crochet blouse

A try on Irish Lace, Bruge’s Lace and Filet Crochet

Last week, I was fortunate enough to have all the time in the world to just crochet to my heart’s content. I want to share what I have come up with.

First is a Bruge’s lace concept idea that have been running on the back of my mind for a long time now. I had the chance to jot it down, and I want to share this with you.

Bruge’s lace is easy to start but is rather complicated to work around. I have tried to work on a bruge’s lace project before that did not succeed because I forced to finish this during a travel wherein I wasn’t able to gauge the right size. Hence, big fail.

Bruge’s lace has many facets, such as any other crochet tecnhiques, but I am able to try the basic one, that which forms a continuous vertical strip you turn to form a round corner to adjust the width of the lace:

Attempt on Bruge’s Lace

This pink project should have been a pair of shorts. I failed to make the right size for the crotch area and I have to unravel the whole lace strip to correct it so i decided to just let it be.

But this kind of lace amidst its simplicity is so alluring against the skin that I know I have to do something like this again. And yes, since then, I have been conjuring a basic design I could probably make in the future. And here it is:

Bruge’s Lace Conceptual Design with Hexagonal motifs

The Bruge’s lace part here is already in the works but I haven’t gotten the time to actually photograph.

Now the other obsession is my liking for irish crochet. I have been trying to create something using this technique but if the project is too small to satisfy my obsession, I haven’t created anything that is really successful. My first project on irish crochet resulted in creating Big and Fat Silver Earrings, and the Lacy Headband. This time, while trying to create another lacy headband, I realized I could take the time to create an Irish inspired blouse.

Passion Flower Design from Priscilla Crochet Collection. Lifted from the book, “Irish Crochet and How to Make it”

I started with my most favorite design of Irish Crochet, the Passion Flower. I love the complexity of the stitches and the simplicity of the actual output. It looks dainty and one can be immediately curious about the cylinders of rolled over threads in the center of the flower. With this motif, I learned how to make the roll over stitch.

Working on irish crochet

Initially, I thought I can crochet in between stitches and mend using a hook rather than a needle. This proved to be very difficult and time consuming so I took the bother to find for a tapestry needle. It was a wise decision.

Motif Construction

As this was my first successful attempt in pursuing this kind of crochet construction, I was quite proud that two days passed without me, giving up. I knew I just have to finish the irish lace front and do some filet mesh on the back.

Irish Lace Front – Filet Crochet Back

Currently, everything is still a work in progress. Work suddenly has to catch up and I have to rest my projects for the meantime. But I am eager to come back to these every possible time. I hope I can show you the finished blouses soon!!

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.

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!

Yarn Source “outsourced”!

This week, I got contacted by the owner of “Yarn Source Manila“, an online seller of yarns of different kinds. Remember that before 2012 ends, she launched a photo contest worth a bagful of yarns? Well I did not win, but I was informed that she really liked my photo entry. Anyway, so she contacted me to ask if she can use my photo as a “sold out” photo. She uses this to indicate that an album containing items being sold are already “sold out”. Hence, a bad news breaker for a buyer like me. But! This is the good news, she asked me to revise it in exchange for a bagful of yarns!!!!!!!!! OH WOW! I’ll do it right away!!! 😀 hehe.. so i edited my earlier entry and came up with something like this:

sold out logo for yarn source manila

I got a reply from her telling me she really liked the image I made. This actually brightened my day (and the days ahead).

Yipee for Yarn Source Manila!

Btw, I did buy a few balls of yarns from the site and lo and behold! when I received my basic crochet cotton yarns (Just two big balls of same color)

White Cotton Yarn from Baguio being sold by Yarn Source Manila

I was really, really happy! This is the kind of yarn I have been looking and wanting. This is the same yarn I used for this crocheted blouse:

Coined from Rachel’s Daisy Square

Soft to touch and thin, just the way I like it.

It’s so lacy!

Handmade lace

I just hope the next time the items i want to buy won’t be sold out. Happy crocheting everyone!

Yarn – dread

Yarn dread – when a yarn might not be enough.

Dreading the end of yarn

This is my problem with my current stash. Most of the yarns I want to crochet are only available in one full skein or two and I usually make wearable crochet. Whenever I pick up one big skein of yarn, I always wonder if it would be enough for a garment or not? Then sometimes, I just shrug it off and continue crocheting until I come to a point that I can no longer deny that the yarn will not be enough,

Improvisation is usually the solution to this. Sometimes what you do to improvise, actually works, sometimes it does not. As for me, since I usually crochet just to destress, thinking about what will work would defeat the purpose of crocheting at all. So I crochet and crochet.

Current Status of Violet Blouse

I attached a very soft cotton yarn on the top part of the blouse. The white yarn is very very soft and I almost have forgotten about this yarn I liked so long ago but only comes in two small skeins. Now I am thinking this might look good on this project. I am not yet so convinced but I will proceed with finishing this top. The violet monochromatic wool blend yarn complements with the soft texture of the white part, so I think I am heading the right direction.

On the other hand, I am thankful that I have 8 skeins of this yarn:

Ply Luxury Khaki Grey from www.yarn-paradise.com

Specially if I am planning to make one full garment. The top part of the dress is done in one full skein while one sleeve of this length consumed half a skein. Hopefully I can still crochet amidst tons of coding I have yet to do. Aja!

Dress#2 progress

From casual to something chic and classy

Remember this one?

Then you could transform a casual get-up to a chic one.

The fabric is soft and light that it could work well with your office attire.

If you want to order a blouse of the same kind, kindly leave a comment below

Crocheting as I go

Sometimes when i crochet. I just crochet as I go. Meaning, I do not intend to do anything at all. I just want to crochet.

For the past weeks, I just want to come out with a desirable pattern. So I try to combine a few stitches here and there. Pulling strings out again if I dislike the outcome or just cutting off the yarn and starting again.

Finally i decided to come up with a striped pattern. I have a cardigan that is striped s and i liked it. So i have to improvise another. I came up with this:

Its a combination of chain, treble and single stitches. The good thing about combining treble and single crochet (sc) in a solid stripe is that it provides a compact look but still maintains the stretchy characteristic of crocheted materials. It is the sc that holds the treble stitches in place. The chain stitches are there to provide the desired ‘crochet-lace’ effect. I expect this crocheted garment to have so many holes.

I stitched 200 chains as a foundation. It covers the entire length of my arm. I was meaning to crochet another long-sleeved cardigan. But when I had crocheted up to the fourth stripe, i reconsidered. The vertical stripes make me look thinner. and mike said that the pattern does not look good on a sleeve.

I shifted the crocheted piece 90 degrees and tried to wrap it around my body The ends did not meet. So if it’s not gonna be a long-sleeved cardigan, it should be a bolero. And with the body already completed, i went crocheting what should be the ‘sleeves’ of the bolero.

After finishing one side, i thought that i’d rather have this as a blouse. So after finishing the sleeves, i connected the two ends. And crocheted more rows on the other side of the garment. It ended up like this. And there’s a missing wide space up front. Deciding to make the neckline loose I patched the space with two right triangles.

It should look okay right? As having wide neckline meant to emphasize the chest area. And theoretically it looks good on most girls wearing a tube underneath. With hopes high, i continued crocheting until the garment covered the entire length of my torso. I fitted it. And it did not look okay. Well.

What’s to emphasize when there’s nothing at all?

Hating it, I put the whole thing in my closet after pulling out the stitches on the neckline. This is the third project i was putting aside. And it’s not a good sign. Especially that I stopped crocheting for months. And when i decided to crochet again, nothing came out good.

Next morning, saturday. I had nothing to do and the wasted top’s still in my head. I decided to get it back and reconsider. If a wide neckline is not good for me, there’s no way to go but to close the space. I have so many buttons and mylein says i look good on buttoned shirts. and so i crocheted overlapping squares on the space. But because it was a morning filled with frustrations over wasted crochet and also with empty stomach, the squares overlap too much that i could tie them together.

Mylein saw it and said that it looks good enough. And maybe i could crochet the ends a bit longer to make the ribbon fall more naturally. And that’s what i did. It turned out okay and i liked it. I wore it the next day when Mike and I went out.