Petals Collar

Photo by Tailor Made Publishing

I am thrilled to have my Petals Collar featured in this Month's Issue of Inside Crochet, issue 56. It is a fun project that combines a few of my favorite techniques: surface crochet, slip stitch cords, and embroidery.  Inside Crochet's styling is so beautiful. I love how they illustrated that the collar could look elegant on a woman and sweet on a little girl. The power of styling! Besides being an excellent project to practice techniques, it is also a great way to use up bits of yarn you may have as it doesn't require much of any color.  I am looking forward to seeing some project photos on Ravelry to see it made up in different color combinations!

Photo By Tailor Made Publishing

This pattern is now available for download from my Craftsy and Ravelry pattern stores.

The Road to Writing Crocheting Clothes Kids Love

There are only 5 days left until the release of Crocheting Clothes Kids Love, and I was thinking that it might be interesting to share my background with designing for children, and why I felt that this book was a fantastic opportunity for me!

I was so excited from the first moment that Creative Publishing approached me about writing this book. Besides having a 7 year old daughter who serves as a wonderful inspiration for the 6-12 year old age range that this book is written for, I have actually been designing for children for over 20 years. I became interested in designing for children when I was studying fashion design in college in London. The head of the design department recommended to me that I take a childrenswear course because my womenswear designs often included whimsical details. I am glad that I took her advice, because I really enjoyed the course, and my final project was sent to Italy to be exhibited at Pitti Immagine Bimbo as a finalist in their international young designers competition.

My First Childrenswear Pieces, Exhibited at Pitti Immagine Bimbo

Since my first foray into designing childrenswear went so well, I chose to design my graduation collection for kids aged 9-12. It was a niche market, and I was the first student to design a collection for this age range.

Storyboard from My Graduation Collection

A Mini Collection I Designed, Inspired by a Vintage Fairy Embroidery Transfer

That was just the beginning of my love for childrenswear. I graduated from college, moved back to the US, and got a job working for an embroidery design firm. Some of my favorite clients were childrenswear companies, such as Garan (remember mix and match Garanimals clothing?), and Judy Lynn Children’s Clothing, whom I continued to design appliques for after I moved to Kuwait. I also entered design contests in the embroidery industry, and I won 2 years in a row in the children’s category. 

Circus Dress from Stitches Magazine Contest, Designed, Digitized and Made by Me

Cuckoo Clock Dress, Designed, Digitized, and Made by Me

In 2010, I won the grand prize in the Crochet Guild of America’s annual design contest with my Kyoto Coat. It was the first time a Children’s garment won the prize!

Kyoto Coat

The most popular project I have ever designed for Interweave Crochet was a children's pattern: the Piper's Chain Scarf. 

I am thrilled to have achieved my goal of writing a book about a subject that I love, with co-author Ellen Gormely. A partner that couldn't be beat! As a team, we worked hard to design a collection of 28 garments and accessories that I hope will appeal to wide audience. I can’t wait to share more about the projects in our book with you, as well as other ways you can use the patterns in the book. Stay tuned!

Talking About Crocheting Clothes Kids Love

I recently heard from our editor that our book, Crocheting Clothes Kids Love, has gone to print. It is getting exciting as we approach the book release in February, and I am really looking forward to the day I get to hold the book in my hands!

Now, the fun part! Little by little, we get to start talking about the projects in the book. I want to introduce two of the pieces that are on the cover: the Caravan Scarf and Hopscotch Legwarmers. 

In the planning stage of the book, Ellen Gormley and I came up with ideas and sketched them for the editor to review. Ellen was great to work with, and we agreed quite quickly as to what each of us would make. It still amazes me that with the editor in Minnesota, Ellen in Ohio, and me in Kuwait, we were able to coordinate everything easily without even a phone call. The internet really does make the world a much smaller place, and makes my crochet career possible!

Normally I like to finish a piece before submitting it to a magazine or yarn company. This is because many times my designs develop into something very different than my original sketch. My sketch is usually my jumping off point. For the book, the designs needed to be approved by the editor before we could move forward. There was no time for advanced swatching! I was wondering if I would stick exactly to what I had sketched or deviate like I often do. This scarf and legwarmers came out just as I sketched, so I thought they would be great designs to share with you first! Some of the other pieces in the book went in a little different direction, but most of the changes were to the embellishments. Surprisingly amazing things happen when you get to experiment with the actual project yarn!

I had been dreaming about a scarf like this for a very long time. My favorite part was attaching the crochet "coins". I added my signature lazy daisy embroidery embroidery to the corner coins to make it even more my style. I can't wait until I am able to show you some detailed photos so you can see the scarf flat.

I love the ribbed look in crochet, so that was my starting point for the Hopscotch Legwarmers. I spent some time creating just the right shape, so they would fold over nicely. My favorite thing about these legwarmers has to be the multicolored pom poms. They are such fun to make, and they give the legwarmers a unique and special look. 

I will be able to talk in more detail as soon I have some official photos. I hope you will come back to read more blog posts about the book, as the excitement builds for its release!

The Kyoto Coat Inside Out!

I hadn't seen the Kyoto Coat since I sent it off to the Crochet Guild of America's design competition, last year. When I got the chance to see it again, I was reminded of some of the small details that made the coat extra special.  When I originally posted about the coat, I didn't have it with me in Kuwait to take photos of, so I used the photos I had.  I thought it might be interesting to do a blog post about the details you may have never seen.  The photo above shows how it looks inside the jacket and how it fastens.  I always love the chance to include a bow!

This next photo shows the trim on the inside of the neck edge, which is a slip stitch cord stitched to the coat with a running stitch in brown yarn.  The inside neck detail echos the woven trim at the ends of the sleeves.

Close up of the ruffle detail, which was crocheted with one strand of yarn separated from a multi-stranded variegated chunky yarn, and inserted through the spaces in the skirt.

This photo shows the inside of the coat, so you can see the skirt and back of the patchwork belt.  Please have a look at my Paris Belt Tutorial if you are interested in making a belt inspired by the Kyoto Coat.

I have prepared one small entry for this year's competition, and I am hoping to create something else as well.  Whether or not I am able to, will depend on how much free time I have in the next few weeks, and how long it takes me to recover from jet lag!