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Felt Craft – Free Bear Coasters Pattern

July 10, 2015

You all know how much I love my felt craft projects. 🙂 My latest are these sweet bear coasters – easy, fun and portable hand stitching.

Download the bear templates here. (One sheet has all the pieces needed for six bear coasters.)

If you want to make something besides bears, you can use any of my applique patterns. Just print the pieces at 40% size. You’ll find more info about resizing a pattern here.

Here’s how to make them.

Cut two 4-inch squares of wool felt for each coaster.

If you live in a humid place where one beverage will soak through two layers of wool felt in no time, cut a 3 1/2 inch square from something waterproof for each coaster. It doesn’t matter what it looks like – it will be hidden inside the coaster. I use a shower curtain liner. 🙂

Download the pattern and print (or trace) the pieces onto freezer paper. The sheet has enough pieces for 6 coasters.

Rough cut around the pieces and fuse the freezer paper to wool felt. Cut out all the pieces. Cut right through the felt and the freezer paper – it helps you get neat cuts on all those tiny pieces.

Leave a little extra seam allowance past the dotted lines at the base of the ears – that bit will tuck under the head for a neat finish.

Peel off the freezer paper backs and assemble all the pieces (tucking the ears under the head) on one of your coaster squares. I like to swipe the backs with a little dab of fabric glue stick, but you can use pins if you don’t mind your thread snagging on them every other stitch. 🙂

brown felt applique bear on a blue background square

Appliqué all the parts in place using whipstitch and two strands of matching thread.

Layer a plain back with the bear front, slipping a waterproof square between the layers if desired.

Whipstitch the layers together around the edge and you’re finished!

Here are the colors I used for my set. I used black for all the eyes and noses. I recommend shopping Benzie Design for felt. they have a HUGE selection of colors! One sheet of felt will make three coasters.

background – denim
bear – Tahitian sunset
muzzle and belly – copper

background – enchanted forest
bear – coffee
muzzle and belly – Tahitian sunset

background – vineyard
bear – copper
muzzle and belly – cobblestone

background – loden
bear – Tahitian sunset
muzzle and belly – cobblestone

background – blue snow
bear – white
muzzle – smoky marble

background – babbling brook
bear – licorice
muzzle – Tahitian sunset

My favorite is the one with the purple background. Jo’s favorite is the polar bear. Alan is still at San Diego Comic Con so he hasn’t claimed one yet. Which is your favorite?

Here are several free patterns that work with my basic 10-inch applique squares – no resizing needed!

Here are several free patterns that work with just some simple resizing. This post about making coasters has info about resizing an applique pattern that can be applied to any of these projects.

Free Bib Pattern
Simple Christmas Stocking
Mini Bunny Tote Bag
Turn Any Quilt Block Patterns into Cute Coasters
Cozy Bear Coasters
The Big Bag (applique on the pocket)
Cloth Book for Babies

Return to the main Let’s Make a Quilt Table of Contents.

Happy stitching!

Controlled Chaos Scrap Quilt – Block #17

July 8, 2015

Here’s block #17 in the Controlled Chaos Quilt!

What You’ll Need

48 two-inch squares in color A (shown in orange)
52 two-inch squares in color B (shown in green)

Instructions

Use 1/4″ seam allowances for all sewing.

Press all the seams as you go. I’m pressing mine open for this quilt. I think it will make things simpler in the end.

Arrange your squares according to the diagram below.

For this block I worked in columns. I sewed things up in the following order. . .

Sew all your individual squares into pairs of matching colors. You should have 24 orange pairs and 26 green pairs.

Sew the orange squares into columns – each 2 blocks x 8 blocks.

Add a green pair to the top and bottom of each orange column.

Sew the remaining green pairs into 4 strips, each 10 blocks long.

Assemble the final block by alternating green columns with the columns that have the orange in them.

That’s 17 blocks done – just 3 more to go. THREE!

Did I mention just three blocks left? I’d better do the math and figure out how much fabric to order for the sashing and the back. I’ll include that info with next week’s block. 🙂

Click here for all the Controlled Chaos posts.

Happy piecing!

Best,
Wendi

How to Outline Applique Pieces – Where to Start Stitching

July 6, 2015

People get stumped when it’s time to outline applique designs – and the more complicated the block, the more likely I am to get questions about how to approach that outline stitching.

Where to start?

There’s no right or wrong way – as long as you outline each piece, you’re good. But I do like to have all my lines connect (just like they would in a drawing) and I have a system that I use.

This system works for any block, using any pattern – but I’ll go over the specifics using this quilt block as an example. I loaded it up big. If you click on it you should get a larger version of the image so you can really zoom in on the details.

Applique paper doll used as an example to show how to outline applique pieces

Here’s the order I used to outline applique pieces. . .

Start with all the pieces on top – that is, not overlapped by any other pieces:

hair
belt
shoes

Stitch all the way around each piece, then work your way out from those pieces:

dress top
arms
dress bottom
legs
face

As long as you always start with the pieces on top, you’ll always have lines to connect to. The best example of that in this block is the outlining of the face. The sides of the face tuck under the hair, and the sides of the neck tuck under the dress. So make sure the hair and the dress are stitched before you do the face and you’ll always have lines to connect to.

This post shows my favorite sewing machine feet – include the clear applique foot I use to get good visibility. That’s essential if you want to neatly outline applique pieces.

If you like that sample block that I used in this post – it’s part of the Paper Dolls quilt pattern. You get pages and pages of templates for different hair and outfits. It’s so much fun to mix and match them into your own designs!

Here are links to all my posts about outline stitching.

How to Topstitch and Edgestitch
How Durable Is Straight Stitching?
In What Order Do I Stitch?
Stitching Eyes and Mouths – with lots of help for stitching tight curves
Tips for Scribbly Outlining
Playing with Thread Weight
How to Mark Detail Stitching Lines

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about how to trim and assemble your blocks.

Happy stitching!

Controlled Chaos Scrap Quilt – Block #16

July 1, 2015

Here’s block #16 in the Controlled Chaos Quilt!

What You’ll Need

36 two-inch squares in color A (shown in red)
64 two-inch squares in color B (shown in light blue)

Instructions

Use 1/4″ seam allowances for all sewing.

Press all the seams. I’m pressing mine open for this quilt. I think it will make things simpler in the end.

Arrange your squares according to the diagram below.

For this block I worked (mostly) in rows. I sewed things up in the following order. . .

Sew all your individual squares into pairs of matching colors. You should have 18 red pairs and 32 blue pairs.

Pair up the red pairs and sew them up into squares – each square is four red blocks.

Alternate those red squares with blue pairs to create the three rows in the block that have red squares in them.

Sew the remaining 20 blue pairs into 4 strips, each with ten blue squares.

Assemble the final block by alternating blue rows with the rows that have the red squares in them.

That’s 16 blocks done – just 4 more to go!

I love how it’s coming together! And I feel like I’m so close to finishing!

Click here for all the Controlled Chaos posts.

Happy piecing!

Best,
Wendi

How to Choose Fabric for a Quilt

June 29, 2015

I get a lot of questions about how to choose fabric for a quilt.

I’ve got a post here with some tips for beginners on choosing what types of fabric to work with, and I include information with almost all of my quilts about the fabrics I used in my sample, but I realized I’ve never spelled out some general guidelines for choosing fabrics for a project – specifically choosing colors and prints.

Of course, choosing color is a pretty personal thing. 🙂 These are just the guidelines that I use to give my quilts their particular “look” and to make the blocks a cohesive collection.

First let’s look at the different groups I put my fabrics into.

Multicolor Prints

There are multicolor prints (fabrics that don’t “read” as a single color) which I hardly ever use. When I do, it’s often in a larger appliqué piece where the print makes sense, like this truck.

These fabrics are awesome and they make good quilt backs and doll clothes, but I rarely use them for appliqué, so I’m going to leave them out of this discussion.

If you really want to work with these kinds of prints, these two posts will help you out.

Using Fabric Print Wisely – this post shows how you can use prints like stripes to do some of the work for you in an applique project
Applique with Prints – this post has more info about choosing colors to pair with these multicolor prints

One-Color Fabrics

What I’m left with is lots and lots of fabulous monochrome fabric – which makes up the bulk of my stash. Within that group I have solids, batiks, and tone on tone prints (also called blenders).

When I choose fabrics for a quilt I work with these categories. I often start by choosing a category for my background blocks. I choose one of those groups and use those fabrics for ALL of the background blocks in a quilt. That makes the finished top look very cohesive.

Solids

This sample of the Lovable Mutts pattern uses solids for all the backgrounds. The quilting REALLY shows up on these solid blocks, so this is my favorite choice.

I’ve got fabric especially designed for this kind of background blocks in my Spoonflower shop. They’re 12-inch squares of solid fabric with easy-to-follow quilting lines printed right on the fabric – grouped in handy color palettes. You can find them all here.

Batiks

This sample of the Chirp quilt uses batiks for all the backgrounds. The quilting will tend to disappear in the dapply batik texture, so choose this if you’re not very confident in your quilting skills, or don’t want to put a ton of effort into the quilting.

Blenders

This sample of the Woodland Critters quilt pattern uses tone on tone prints for all the backgrounds.

The quilting won’t show as much as it does on solid fabric, but it will show up more than it does on a batik, so these tone on tone prints are a good middle of the road choice.

I design LOTS of blenders especially for my applique patterns, and they work for both the background blocks and for the applique – which means they’re very versatile fabrics to have in your stash.

In my Spoonflower shop you can shop by color collection – like this collection of Gemstone blenders. This is a great option if you want to have a lot of different colors in your backgrounds, but you want them all to go together.

Another option is to go for a more monochrome look. You can shop by color and get pale to very dark shades of the same color, all in different one on tone prints. Here’s an example of the Amethyst collection.

That Woodland Critters sample uses all Avocado Blenders for the background blocks.

Choosing all your background blocks from one type of fabric helps create a unified look right from the start. But what about the appliqués?

How to Choose Fabric for Applique Quilts

For choosing those I rely on The Rule of Two Out of Three.

I look at three categories, and I only choose fabrics that have contrast in two of the three categories.

Texture

This is the easiest. Look at those categories of monochrome prints and choose two different ones. If you have a batik background block and solid fabric for the bird appliqué, you have contrast in the texture category. If you have a solid background block with a tone on tone print for the appliqué, you have texture contrast. Here’s a good example of that. . .

Temperature

This is also mostly easy. Warm colors are fiery – red, orange and yellow. Cool colors are watery – blue, green and purple.

Things can get tricky with neutrals – there are warm greys and cool greys, for example – but mostly this is pretty straightforward. If you have a cool background and a warm applique fabric (like that cat block above), you have temperature contrast.

Value

This one’s easy too. Dark fabrics contrast with light ones.

It can be hard to read the value contrast, especially if your fabrics are different temperatures. If you’re having trouble, try this trick.

These fabrics look high contrast because one is warm and the other is cool.

Snap a quick photo of them on your phone, then use a black and white filter on them.

Whoa! They have almost the exact same value!

Let’s audition some fabrics. . .

Even though that green/orange combination above turned out to have the same value, they still pass The Rule of Two Out of Three, so I would still use them. They have no contrast in value, but they contrast in texture (solid vs. tone on tone) and temperature (warm vs. cold).

How about this combination?

This one has contrast in texture (solid vs. tone on tone), contrast in temperature (warm vs. cool) and contrast in value (dark magenta vs. light green). It passes on all three categories, so it will be a very successful block. And by that I mean it will have enough contrast that the appliqué won’t get lost on the background fabric.

Here’s another one.

I love red and orange together, but this combination fails. 🙁 They contrast in texture, but they are both warm, and both relatively dark. They only contrast in one category, so I’ll try again.

This one passes! It’s the same red (photographed at different times of day and not color corrected) but paired with a much lighter orange. They’re both warm, but now I have contrast in texture and in value, so I know this is a combination that will work.

So there you go – The Rule of Two Out of Three. It’s how I choose all the fabrics for my quilts.

Want an even deeper dive into what colors go together? Check out Color Theory 101.

Here are links to all the posts about choosing fabric.

And here are links to posts about using specialty fabrics.

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Happy stitching!

Book Review – All Points Patchwork

June 23, 2015

I may have mentioned once or twice here that I really love handwork. 🙂

I love the feel of the fabric and thread in my hands.

I love the little pop I hear when the eye of the needle with the doubled-over thread passes through the fabric, followed by the low shush of the thread.

I love that I can take it anywhere.

I love the slow, meditative pace – and the fact that it allows me to sit and watch TV guilt-free. I’m “working” while I watch. 🙂

I can not believe that it has taken me this long to try English Paper Piecing.

I got interested a year or two ago when I started seeing fun projects popping up on Pinterest – but then I heard that Diane Gilleland was writing a book and I decided to wait for that. I’ve read Diane’s books before and they are always amazing and comprehensive and inspiring.

All Points Patchwork is available now – and it’s everything I knew it would be!

Quite simply – it’s the best craft book I’ve ever read. Even better than Anatomy of a Doll – the book that got me interested in 3D sewing.

Like Anatomy of a Doll, there are no projects – it’s pure instruction and inspiration from start to finish – exactly what I look for in a craft book.

Let me show you what I’m talking about. . .

I love that the front of the book shows a block with some of the pieces flipped over. On the back of the book you see the same block, entirely from the back (so you can see the construction details) and the most basic instructions for English Paper Piecing.

Really – that’s all there is to it. Choose a shape and cut it out of paper. Baste some fabric around the shape. Join the bits together.

If it’s that simple, why do we need a whole book?

Because Diane teaches you EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW.

EVERYTHING.

The pros and cons of different template materials.

Where to buy pre-cut templates.

How to design your own blocks – on the computer with high-tech drawing tools or on paper with nothing more complicated than a compass and a straight edge.

Different basting techniques.

I could go on and on and on. It’s all in here.

And she doesn’t just throw the information out there. She anticipates any possible problem you might have and helps you fix it. I love this bit on getting the perfect, invisible whipstitch seam, with good and bad seams shown, along with several troubleshooting suggestions.

The tone throughout the book is warm and encouraging – like she’s sitting on the sofa next to me helping me learn this new craft. Just what I need!

The book isn’t just for beginners, though. She includes more advanced techniques too, like how to add a pieced, finished edge to your work.

So fabulous for a table runner or mug rug where the back will be seen and where you don’t want to square off the edges!

Or this bit, where she shows two different ways to baste diamond shapes, and then explains when she uses each method. Throughout the book she shows exactly what she’s doing (with really terrific photos), and also explains why. This is so rare – and so helpful!

After a general intro with all the basics, she moves on to more detailed sections for each type of shape you might use. This, to me, was the real meat of the book.

For each shape she shows how to draft it by hand, and exactly how best to baste it.

Then she shares a couple of pages showing sample layouts, the different kinds of arrangements that each shape lends itself to.

Finally, she gives tips for how to join individual pieces and larger units together.

She does this for hexies, diamonds, jewels, triangles, tumblers, octagons, pentagons and even curved shapes. It’s so comprehensive!

And then there are the “Project Inspiration” pages. They’re scattered throughout the book, and each one shows a finished project, with suggestions for fabric choices and alternate ways of using it.

This lovely book cover, for example, is a great way to showcase tiny scraps of favorite fabrics – really setting the bits off surrounded by a frame of solids – and would also be good for placemats, a pillow, or a table runner.

Or this one, showing a softie made with EPP fabric.

Basically, she’s showing us how to create fabric using EPP, then showing us how we can use that fabric with any of our favorite patterns!

I’m not sure I ever would have thought of using EPP for a softie, but now that I’ve seen this image, I can’t stop thinking about how great Bailey Bear or Bartholomew Bunny would look with this technique. Their construction is very simple, just like this little guy, and I’m going to have to try it now.

(If you don’t have a favorite pattern for a project, go to www.allpointspatchwork.com where Diane has collected links to tons of different patterns and organized them by category. Handy!)

Most of the projects shown are small, or are larger projects with smaller bits of EPP incorporated into them, like this quilt.

These are a few EPP appliqués added to a whole cloth quilt, and she also reminds us that we can add them to a store-bought blanket, or even use them as patches to give a second life to a stained or worn quilt. I love that!

But I also love this. . .

It’s a feature of someone who actually made an entire hexie quilt – in less than a year! She shared exactly how she did it – a totally doable approach for anyone who wants to tackle a big project.

All Points Patchwork is a craft book designed for the way most of us actually use craft books. It’s got. . .

Instruction! All the information we need, and a lot we didn’t even know we needed – the kinds of tidbits that you pick up from your mother or grandmother, or from years of practice and trial and error.
Clear organization with a solid table of contents and index.
Beautiful illustrations – terrific photos for all the how-tos and clear diagrams for all the layouts.
Inspirational eye candy – also beautifully photographed, and with extra tips for how to take each project in your own direction.

I just finished my first EPP project – this doll quilt.

It was so much fun to make that I already started a new project last night – and you can bet there will be more projects to come. I know I’ll be referring to this book again and again for years to come. It’s an incredible reference book for anyone – of any skill level – interested in EPP.

Get All Points Patchwork here. And get it now.

Happy sewing!

My Stitch & Stash Project Bag

June 4, 2015

I love, love LOVE my new project bag! It makes me smile every time I use it – and I’ve been using it steadily for about two months now.

It’s made with the Stitch & Stash Project Bag pattern from Betz White – reversible, with no zippers or velcro to snag on my work, and with a handy pocket inside to hold my tools. Such a well-designed bag for crafters!

Of course, I had to add some appliqué to the front. Give me a flat surface in a pattern and I will add some appliqué. Guaranteed. 🙂

I only made a couple of simple changes to the project.

The original pattern has snaps on the sides, but I decided not to add them because I know I will never actually snap them and I like the shape without tucking in the sides.

I quilted the outer bag fabric instead of just staystitching the batting around the edges. I love the little bit of extra texture the swoopy quilted waves add to the front. I just quilted the batting to the main fabric – no need to add a backing fabric since the bag is lined. This is how I quilt all my quilts, too.

You might worry that that will make the seams too bulky, but if you use 100% cotton batting (I love Warm & Natural) and press the seams open, it’ll squish nice and flat.

When I work with batting like this I also use sewing clips instead of pins. They’re great for holding bulky fabrics in place with no distortion!

Of course, the main change I made was adding the cute kitty. 🙂

After I did the quilting, I appliquéd the cat in place with fusible adhesive and stitched around all the pieces with black thread. I love the cartoony pop that gives.

Here’s a video showing how I appliqué an image like this.

The cat is one of the blocks in my Cuddly Cats quilt pattern, shrunk down a bit. I made the small bag and resized the cat image to be 5 inches tall and 4 inches wide. That left plenty of breathing room between the top of the cat and that awesome big grommet, and fit from side to side nicely. I wouldn’t go any bigger than that in either direction for whatever image you’re adding.

I love it! Mine is holding my current EPP project (to be shared soon – it’s almost finished!) and Jo has already requested a larger one with a monster on it, and a tall, skinny pocket inside especially for holding a few crochet hooks. My plan is to make a few more in different sizes (the pattern includes three sizes) to hold various works in progress and hang them on some hooks on my studio walls. Cute AND functional. I see a lot more of these in my future. 🙂

Get the bag pattern here.

Get the cat quilt pattern here.

Happy sewing!

Show & Tell Time!

May 27, 2015

It’s Show & tell Time again! And today I’m sharing some AMAZING quilts that Shiny Happy People have been making. 🙂

On Safari

Diane made a beautiful version of the Safari Quilt.

Now it’s hanging in the Sunday School wing of her church. 🙂

Pattern: Safari Quilt

Karrie’s Cats

Love the minky back for extra cuddliness!

Karrie writes. . .

Here is my cat quilt with a minky back. Second quilt ever & your tutorials gave me confidence to do it 🙂

I love hearing that! And it turned out great!

Pattern: Cats quilt

Cindi’s Controlled Chaos

Look at these blocks!

Cindi writes. . .

Really enjoying working on these blocks and this quilt. Kind of glad now that I’m so far behind in the blocks, I don’t know if I could wait for the next block to come out. Thanks so much for the tutorials they are very helpful. I love sewing and feel so happy I can finally use the fabric pieces I have saved for something other than taking up space.

I can’t wait to see the finished quilt!

Pattern: Controlled Chaos (free ongoing series)

Stephanie’s Noisy Farm

I love the colors!

There’s one particularly noisy member of Stephanie’s farm. Her grandson!

Stephanie writes. . .

My 3 month old grandson Henry has been keeping my daughter and son-in-law up all night. So I decided to make a pillow featuring Henry as a rooster.

Ha! Ha! Ha! I love it!

Pattern: Noisy Farm

Stephanie also made a sweet pillow for a friend.

Stephanie writes. . .

I made a small pillow for a friend who’d just lost her orange tabby. I added two mice to balance the design. I used wool felt because I liked the colors I had in my sewing room.

What a sweet gift!

Pattern: Spooky Cat (free) and the mice from the Noisy Farm Quilt

Jake’s Memorial Quilt

I’m so touched by the people using the dog and cat patterns to memorialize their beloved pets.

Deborah writes. . .

I never thought about sending a picture of my quilt until I read your newsletter. I did a blue backing to finish it. It was dedicated to our Lab, Jake, who passed away in November.

Here’s a detail of the memorial block for Jake.

So, so sweet.

Pattern: Puppies Quilt

Jill’s Charity Quilt

Just look at the colors in this one!

Jill writes. . .

Thanks for your Charity Quilt pattern–I tried it and it was so fun and easy and a terrific way to use up all those scraps I can’t seem to throw out… Also, thanks sooo much for your Quilt As You Go tutorial…now I finally get it and what a difference!

It’s sooooooo pretty!

Pattern: Scrappy Charity Quilt (free)

Anne-Marie’s Beautiful Birds

Can you believe this is her first quilt?

Anne-Marie writes. . .

I’m sure it’s not perfect by any means but it’s not too bad for my first attempt at a quilt!

Thanks so much for the beautiful pattern, I loved using it and have had loads of friends ask me where I got it! I’ll have to find something else to do with my time now…..maybe some matching cushions??!!!

I can’t wait to see what she makes next!

Pattern: Chirp Quilt

Joy’s Baby Quilt

I love this sweet baby quilt!

Joy writes. .

Thanks to your lovely pattern, clear instructions and hints about the sticky stuff (whatever it is called) we finished our quilt for baby Lucia Rosalie Sharpe. We embroidered the dog’s names and some contributors made up their own dogs names, hence the inclusion of “Lulu” and “Karl.”

I love it! And for those wondering – the “sticky stuff” is Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy and it’s terrific for adding embroidered details like these sweet puppy names. 🙂

Pattern: Puppy Quilt

More Adorable Puppies

Look at Rebecca’s quilt! She added a mutt!

Rebecca writes. . .

I really enjoyed this method of quilting. But I had to play around with the pattern just a little. I always do. I made all the ears floppy. And rather than make a one dog more than once I took pits from one dog and matched it with another to make a true mutt. And of course I added borders. Thanks so much for the pattern and tutorials. All very helpful.

Pattern: Puppies Quilt

Clever (and Easy) Pillow Cases!

What a great way to use applique patterns!

Carolyn writes. . .

Easter pillow cases for my three boys. 🙂 Very quick applique onto cheap store bought pillow cases as time is a little short this Easter!

I love these! I’m always so excited to show additional ways to use an applique patterns and these are terrific!

Pattern: Mix & Match Bunny Blocks (free)

Mimi’s Bunnies

Sweet!

Mimi used the same bunny pattern to make this springtime table runner. I love how it turned out!

Pattern: Mix & Match Bunny Blocks (free)

Maria’s Cats (and friends)

I love all the little friends that Maria added to the Cats Quilt!

Look closely! You’ll see a bee, a spider, a mouse, and a fabulous fish in a bowl!

Pattern: Cats Quilt

Cats and Dogs. . . Living Together

Just look at what Jeanne made!

Jeanne writes. . .

Here is the dog/cat quilt I made to donate to a local animal shelter as part of their fundraiser. It was raffled off and made some nice $$$ for our furry friends.

Two of my favorite things – people mixing and matching blocks from different quilts, and quilts made for animal shelter fundraisers!

Also – fantastic fabric selection on this beauty!

Patterns: Cats Quilt and Puppies Quilt

What a fantastic and inspiring collection of quilts! Thanks so much to everyone for sharing!

Happy sewing!

Best,
Wendi

How to Read a Bead Crochet Pattern

May 18, 2015

I love bead crochet!

I learned loads of techniques from the book Bead Crochet Jewelry, and I highly recommend it as a starting place for learning!

But what if you want to do more? Today I’m going to show you how to read bead crochet patterns, of the type you’ll find on Pinterest and online!

Finding a Bead Crochet Pattern

Much of the bead crocheting comes out of Eastern Europe, so it’s a good thing that patterns don’t use a lot of words! If you search Pinterest for ‘bead crochet pattern’, you’ll find oodles! You can also search Etsy and you’ll discover a number of patterns.

They vary greatly in complexity and size, but don’t worry… I’ll talk about all of that!

Today, I’ll be using this pattern by Snow Mirna that I found on Pinterest. It’s the pattern I used to make this ombre chevron necklace:

The Anatomy of a Bead Crochet Pattern

If you’re familiar with regular crochet patterns, you’ll find a bead crochet pattern very short! They’re about a half of a page and look like this:

There are essentially 4 parts:

A description of the pattern (top right)
A list of the materials you will need (middle right)
A sequence instructing how to place the beads on the string (bottom right)
A view of how the pattern will look when crocheted (left)

I’ll explain each of these sections in turn!

How to select a pattern

All of the information you need about selecting a pattern is in the upper right hand corner:

One of the most important dimensions is the circumference. This tells you how many beads need to be in the circumference to get the required pattern. You’ll see that this pattern has 6. I personally like patterns with 4 or 6 beads. The larger the circumference, the larger thickness your finished piece will be. A larger circumference will give you more pattern options, but will produce that a thicker piece that may be difficult to find notions and findings for.

Purchasing Materials

Now, have a look at the middle right:

This tells you not only how many beads you need, but how many you need of each color.

This particular pattern uses equal amounts of beads, but other patterns will vary.

You often purchase beads by the gram.

Stringing beads

The hardest part of following a pattern is stringing the beads in order!

Begin at the top left, and work your way down, stringing the number of specified beads for each color. You’ll see that this chart mostly instructs you to string one or two beads of each color, but that too, can vary.

You will repeat this chart according to how long you want your finished piece to be!

Then, crochet!

Once your beads are strung, the crocheting is the same no matter which pattern you’ve chosen to follow. The chart on the left will show you what your finished piece will look like:

The leftmost view is what the piece would look like flat, and the one on the right (which is optional) gives an idea of how the piece will look in the round.

Ready to try?

With such a variety of patterns, these simple tips will open up a whole new world of bead crochet to you!

Have fun!

Make a Totoro Stuffed Animal

May 14, 2015

Cute stuffed Totoro - adapted from the Franklin the Fat Cat sewing pattern from Shiny Happy World

Jo wanted to make a Totoro stuffed animal for a friend from school – and she had a pretty brilliant idea of how to do it without drafting a whole new pattern.

Start with Franklin the Fat Cat! It’s one of her favorites and she’s made it a few times, so she knew it was an easy pattern to work with.

She used Cuddle Fleece in charcoal and camel for the body, plus some felt scraps in black, white, and smoky marble.

She drafted new patterns for the ears, eyes, nose and those things on his chest. (There’s a link to download those pieces at the end of this post.)

She used the tail pattern from Eddie the Teddy Bear to give him a stubby little tail.

And she gave him no feet/legs.

Want to make your own? It’s pretty easy. The only part that’s really different from Franklin (as far as construction goes) is the ears.

Jo wanted them to stand up really well, so she used Soft & Stable foam inside.

Stack a piece of foam, then one ear piece right side up, followed by one ear piece facing down. Sew up and around the top of the ear, leaving the flat bottom open for turning.

Making a Totoro stuffed animal - photo showing partially sewn new ear piece

Sewing through the foam is super easy. Here’s what that piece looks like from the bottom.

Inside-out Totoro ear shown from the foam side.

Reach in between the two fleece layers to turn it right side out – the foam will end up between the two layers. Neat!

Fold the sides of the bottom of the ear in to the center and stitch it across the bottom to secure the folds.

Totoro ear - folded and ready to attach to the stuffed animal

Now it has some shape.

Repeat for the second ear and then treat them just like the cat ears in the pattern instructions.

Applique the eyes, nose and chest thingies onto the body front. Jo stuck them down with a glue stick to hold them while she sewed. Clever!

After you stitch around the edges of all the pieces, insert 9 mm safety eyes into the middle of the whites. (If you do that sooner, the shanks of the safety eyes will make it impossible to sew around the whites.)

After that, the assembly is just like Franklin. Easy peasy!

Young girl holding a finished Totoro softie she made - adapted from the Franklin the Fat Cat pattern

One cute Totoro stuffed animal and his maker, ready for delivery to a friend. 🙂

If you want to make your own, here’s what you’ll need. . .

Franklin the Fat Cat pattern
the extra pattern pieces that Jo drafted
charcoal and camel fleece (Jo used Cuddle Fleece – polar fleece will also work just fine)
wool felt in black, white and smoky marble
Soft & Stable foam
two 9mm safety eyes

Happy stitching!

Best,
Wendi

Multicolor Prints

One-Color Fabrics

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Blenders

How to Choose Fabric for Applique Quilts

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Let’s audition some fabrics. . .

On Safari

Karrie’s Cats

Cindi’s Controlled Chaos

Stephanie’s Noisy Farm

Jake’s Memorial Quilt

Jill’s Charity Quilt

Anne-Marie’s Beautiful Birds

Joy’s Baby Quilt

More Adorable Puppies

Clever (and Easy) Pillow Cases!

Mimi’s Bunnies

Maria’s Cats (and friends)

Cats and Dogs. . . Living Together

Finding a Bead Crochet Pattern

The Anatomy of a Bead Crochet Pattern

How to select a pattern

Purchasing Materials

Stringing beads

Then, crochet!

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