So, continuing with my personal commitment to complete UFO’s & work on new projects that have been sitting on the back-burner for far too long, I took a good hard look at this Freeform Crochet Coat that I created in 2006 & is featured in my book ‘Freeform Crochet & Beyond.’
This piece has special meaning for me as the colours, textures & forms came alive for me in a forest reserve where I often visited for solace & inspiration. Having that said, & as much as I love it, I also know that it’s big, bulky & heavy, more over, not to everyone’s taste, & to sell it on the Net would cost a small fortune to ship…
It’s been in my mind to pull it apart & make other items, but… Oh my!…What a job that would be… so,… the idea was put in the ‘too hard basket’ time & time again… Then, this summer, an extremely hot one at that, so much so, that I found it difficult to move too far away from the air fans blowing at high speed, I decided that, seeing as I’m sitting here like a sweltering lump, I might as well be doing something useful… & so I began unravelling the freeform patches…. long story short… here are the items I came up with… I’m very happy.
This piece is one that I finished recently where I’ve attempted to impart the colours of Australia into a woman’s handbag…. the purple blues of the sky, blue greens of the ocean & the vibrancy of our fascinating bush in its winter glory.Freeform crochet Gum leaf motifs, red bullion gum blossoms, metallic buttons, an assortment of beads & Vilene patches were melded together to create this Australian inspired piece… a medium size women’s handbag lined in a Royal Blue satin, with sturdy twisted cane recycled/repurposed handles – you can find this bag in my Etsy Shop
This is a delightful rainbow freeform handbag…. as cheerful & vibrant as crayons from childhood, don’t you think? The freeform fabric was built over a strong mesh base, lined with a bright, port-wine satin & has recycled, polished wooden handles
Size: 23cm (9”) at top tapering down to 28cm (11”) wide x 28cm (11”) deep (not including handle) – Handle: 14 cm (5 ½ ”) high
This is another piece I made some time ago after finding a pre-existing synthetic bag base to which I attached this glowing Autumn toned freeform fabric created with Gum leaf motifs, bullion Gum Nuts & Vilene patches.
It’s a medium size bag lined in a soft, coffee satin with 2 internal pockets (one with a zipper closure, the other for your glasses). The handles are sturdy cane, with a secure zipper for closure across the top.
Size: 35.5cm (14”) wide x 21.5cm (8 ½ ”) high – handle height 11.5 cm (4 ½”).
This Filet Crochet Tutorial has been a long time coming &, to those of you who have been waiting for it, please accept my apologies… I have to admit that writing the instructions in ‘plain speak’ for easy understanding proved to be a bit more challenging than working the actual technique itself…
Filet crochet lace is possibly one of the easiest techniques to master. Most of you will recognise Filet as fine lace like items such as: curtains, tablecloths & runners, or ground fabric for Irish lace motifs traditionally worked in cotton thread with a steel hook… it’s delicate, old-world & lovely.
However, if you take it a step further, Filet also makes a fabulous ground fabric for your Freeform motifs, or scarves & shawls, when worked in 8 ply (or your yarn of choice) with an appropriate hook – traditionalist may cringe at this but most of you know my approach by now… I like to mixed it up & give anything a try…
In any case, whether you want to work traditionally or venture out & experiment, the basics for Filet are the same… I hope this comprehensive tutorial gives you everything you need, from reading charts to working an armhole on a vest, & becomes a good reference point that leads the way into this age-old technique.
Patterns are presented to the reader as charts or grids instead of written patterns so with a bit of graph paper you can even create your own designs if you have a mind to.
The Filet crochet tutorial (17 pages) takes you through the basics of Filet Crochet in both written (UK & US terminology) & diagram form & covers the following:
How to read charts (graphs) – (pg 2)
Determining the number of chains required for foundation chain – (pg 2)
Shaping: increasing space at beginning & end of row – (pg 8)
Shaping continued: decreasing space at beginning & end of row, increasing block at beginning & end of row, decreasing block at beginning & end of row – (pg 9)
Shaping for Garments: increasing blocks at beginning & end of rows – (pg 10)
Shaping for garments continued: increasing spaces at beginning & end of rows – (pg 11)
Shaping for garments continued: decreasing & decreasing blocks at beginning & end of rows – (pg-12)
So, continuing with my personal commitment to complete UFO’s & work on new projects that have been sitting on the back-burner for far too long, I took a good hard look at this Freeform Crochet Coat that I created in 2006 & is featured in my book ‘Freeform Crochet & Beyond.’
