, Gina, presented me her latest project. A crocheted woolen skirt of deep purple and black. She had intend to sell the skirt and asked me for marketing help. But when I saw the skirt, I immediately wanted it. Not for me, but for my sister, who has been asking me for something crocheted.

Ginantsilyo ni Gina

The skirt has relatively simple stitches but the execution was clean and pretty. I am not really good at making decent even stitches but I always try and I know that it is very difficult to do. I have to make repeats of rows just to maintain the evenness and this is what she was able to procure.

Read more about the dress at her blog entry, here.

To make the story short, I purchased the skirt from her after some negotiations about the size and the (ahem) price. I received the skirt a week after in a wonderful packaging:

Beautiful packaging

The gift finally reached my sister who was very happy receiving and even wowed at the box, which I added some crocheted flowers on top as accent:

My sister finally receiving her gift of ginantsilyo

And the best thing about this is I was able to market the skirt to another client. Gina will be busy crocheting in the coming months

Fancy giving your love ones, a gift of ginantsilyo?

Introducing Gina’s first Ginantsilyo. Available for sale. Fitted Skirt – Acrylic – wool blend
Php 1,200 for size small – medium [waist 24- 27].

Add Php 200 for every size increase
(Large: Php 1,400 waist is 27-32)
(XLarge: Php 1,600 waist is 32-36)
(XXLarge: Php 1,800 waist is 36-40)

Crocheted Swirls Headband

You know when inspiration suddenly kicks in and you just have to get up and quench that lingering thirst to create? It happened to me, a few nights ago. When I came up of a better way to create the swirls I have been wanting to create using padding cord and sc. I pulled out a thick and soft yarn from my stash and crocheted. This the only way I can sleep, when I have proven that what my mind is thinking would be right.

Here is the finished hair accessory, the metal floral accent complements well with the soft pink thread.

Hot Pink crocheted Swirls with metal floral accent

And here is the concept behind the stitch. I have observed this when doing Irish Crochet motifs. When you crochet over padding cord and you have to push the thread tightly together to establish a round curve on the next layer. So with this I was able to create a twisting swirl by crocheting multiple sc’s over the padding cord, pushing the stitches tightly together so that it will coil by itself, crochet more until the coil would form tightly enough it can stand on its own. Do this on both ends of a short padding cord and stitch the two ends together by tying a knot.

Ginantsilyo – Hair Accessories

The attempt was successful enough to create my next design of hair accessory. This took just half a day to finish and I sew it on the headband (wounded with woolen black yarn) so that it would be affixed permanently and then I applied white glue on the back, just enough to provide a subtle stiffness to the swirls.

The hair accessory was very simple yet there is something to the swirls that wants me to not let go of the project. But an order is an order, so I must comply. I did not feel any regret now, as the client was very happy with what I was able to deliver.

Happy Client with Ginantsilyo Hair Accessories

Thank you jen, for buying Ginantsilyo. I am not really sure if you like everything I created because they are too preppy and feminine But I am so glad that you did!

Inspirations and Irish Lace

Irish lace technique provides numerous opportunities to create fantastic projects.

All you need is a little knowledge on various motifs (searchable on the net) and a dose of inspiration (which for me) comes in the form of vibrant colors and soft textures:

Colors and Textures

“YARNS”.

Violet Yarns from Yarn Source Manila

One time, i went upstairs to grab a spool or two and noticed my violet shades – can’t decide which I like better so I grab two.

And come weekend, I crochet, nothing in particular to create. I used the lighter shade of violet. I started with a swirl, added a flower and leaves then finally…

Handmade Lace

I was already creating an accent, which is fortunate because I have an order for a hairpiece. This effort strikes two goals – pouring out creativity and earning a profit.

I do not know what the stitch counts of my motifs. I just crochet them as I go. The leaves are the popular iris leaf and the flower is just chain in rounds with alternating sc – 5ch ch with multiple sc’s to form the petal… You do not have to mind how many petals you can create, just pour out, your inner creativity… The swirls – i love making them, the folds differ each time i create a new one… depending on where i decide to put more “sc” on a ch.

But what get me inspired to make it was the vibrant color of the yarn. It was nothing special, just acrylic but the color is yummy purple, like the color of the ube jam from Baguio. Mike even said that I have a yummy shade on top of my head.

Handmade Lace Hair Accent

I showed this to my friend and it got sold immediately. I am 50% happy and 50% unhappy. I want her to like it and I want her to not like it too 😀 because I want the headband by myself. But now, come to think of it, I am happier that she liked it and really liked it. This way I get to know that what I do gets appreciated and I earn a little bit too, to fund my next yarn purchase.

And then! Speaking of yarn purchase, Another came yesterday and oh my! I immediately love two yarns among the lot!

Blue and Pink Jeans Cotton Yarn

These two cotton yarns are like jeans. I think they are the strands of thread that makes up jeans fabric. Literally. The shade of pink is so soft and cute and the blue, I just know I have to make a band! and since I no longer wear any accessory I asked another friend if I could make one for her, and she happily obliged!You see, she likes to call them armcandies and has a blog about all the fashionable stuffs see here –> http://brandsforgrabs.blogspot.com/

So with her in mind, i keep thinking of something bold but still pretty simple accessory. The jeans should be the backdrop. I added some leather braids and created some puffy flowers and before I knew it, my hand is covered with eeky super glue. Good thing I have some left over “jewelry findings” i never threw out, so I can make the clasps.. I realize, i miss creating accessories. I had fun during college when I do earrings and (name it- accessories) to fund my physics conference trips and my next week lunch 😀

Lady Blue Jeans Wrist Wrap

And yes, I am also putting this up for sale for made to order basis, just so I have something that is for sale 😀 hehehe..

Ahh.. now, I have to end this blog because of work.

Tata!!!

Mix & Match – Ginantsilyo

Though the air is still chilly specially in the morning, most of us look forward to summer vacation. Ginantsilyo offers a stylish mix to match the summer heat!

Summer Get Up – Blue Ginantsilyo

So, what’s on the shelf? The crocheted skirt is up as a “made to order” item. Small – medium size costs 1,200Php. Add Php200 per size increase.

Blue Crocheted Skirt

The skirt is made of cotton blend on soft blue tone. The hipline is accentuated with a square motif with adjustable “drawstring” belt.

Another up for grab is the very stylish owl crochet earrings

Blue crochet owl earrings

This pair is a smaller version of the Big & Chunky Earrings offered last month. The earrings are made from embroidery cotton thread with sapphire blue class A stones and kidney earring hooks

The earrings are currently available for Php 250. The owl is approximately 1″ (not including the hook and the bead)

* (Bikini top is not available for sale)

**Shipping fee not included.

Calla Lily – Crocheted Earrings

I love the book 100 Flowers to knit and crochet by Lesley Stanfield. My only problem with this is almost all the lovely flowers I would love to crochet is given as “knit instructions”.

100 Flowers to knit and crochet by Lesley Stanfield

But fortunately, I have taken the instructions given in the book as guide to hacking my crochet instructions of the calla lily. If you are a knitter, proceed to following the instructions given in this page. If you are a crocheter like me, I have a decent hack of the said pattern:

100 Flowers to knit and crochet – arum lily

Note that I do not claim to have an exact translation of the knit-crochet pattern. Also I am not very good in writing instructions.

This is my crochet version of the motif:

The trick is use embroidery threads instead of yarn, 0.70mm hook and White Glue to make the earrings stiff after crocheting

Tools for creating tiny earrings

You will need three colors of thread: Yarn A (white), Yarn B (green), Yarn C (yellow)

Use Yarn C:

The spathe is crocheted using 6 strands of thread.

ch 10. Fold in two. (set aside)

—

Special stitches:

2sc cluster: 2sc in 1 st, equivalent to 2sc count

2sctog: 1 sc in 2 st, equivalent to 1 sc count

(n)sc: where (n) is number, 1sc on 1st (n) times;

The lily:

Use two strands of Yarn A:

Foundation ch 6, (crochet in rounds, with sl st to close each round)

round 1: 9 sc around

round 2: sc, 2sc cluster (around) make 15 sc

round 3 – 6: 15 sc around

Fill the cavity with excess thread

round 7: sc, 2sctog around (makes 9 sc)

crochet in rows, start each row with ch

row 8-9: 9sc

row 10: sc, 2sc cluster for the remaining 8 st, (17 sc)

row 11: sc, 2sc cluster for the remaining 16 st (33 sc)

row 12-13: 33sc

row 14 – 17: *2sc, 2sctog* (repeat * til end of row)( make 25sc, 19 sc, 14sc, 11sc)

row 18-23: *2sctog, 2sc* (repeat * til end of row) (make 8sc, 6sc, 4sc, 3sc)

row 24: 2sctog, sc (2 sc)

row 25: 2sctog (1sc)

row 25: sc (1sc)

cut off yarn

——

Use two strands of Yarn B.

attach yarn to the tip of the lily (foundation ch)

9sc (three rows)

Insert the spathe inside the lily.

Cover the earrings with white glue then let it dry.

Attach pearl/bead to the end of the lily using jewelry wire

—-

Final Product:

Dangling Crocheted Earrings – motif: Arum Lily
from 100 flowers to knit and crochet by Lesley Stanfield

Second attempt:

Calla Lily White

Incoming – Ginantsilyo on sale

I have four projects (for sale) I am currently working on, two bags and two clothes. Since I am really a dressmaker by heart, I really prefer working on clothes even though the bags are almost done. So here they are:

White and Blue Crochet

The two projects are a blouse and a skirt. This is my courageous attempt to remake my white crocheted cover up, which I swore I won’t do again, ever, because of the tedious stitches used for the lace. But the design is really lovely and eye candy, so I mustered the courage to post it on my facebook page as an incoming for sale, and lo and behold, I received an order for this blouse.

The blouse retails at P2,000 crocheted using a 1.60mm hook and cotton yarn. I must say I like this rendition better than what I was able to make for myself, because the yarn I used is softer and thinner. The lace came out the way I wanted it, full and clean.

Circular Motifs

And here is the skirt, which is my mom’s first project but I have taken over to add the rectangular motifs around the waist.

Lace and Motif

The skirt retails at P1,200 crocheted using 2.10mm hook and cotton blend yarn.

I modified the original design because I cannot rest on just seeing the same pattern for the whole skirt. Our initial plan is to create a monochrome effect by changing to a different lighter colored yarn but it did not work out, so I have to plan for a better effect. I have tried several motifs and finally found the right one.

It’s kinda nice, that I can spend my weekend at home with my family and while watching some tv, I am crafting while dreaming for the stuffs we will put in our new house with a prospect of getting some money out of my crocheted projects.

I have influenced my mom to crochet again

I have influenced my mom to crochet again. And she has crocheted a lot ever since. Now she is helping me with my business.

She is also taking orders from my facebook page as well.

Here is her current product:

Mint Green Crocheted Skirt

I am more than amazed on her finished skirt. She has been indulging me since last Christmas that she’ll make something for me. And here it is. I really really like how the crocheted skirt turned out.

As soon as I published the skirt on facebook, we had an order for this design. And my mom started it right away, she can crochet so long as my little kiddo won’t play around the yarn.

My mom starting out on her next order

The open lace work pattern we used for the skirt is very nice. I really like the stripes and the lace combined

closeup stitches

Crochet to earn

One of the things people mostly asked me is how much can you earn from crafting?

I have been a crafter since I was a kid. My mom takes time to prepare me lunch and gives me around five pesos (if I am a bit luckier, she will give ten) as “baon” to school. That will be enough to buy me a cupcake and an orange juice in foil pack.

But since I want to do a lot of things and cannot afford them, I often sell the things I can do,like pencil drawings of famous cartoon characters in a sheet of bond paper, crocheted purse at P2.00 to P5.00 each, homemade polvoron and pastillas my mom cooked, pad papers transformed into notebooks. I know ever since that crafting actually earns me money. And whenever I want something, I do not hesitate to think of a craft I could sell.

So how much have I earned from crafting? I am unable to count. The most memorable earnings I can remember was from creating beaded accessories which helped me afford half of the money I needed for a conference trip in Bohol during college. That is saying something. The only “accounting” I remembered doing was that for a thousand pesos worth of materials that could supply me accessories for a month, I can earn twice as much in a week.

Take my friend, Cherry, as an example. She has a facebook page that showcases her amigurumi projects.

Crochet Bags and Souvenirs

She sells amigurumi as souvenirs.

Crocheting is very hard despite the popular belief that it is the most convenient needlework craft. When doing amigurumis, you have to be very, very, very, very patient.

I have no patience doing amigurumi.

Amigurumi couple by Crochet Bags & Souvenirs

Imagine doing this a hundred times more:

Crochet Bags and Souvenirs – married couple

And with a number of different designs:

Different Amigurumi by Crochet Bags & Souvenirs

The best thing about Cherry is that she creates her own designs with no patterns to follow. She is humble enough to admit she can’t read and understand patterns and instructions, hence she improvises, with only Monaco cotton thread as her material and a single sized hook.

This year, like Cherry, my mind is full set to sell and earn. I am crocheting carefully as to make each stitches neat and uniform. And I am trying to create new designs as well. This time around, since I am no longer crocheting for myself, I am very patient with each project. Do not crochet when you are tired and do not continue when your hands hurt. Each misgivings I will feel for a project might contribute to the total effect of the finished product, so I will only do so when I am eager. And since I have a goal in mind, I know I will never run out of eagerness.

Selling would not limit me to what I can do, but would bring enough challenge for me to make more beautiful and neater crocheted items. I hope too that this would help me earn enough money to buy curtains for our new house

A promising new year

This year is very promising. I launched my new facebook page, in lieu of a message sent by my friend, Ms. Meikah, who bought earrings from me last year.

Happy Customer! Happy Seller!

A friend of hers saw my earrings and are interested to sell these items abroad. Yipee!!!! Just good enough reason for me to launch my facebook page, which I did plan last year. I just told myself, I have to finish the bags I am crocheting before launching it, but due to this news, I have to! So that I could share the excitement and thrill and yes, so that I can showcase some products.

Hence another good news, a friend of my husband from Saudi Arabia placed an advanced order for this white little blouse,

White Crocheted Blouse

This is very good news as I have a reason to write down the pattern as well.

Another big deal is that I am crocheting a new bag design I created myself:

Bag Handle

The bag handle is my favorite part of the bag. It’s textured and very tightly crocheted that it hurts. My nanay(mother-in-law) liked it too. She likes a lot of expensive bags and she said that it looks “tutyal” or very high-end. I really like being praised (for my works) because it makes me want to finish the items I am doing despite the pain and numbness of my fingers and joints.

I hope you are having a very good new year too!

Ginantsilyo launches its Facebook Page

I decided that I will start selling crocheted items. To help me promote my products immediately and reach out to people, I created the facebook page: http://facebook.com/ginantsilyo.

Hopefully through this, I would be able to reach to a larger audience and gain more followers as well as prospective clients.

Please support ginantsilyo by liking us on facebook:

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