Free Pattern: Triple Crochet Bubble Flower

This is the flower I used on the kid-sized lacy shells headwarmer pattern.  I love how the cluster makes a puff.  Though if I had made the chains bigger, it probably would have laid down flat - if yours isn't puffing up, try making the chains smaller.

Craft Tutorial: Large Ribbon Flower

This flower is for the nursery wall of the on-the-way girl #3. I also made a crochet one and a felt one using other people's tutorials. Though I looked, I couldn't find instructions for large flowers made of ribbon, so I winged it. It turned out about the size of my hand.

Supplies:
Three types of ribbon, preferably all the same thickness. Mine were three quarters of an inch and the sparkly one was an inch.
Small piece of cardboard
Hot glue
Button, bead, or small flower for center

Instructions:
Cut a small circle out of the cardboard. I traced the top of a solo cup for my circle. Then I punched a hole in it in order to hang it on the wall.

Next cut 17 or so 6" pieces of the bottom color of ribbon. Fold them over and glue the bottom together to make a loop.

Start glueing the loops to the outer edge of the circle, being sure to put them close enough together to cover up the cardboard.

Fill in the circle, cutting more loops if necessary.

Cut 12 6" pieces of the middle color of ribbon, fold them over and glue. Start glueing the second layer. Mine covered the cardboard completely at this point.

Again, cut more loops if you don't have enough, and fill the circle.

Cut six or so pieces of the center color of ribbon. If yours is the smaller size you may need more than I did. Fold and glue into loops.

Glue onto center, close enough together to cover the tails of the last layer of ribbon.

Then glue the embellishment onto the center of that layer of ribbon, covering the tails and glue.

To make my double layer button, I glued a small flower button's attachment loop to the center of a larger white button.

And there you have it! Using a thinner ribbon in the center would make our look less like a Christmas bow, but I think it turned put pretty cute anyway. :)

And apologies for the crummy phone pictures. When I get my laptop back from the Nerd Herd I will post the better ones, and of course stay tuned for an early February post of the completed nursery with all its crafty goodness.


©2012 Alli Hyer, all rights reserved.  You may sell items you make with this tutorial, but if you sell them online, you must link to this tutorial.  You may not sell this tutorial or claim it as your own.  You may publish or post a link to it, but you may not publish or post it in whole or in part.

Craft Tutorial: Non-slip Hair Clip

I've been making crochet and felt flowers and bows for my girls' hair for a long time, and pretty early on I realized that most handmade bows are too heavy for the alligator clips, especially with a layer of felt in between the "jaws."  I figured out this way to make the clips stay in their hair better from looking at my non-slip headbands for running.  There's a line of clear plastic on the inside that grips my hair.  That was easy enough to do!

I put the flowers for all my crochet hats on alligator clips so that they can be used as hair bows after the baby grows out of the hat.  Using this non-slip hair clip method ensures that the clip won't slip off the hat or out of the kid's (or mom's!) hair.

Free Pattern: No-sew Rose, Large

This is a larger version of the original no-sew rose.  Created with a flat circle for a base, it's more streamlined than the prevailing rolling method, easier to use as an embellishment.  This flower would work well on an adult-sized hat, or as an over-sized flower on a baby hat.  I used the closed version on the newborn size Open Stitch Newborn Hat.  Pictured below, I used the open version in my non-slip hairclip tutorial.

Free Pattern: Swirl Flower

Using a similar technique as the no-sew rose, this flower is a clean spiral, great for making a few into a headband or decorating a hat.

Free Pattern: Three-Flower Tie Headband

Here is #2 sporting the tie headband.  I saw a lacy tie headband on Pinterest, and I was inspired to make a baby-sized one for my girlies.  The tie works well for crochet, since the chain stitch isn't naturally stretchy.  It probably wouldn't work too well for a wiggly baby, but for my almost-two-year-old it worked out well.  She wore it for about half an hour and it didn't slip.

Free Pattern: Triple Crochet Flower

I used this flower on the 6-month size of the deeply textured hat.

Free Pattern: 2-Inch 5-Petal Cluster Flower Applique

 
I made this flower for the stretchy baby headband.  I like how rounded the tops of the petals turned out.

Free Pattern: Earflap Hat Premie

Newborn size here
3-month size here
6-month size here
9-12 month size here
Toddler size here
Youth/Adult Small sizes here
Adult Medium/Large sizes here

Free Pattern: Loopy Six-Petal Flower

I used this flower for the new version of the Newborn Earflap Hat.

Free Pattern: Cluster Hat - Premie

Newborn size here.
6-month size here.
9-12 month size here.

Hat should measure about 12" in circumference for a newborn.

Free Pattern: No-sew Rose

The prevailing method for making a crochet rose is to make a scalloped strip, roll it up, and sew it shut.  I just couldn't get mine to roll up the way I wanted, and I was really dreading sewing it all shut at the bottom, so I worked out this rose pattern - it's flat on the bottom, which makes it more streamlined for embellishing hats, and the petals will always line up the same way.  Which could be a strength or a weakness, depending on how you look at it.  :)

I made this rose in a larger size here.

Free Pattern: Button Baby Headband

I really hate weaving in ends.  This headband still has only two ends to weave in, even after sewing on a button - yay for less work!

Free Pattern: Bobble Flower Applique

Three of these sweet, puffy flowers were the appliques on my Bobblicious Baby Hat.  For the flower on the far left, I used a 5 mm (H/8) hook, and for the two flowers on the right I used a 4.25mm (G/6) hook.

Free Pattern: Rounded Five-Petal 3" Flower Applique

Bonus pattern this week!  Since these flowers are not exactly ground-breaking, I didn't think they each deserved their own week.  :)

Free Pattern: Tulip-like Flower Applique