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Crafty Friday: Knit a Katia Velour Snood

Hi Everyone!

This week’s Crafty Friday tutorial is one for all you knitters out there. Whether you’re a knitting newbie or a pro-knitter, this tutorial is really fun and easy to follow.

We love the Katia Velour yarn so much, that this year we’ve decided to restock it in the shop. We first introduced it last year and we had a wide range of plain colours which went down a storm, so this year we were really excited to hear that Katia had bought out a new range of Velour yarn, called Velour Prints. The colours are wonderful and because this yarn is so easy and simple to knit with, we think everyone should give it a go!

Katia Velour Prints and Katia Velour yarns are both available at Karen Delahunty Sewing & Knitting Centre for just £8.50 a ball. With only one ball you’ll be able to knit a really snuggly, soft snood. Each ball comes with a free pattern too. We think the Velour snoods – in plain or in prints – make the perfect handmade christmas or birthday presents. So why not give it a go?

What You’ll Need

  • 6.5mm Knitting Pins (30cm in Length)
  • 1 x Katia Velour (Prints or Plain)

How to Knit Your Katia Velour Snood

  • Start your knitting by making a slip stitch.
  • Cast on 41 stitches, remember that your slip stitch counts as one stitch.
  • *Knit one row to the end.
  • Purl the next row to the end.

Repeat pattern from * until you reach near the end of the yarn ball. Remember to leave some yarn for sewing up and casting off later.

  • Cast off your stitches, knotting the final stitch, to hold in place.
  • Using a Knitters needle or a Darning needle, sew up. Fold right sides in, from the cast-on edge to the cast-off edge, thread your needle with the remaining yarn and make a running stitch all the way along.
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Fabric of The Week: Disney Finding Dory Print

To celebrate Finding Dory swimming in to cinemas, this week, we chose this wonderful cotton print by Disney for our Fabric of the Week Offer.

The material is 100% cotton, so it’s perfect for crafting with or even making children’s clothing with, it even features some of your favourite Finding Dory characters, including, Nemo, Dory and Marlin.It’s great to work with as it won’t move while you’re sewing and it can be machine washed too on a cool temperature.

 

 

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Fabric of the Week: Licensed Disney Print, Mickey Mouse

Our Fabric of the Week this week from 22nd – 27th August  is our fully licensed Disney Mickey Mouse print fabric.

The material is 100% cotton, so it’s perfect for crafting with or even making children’s clothing with. The fun and playful print of Mickey and Minnie Mouse just adds to the cute factor! It’s great to work with as it won’t move while you’re sewing and it can be machine washed too on a cool temperature.

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Crafty Friday: Paper Dresses Tutorial

Our latest Window Display – which I’m sure you’ve all seen by now – sure has caught the eye of a number of people.

We’ve even had people just popping in to compliment us on it, which has been really rather lovely! One of the main attractions in our window has been the lovely handmade paper dresses garland.

We’ve had a few people call in and ask us how we made them, so this week, I thought it would be nice – and before our display changes again – to show you how to make your own paper dresses. Once you’ve made one, you’ll see that they really are so simple to do and you’ll be able to make as many as you like with ease.

​These would look really cute as a bedroom decoration for a child, or even as decoration in your craft/sewing room. I made all of mine different, but you could make you’re the same if you wanted; personally I quite liked the variety of different textures and styles.

What You’ll Need

  • 1 x Square of paper 30.5 cm x 30.5cm (12” x 12”)
    • I used Tanya Whelan’s Floral Pavilion Fabric Textured Papers, but you could use any. You could even use plain and paint/print your own design to them.
  • Scalloped Edge Scissors
    • You don’t have to use these, but I found they gave a really nice finish to my dresses.
  • Ruler
  • Pencil

How to Make a Paper Dress

Start by placing your square of paper, pattern side down. You should have the plain side facing up toward you.

​Fold the paper in half, vertically. Make sure you make the crease nice and strong, press it down a couple of times.

Open the crease you just made. Now, fold the square in to quarters, by folding the two outer sides in toward the middle fold.

Open out all creases and flip the paper over so you now have the pattern facing up toward you. Find the creases you just made and fold those in to the center fold. The two folds should meet in the middle.

Flip the folded piece over, so again the plain side is facing up toward you and the pattern is facing down.

​Using your ruler and pencil, mark a line 2 cm from the top. Drawn the line horizontally across the top.

Fold from the bottom, to the line you’ve just drawn. Press firmly to create a strong crease.

Keeping the smaller part at the bottom, fold it in and then back on itself, to make about a 1 cm fold. This will become the waistband of your finished dress.

Flip the paper over, so you have the patterned side facing up toward you again. You’re now going to make the collar.

Fold down the top two corners to create the collar.

The next step is making the pleat of the dress. To do this, pull the waistband on one side out to the side, hold it down with your finger, then make a line down the center and push out.

​Repeat this on the other side too.

Flip over again so the plain side is facing you again.

You’re going to make the V-neck at the top of the dress. This can be quite tricky, so do take care not to tear the paper.

Pull the top back with one finger gently, only to where the collar meets.Crease down the two sides, so you have an almost square shape at the top.

Next, you want to fold over the side piece all the way down.

Then you’re going to create the angle for dress, by folding down the side of the skirt too.

Repeat on the other side.

Flip the paper over again, now you have the pattern side facing up and you can see the dress is forming nicely.

​To make the little capped sleeve, you just fold the overhang at the top back on itself.

You can finish here, or you can trim the bottom of the skirt using the scalloped edge scissors, as I did.

We hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and (as always :-)) we’d love to see any that you have made too, so feel free to send those to us via social media or our email address karendelahunty@outlook.co.uk

Happy Crafting and Weekend-ing!

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Crafty Friday: How To Crochet a Granny Square

​For a little while now, I’ve been learning how to crochet and I have to admit, it’s been much easier than I first thought it would be. If you’re wondering about crocheting and want to give it a go, then this week’s Crafty Friday tutorial is a perfect starting point.

We are often asked in the shop about Granny Squares and how to make them, so this week, I wanted to share with you all a very simple way to make one. There are many different variations of Granny Squares, but the one I’m going to show you in this tutorial is very basic and I believe anyone can do it.

You can also check out our video tutorial for this below, or over on our Youtube Channel.

I’ve seen a number of people turn a variety of Granny Squares in to a blanket or even a decorative cushion and they look fabulous. This week though I’m just going to show you how to make the basic Granny Square.

What You’ll Need

  • 4mm or 4.5mm Crochet Hook
  • Any Double Knitting Yarn
  • Scissors

How To Crochet a Granny Square

As with most Crochet Patterns, the Granny Square starts with a Slip Stitch (sst) and a Chain (ch) of stitches. To start the Granny Square make a Slip Stitch (sst) and Chain Stitch 6.

The next step is to make your chain in to a circle. You do this by inserting your hook through the very first chain that you made. You then want to wrap the Yarn Over (yo) and pull it through the first chain and the sixth chain.

You then need to chain another three stitches; this will make the first section of the Treble Crochet Stitch (sounds scarier than it is, believe me J). You’re then going to work two treble crochets stitches.

To make the first treble crochet stitch, you’re going to wrap the yarn over your hook, then insert your hook in to the middle of the circle. You then want to yarn over the hook again and pull back through the middle circle. You’ll end up with three loops on the hook.

Wrap the yarn over the hook again and pull through two loops on the hook, yarn over a second time and pull it through the remaining two loops.

Repeat the previous step to create a second treble crochet stitch. You should now have three pieces coming from the circle that you started with. This is your first section completed.

You then need to chain a further three stitches, this is to help create the corner of your Granny Square.

​You then want to create three more treble crochet stitches as per the previous steps. You should now have two completed sections with a gap between them.

You want to continue in this way for the rest of the round. You’ll create four sections, each consisting of 3 trebles. Remember after the third treble you need to chain three before starting the next set of trebles.

Once you have four sections, you’ll need to finish off the last corner. You’ll do this by making another three chain stitches, then inserting your hook through the third chain from the first section. Wrap your yarn over your hook and pull through both loops, this creates a slip stitch.

You’re then going to expand on that first round of crochet. You’ll start by making a chain of 4 stitches. You’ll then work three treble crochets in to the left-hand corner of the first round.

You’ll then need to create the corner again, so make a chain of 3 stitches. You’re then going to work another three crochets in to the same space as the previous step.

Once you have completed on corner of 6 treble crochets, you’ll want to chain one stitch and move to the next gap from round one.

​You’ll want to work three treble crochet in to that space.

Make a chain of three stitches and then work three more treble crochets in to the same space. So you’ll now have two corners each that have six trebles in them.

Make a chain of one stitch and then begin making three trebles in to the next gap from the first round.

Chain three for the corner and then create another three trebles in to the same space, now you have three sections in round two each with six trebles.

Make a chain of one stitch and then begin working three treble crochets in the last gap from round one.

Chain three to make the corner.

You don’t need to make three trebles in this final section as the initial chain of four you made at the beginning of the round will count as one of those trebles. So, you’re going to make two treble crochets.

Find the third chain from the first the chain of four you made initially and insert your hook in to it. Wrap the yarn over and pull through both loops on your hook, creating a slip stitch.

For round three, you need to begin with three chain stitches. These stitches count as one treble in the space below them. You’ll need to make another two trebles in the space below.

You’re then going to work in the same way as the other rounds:

  • Chain one stitch between spaces
  • Make three treble crochets in each gap
  • Chain three each time you reach a corner
  • Working a total of six treble crochets in each corner space
  • Join the ends by chaining one stitch and then creating a slip stitch between the last stitch on your hook and the third chain from your initial set.
To begin round four, you’ll chain four and then you’ll work treble crochets in to the next available space. Again, you’ll continue the rest in the same way as the other rounds.

  • chain one stitch between spaces
  • Make three treble crochets in each gap
  • Chain three each time you reach a corner
  • Working a total of six treble crochets in each corner space
  • Join the ends by chaining one stitch and then creating a slip stitch between the last stitch on your hook and the third chain from your initial set.

Finish by creating a slip stitch and pulling the yarn tight. This finishes your simple Granny Square.

​To make my Granny Square I used a Woolcraft New Fashion Double Knitting 100% Acrylic Yarn (£2.20 per ball – 100g) and an Essential brand 4mm Crochet Hook. Remember you can purchase any of the tools we used in our tutorials at Karen Delahunty Sewing & Knitting Centre.

​We hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and (as always :-)) we’d love to see any that you have made too, so feel free to send those to us via social media or our email address karendelahunty@outlook.co.uk

Happy Crafting and Weekend-ing!