Jasmin's Strap

This strap is very, very easy to make and it looks cute on a large tote. It is a knotted strap. You can make it with cords of a single color to match your tote, or if you work like me, in many colors, you can tailor it to the color palette you used to make your bag.

Materials-
Worsted weight yarn of appropriate color to make your cords
Crochet hook size H
Scissors
Pins
Purse rings
Pillow or piece of fabric to pin your cords to for stability when knotting

To learn how to make the Basic Rope to make this strap, please go here:Basic Rope Tutorial

Make 4 cords in the colors you have chosen for your bag.
Pin the cords to a pillow, to allow you to work more freely.
You will working in pairs as follows:

1- Bring first rope on the left to the front of second rope to the left, move the end of the rope to the back and around the second rope, and through the loop that is formed, pull to tighten.
Repeat for the second part of the knot.
Now, working on the opposite side, bring first rope to the right in front of second rope to the right, take it to the back of the second rope and then through the loop that forms. Repeat for the second part of the knot.

2- Repeat step #1

Leave a little bit of slack so that the colors will show. And now, let's work the center.

3- Bring second rope to the right in front of second rope to the left, around the rope towards the back, and then through the loop that forms. Repeat to form the second part of the knot.

4 and 5- Repeat step #1, twice.

Alternately repeating this process for as long as you need to, will form your strap. Wasn't that easy?

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Broken Toys

Pretty Frog Closure

Originally, I made this frog to close up a capelet, but it is such a pretty way to close things and it was so liked that I took a second look at it. That made me realize that it makes a terrific closure for a purse, a bag or a tote, so here it is!


Frog Closure-Let’s make a bit of rope for the frog. With Pumpkin, ch 2.
Row 1- 1 sc in second ch from hook. Turn. (No ch 1.)
Row 2- Insert hook in little loop that formed on the side of the sc and pull up yarn, you and complete sc. Turn. Continue repeating row 2 for the length of the rope you want to make.
In this case, the rope should measure 14” long. Fasten off, leaving long tail to sew with.

Thread blunt needle with leftover tail and, taking one of the ends of it, begin to turn the rope around itself, as if you were going to form the shell of a snail. As you turn, secure each turn onto itself by making small stitches on the loops on the sides. Turn a bit, and inserting the needle into the loops that will meet at the top, where the rope turns and at the bottom, where you just turned, stitch the curl in place. When you have turned the rope three times, secure and fasten off. Weave in tail.

Repeat on the other end, leaving the center unworked for now. When you are ready to sew your frog on, Join some yarn to the back of the frog in a discreet spot, thread blunt needle with the yarn you just joined and sew the center of the frog together, using the loops on the outside edges of both sides of the large loop, until you have a hole that will comfortably fit the button you have chosen. Pin the frog in place and sew it to the purse or bag. Fasten off, weave in tail.

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Who Do You Think You Are?
(You are more special than you think!)

Frog Closure

Originally, I made this closure for one of my neckwarmers, but it works so well for a purse or bag that I decided to share it here.

Materials-
Worsted weight yarn scraps to match or contrast the bag or tote you are making.
Crochet hook size H
Scissors
Sewing thread
Sewing needle
Button of your choice




Frog-style closure: With Lipstick yarn and G hook, make a crab stitch braid that is 10 inches long. Fasten off leaving a long tail to sew with.
You can make your closure in several ways, but let's try a simple one. Bend the crab stitch cord you just made in half, take the left leg of that bent cord and cross it over the right side leg, forming a loop, without undoing that loop, insert that same leg of cord into the center of the loop and pull gently, until you have a nice knot that looks almost like a Josephine knot, and two pieces of crab cord at both ends. You are going to bend those two pieces of cord and sew them with the tail you left, one upwards and one downwards, to form your frog. Then you will sew this to the neck warmer at a height that is comfortable to close it around the neck, using the small loops of the crab cord to anchor your stitches. Fasten off. Sew button opposite loop of the frog closure on the other side of the neck warmer. Fasten off.
Note: Since this is a closure and it will pulled ever time the neckwarmer is used, sew your stitches firmly, not tight, but firm so that the pretty frog will not come apart.
You're done!
This pattern has been corrected. Thank you again, Margaret!
Fire-ice-aiken, the pattern is simpler now!



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Determining the Will of God

Gladys' Braid

This is a simple 3-strand braid which is left open for effect. It is a bit asymmetrical and angular, which makes it interesting and less common than the usual 3-strand braid, it is also very easy to make.


Glady's braid will be most effective in 3 colors, especially if the they contrast against the background of the bag.
Make a ball of yarn for each color of rope you will be making, then make your ropes.

To make it proceed as follows:

Make your crocheted ropes as we have made them in previous tutorials. (Please take a look at our previuos tutorials and beautiful braids.)
Make twice as much as the size of the bag or tote you want to embellish. Leave one end of the rope attached to the ball of yarn, justin case you run
out of rope before you have finished the amount of braiding you need or on the other hand, if you have a bit more rope than you need, to be able to unravel and adjust
it.

Pin one end of ropes to edge of bag or purse, leaving an excess that will be folded over the edge of the bag and which will disappear under the lining.
To braid, work in the following manner:

1- Bring rope #1 over rope #2, then pass rope #3 over rope #2.
2- Bring new rope #1 over new rope #2, and new rope #3 over rope #2. (Leave the braiding quite "open" so that the fabric of the bag will show through.)
Continue to repeat these two rows, continuously until you have the length of braid you want.
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Alone in the Crowd

Knotting A Strap--Festoon

In Spanish, the call this knot the festoon, hence the name of this strap.
This is a technique borrowed from macrame that will yield you an easy, sturdy yet pretty strap or you can simply use it to decorate the front of a bag as we have done before with our braided ropes.
The benefit of using ropes is that you can sew them together at the ends, bend them around a purse ring, sew them to secure tem to the ring, and you're done, whereas, with the original macrame technique you're dealing with strands of yarn and it is a bit more involved to secure the ends to make them workable.
If you're going to use it to festoon around a bag or as a nice decoration going down the front of a bag, calculate a bit of an excess to go over the edge of the bag and be secure on the inside inside the lining, and secure well at the bottom of the bag with tiny well-placed stitches. If you are using the festoon for a purse or tote strap, you can even join a bit of yarn at the ends and picking up the loop at the end of each rope, crochet an sc in each and do a second row of sc to secure them together, so that it will be easier for you to sew the edges to a purse ring.

This is how to make this strap:

Measure your bag, and calculate double the amount of strap or festoon embellishment that you will need. As always, I advice that you leave the bottom portion of
the rope, still attached to the yarn, with a safety pin holding the last loop, just in case you need to make a bit more to complete your project, or to unravel some
to fit it in.

Pin 3 ropes in colors of your choice either to your bag or, if you're using them for a strap, to a pillow or a piece of cardboard.

1- Place the rope on the left on top of the rope on the middle, then behind it, then bring down, forming a loop around the middle rope. Tighten a bit. (First part of the festoon knot made.)
2- Place the rope on the left below the on the middle, then, bring the working end around, forming another loop going in the opposite direction to the one made before. Tighten a bit. (Second part of the festoon knot completed.)
4- Now repeat the first 2 steps with the rope on the right. (Fastoon formed)
Continue this way for as long as you want to to complete your festoon. You can make it tight so that the middle rope cannot be seen, but I think that letting it be seen in between knots adds to the pretty effect. Look at the photos for guidance.

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The Wonderful Love of God

Embellish it With Ropes--Faux Cabling 3

We will now make two braids, each with three ropes. These are the simplest kind to make, especially when you want to add "something" to a project in the spur of the moment or are in some hurry to finish it. (By the way, the names for these braids are my own, and the way I make them is also my own, they don't come from any book or publication like this.)

Undecided Braid- Materials: Ropes of colors of your choice crocheted in advance. Pins Blunt needle to sew finished braid in place Yarn or embroidery yarn to sew through side loops of braid Measuring tape This is a 3 strand braid that goes from side to side, chaging from a right side braid to a left side braid on purpose, to make it a bit fancier.

To work this braid proceed as follows: Arrange three ropes at the top of your project, pinning them to the top, but leaving a portion of the braid unworked so that you can later on sew it underneath the lining of the bag. Center them well, use a measuring tape, if necessary to make sure they are centered. To braid do this: 1- Take the rope on the right and bring over the middle rope. 2- Take the rope on the leftt and place it over the new middle rope. 3- Take the new left rope and place it over the middle rope. 4- Take the rope on the right and place it over the middle rope. 5-Take the new rope on the left and place it over the new middle rope. Tighten the rope a bit. Tighten a bit. Repeat these 5 steps once more. Now comes the change: 6- Take the new middle rope and place it UNDER the rope on the left. 7- Take the rope on the right and place it OVER the new middle rope. 8- Take the new rope on the right and place it over the middle rope. 9- Take the rope on the left and place it over the middle rope AND the rope on the right. 10- Take the new rope on the left and pass it over the middle rope. 11- Take the rope on the right and plass it over the middle rope. Continue this way indefinitely. You can also make a longer braid that will encircle the middle of the bag and disappear behind the sewn sides, but for that, you must make your braid before you completely sew the bag.

Wanna Walk Down the Middle Braid- Materials: Ropes of colors of your choice crocheted in advance. Pins Blunt needle to sew finished braid in place Yarn or embroidery yarn to sew through side loops of braid Measuring tape This is a 3 strand braid that goes from side to side, chaging from a right side braid to a left side braid on purpose, to make it a bit fancier.

To work this braid proceed as follows: 1- Take the rope in the middle and place it over the rope on the left. 2- Take the new rope in the middle and place it over the new rope on the right. 3- Take the rope in the middle and place it over the rope on the left. 4- Take the new rope on the middle and place it over the rope on the right. Continue this way indefinitely until you get the length of braid you need for your bag or purse.

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Embellish it With Ropes--Faux Cabling 2

Let's start with the faux cabling. As I said before, instead of making the cables with dc or tr sts, you will be making them with previously crocheted ropes which you will then sew to the purse, tote, bag, etc., using the little loops the ropes have on the side of them. Using these ropes as stems of plants is often used in Russian Irish Crochet, but we will use them here in the form of Aran cables. They are easier and faster and can be an after-the-fact embellishment to aproject nearly completed which needs a little "something" to make it prettier.

Things to remember:

1- You should make your ropes twice as long as the braid you want to make, since
the braiding process shortens the ropes.

2- You can leave the end of your rope unfinished so that if you run too short, you can crochet the number of rows that will complete the length you need and then continue braiding.

3- Complete your braid by pinning it to the bag before you sew it up. Make sure you're happy with the results before you make them permanent!

We will start with a really easy 4 rope cabling: Rusty's Cable

Make 4 ropes in a color of your choice.

Pin the ropes to the front of the bag as follows, (leaving a little bit extra rope loose which you will sew to the insde of hte bag under the lining of it):

In our example, 1 made 2 ropes with Carrot and 2 ropes with Pumpkin.

1. Pin 1 rope at the edge of where you want to start your braid. Pin the other ropes beside one another.

2. Pass the 4th strand of rope over the third strand of rope, under the 2nd and over the 1st strand of rope. Consider now the third strand the 4th strand, now repeat the procedure you did before, pass that strand over the strand that is now the 3rd rope strand, under the 2nd and over the one that is now the 1st, continue in the manner until you have braided all your cable.

Note- If you do not have enough, rope, pin what you have done carefully and crochet some more until you have completed the length you want. If you have ropes that are too long, unravel them to fit. Remember to leave a little bit of an excess so that you can sew the ends of the braid to the inside of the bag under the lining to secure it well. Secure well to the bottom of the bag as well.

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Read FREE online, the beautiful book on the life of Christ, The Desire of Ages
see the comforting love of God like never before in these tough times!

Embellish it With Ropes!---Faux Cabling 1

I have been so busy that I had not had the time to continue with the tutorials but I'm back! We will begin a series of lessons dealing with faux cabling. We will be using crocheted ropes as the basis of the cables, which will be sewn to the purse, bag or tote you have already made, BEFORE you add the lining to it. The edges of the ropes will disappear under the lining and curve gracevully towards the bottom of the bag. This is, as our theme has been, an after-the-fact form of embellishment which you will add after you have completed the shape of your bag up to the point where you would start adding the straps, lining etc. You will be adding these ropes to decorate the front of a very simple bag, preferably with a squarish shape that will lend itself to a sewn rope without bulging or pulling. I don't know what would happen to a more difficult shape. You would have to make a sample to test. You can add the braids horizontally around the bag, or vertically down the front. You must make each cord twice as long as the bag you are going to braid. We will make a series of sample braids to give you an idea of how to do it. Testing will give you the results you will want. This is a wonderful embellishment alternative to make a run-of-the-mill-looking bag really special! We will start by learning the basic cord that you will be using to make these wonderful ropes. Notice that the ropes will have little loops on the side edges, those are the loops you will be using to sew the braids to the bag with a blunt needle. Basic Cord-Ch 2. Row 1- 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook. Turn Row 2- Insert hook in little loop that formed on the side of the sc and pull up yarn, you and complete sc. Turn. Continue repeating row 2 for the length of the rope you want to make.

Craftybegonia’s Crossed Cord This is my own cord, which I came up as I was just playing around with the basic cord. Ch 2. Row 1- Insert hook in second ch from hook and pull up loop, yo, make 1 sc as usual. Ch 1, turn. Row 2- Look at the side of your stitches, the very side edge of them, you see a loop that has formed there, Insert hook into that loop, pull up yarn, yo, pull up yarn through all loops on hook. Ch 1, turn. Row 3- Now you see a loop has formed on the side of the cord, insert hook in that loop, pull up yarn, yo and pull through all loops on hook. Ch 1, turn. Rep row 3 for cord pattern. First pactice making the cord until you have an even rope that you can braid and we'll start braiding!

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Embellished Crochet Academy Lesson 1: Puff Balls

Embellished Crochet—After The Fact Embellishments: Puff Balls


This course is for those who have a favorite pattern that they can make in a jiffy, almost with their eyes closed. A pattern they love and would make over and over again, if only it didn’t look the same! There is a solution to that and this course offers you many ideas you can apply to your simple patterns to spruce them up and give them a different touch, taking from the that “sameness” that has stopped you from repeating them till now! But it is not restricted only to bags. The embellishments you will learn can be applied to a variety of crocheted items such as tops, cardigans, shawls, hats, and many more! As many as your imagination and creativity lead you to use them on. Once you have learned these embellishments, you can work out your favorite patterns and just embellish them at the end.

So let's assume you have just finished a tote bag using your favorite pattern and you want to make it look different. Puff It! This is especially fun if you are making two or more of the same pattern and want to make each bag turn out different.

Let's Puff It Today- You already made your bag, (have not lined it yet) top, beanie, beret, scarf, or cardi, but you want to add "something" to it, so let's "puff" it!
You can make tone on tone puffs, or use a variety of contrasting colors, or you can make all the puffs the same color but of a color that contrasts beautifully with the bag or garment. You can also use a texture (novelty yarn,funfur, eyelash yarn, frisee or boucle yarn of your choice)or you can make them in pure wool (even if the original purse or garment is in acrylic yarn)and needle felt them before you add them for a different effect.

Materials needed:Yarn of your choice
Finished purse, tote, bag or garment
Blunt needle
Scissors

Make the Puff Balls as Follows:

With yarn of your choice and H hook, ch 3.
Work 5 dc in 3rd ch from hook, leaving last loop of each dc unowrked on hook, yo and pull yarn through all loops on hook. Move all the dc towards the back to form a ball, turn the puff around and look below it. You will find what is rest of the foundation loop where all the dc where made, insert hook there and make a slip stitch. Fasten off, leaving long tail to sew your puff with.

Repeat this procedure until you have all the puff balls you want to add to your bag or garment. When you have all the puffs you want done,thread a blunt needle with the tail you left when you finished each puff and sew them to the bag or garment one at a time where you want them.
You can scatter them all over your project or place them only at the bottom or center of it. For example, if you are using them to embellish a beanie or beret, you can crowd all your puffs aorund the center top of your beanie or beret. It you want to use them to embellish a scarf, add to the bottom ends of it. If you want to dot a purse, bag or tote, you can use them all ovedr or just down the front in a vertical line, around the bag on a vertical swath, you can use them only at the bottom on a thick row, you can also use them to worm a pattern linke a zig zag. The uses are as endless as your imagination!
If you want them for a cardi or top, you can place them at the bottom and edge of sleeves, down the front, as a horizonal line around, dotted all over, and in any way you want it!
You can use the tufted feel by making your puffs of funfur. Follow your creativity!





If you wish to contact me concerning one of the lessons of the CAL, please do so using the form below:

Name:
Email:
Comment:

If you would like to contribute your photos to the Academy, use this form to let me know and I will sen dyou an email address where you can send me your pics, for me to post them with your name, and whatever info you would like to add.

Precious Thought:

"Let the tenderness and mercy that Jesus has revealed in Hiw own precious life be an example to us of the manner in which we should treat our fellow beings." ---My Life Today, 235.

Announcing! Embellished crochet Academy

Many of you have told me how much you love my bags. Thank you for your kind words and support. I have been thinking for a while how I could share with my supporters something that would enhance their efforts to make beautiful bags (and I will also be doing it in such a way that you can also enhance THE REST of your crochet as well: tops, hats, shawls, cardigans, etc.) And I have decided to come up with the Embellish Crochet Academy. This will be a school-type of sharing. I will post an embellishment techinque that you can use in your bags or to enhance the appearance of a favorite garment pattern so that the same will not be the same, same old ever again!