Basic Men’s Ribbed Beanie Pattern

by VioletLeBeaux | Apr 2, 2014 | Craft, Other-Accessory-Tutorials, Tutorial

James asked me to make him a new beanie a while ago because all of his current beanies look like this…

He seems to think no one notices when he wears them inside out… but I do.

So anyway this project was actually quite a quick one to do because it’s so basic. James doesn’t like fancy designs so even though I wanted to do some cool cabling he ended up with plain old ribbing.

Obviously this will vary with head size etc so doing a test swatch is important etc. For James’ head size I cast on 100 stitches. For this kind of ribbing, really you just want double the number you would need for straight stockinette.

Then knit 2, purl 2 until you’ve got around 15cm of ribbing. I used circular needles because it was easiest for this size.

This was the amount of ribbing I did, it ended up being around 20 rows.

At the end of the ribbing, switch to stockinette and k2tog every third stitch to decrease it into being more head shaped.

Knit straight up until you reach the top of the head and then begin decreasing every 5th stitch again. At this point I moved over onto double pointed needles . I pretty much just continued decreasing like that until the end to create a fairly steep curve shape.

Tie off the top and it’s officially a hat!

Here you can see the decreases a little better.

James seemed happy enough with it and it’s certainly an improvement over his old ones so I might have to churn out a couple more… next time with cabling though XD

Bonus: this is what James thinks hat modelling is. I have no words.

Bergamot Bunny Needle Felt Patch

by VioletLeBeaux | Mar 31, 2014 | Craft, Other-Accessory-Tutorials, Tutorial

After the amount of fun we had with the VLB needle felt patch I thought it would only be fair to do a Bergamot Bunny version too!

You’ll need needle felting supplies and some white felt as well for this one.

Cut the shapes below out of felt.

Felt the round head to the body.

And the ears to the head.

Next smoosh up some white wool to cover the felt.

Begin with the ears…

And then cover up the rest in white as well.

Now for the details! In pink make her fluffy tail.

As well as the blush on her cheeks, hearts in her ears and little hands.

In this version I gave her a pink mouth and nose and a light purple “V” in her foot. I also made a little pink bow separately and added it on.

Then some big beautiful black eyes…

And so they look more like eyes and less like disturbing portals to the underworld, add in some white sparks and eyelashes.

Yay done!

Then you just need to pop a pin on the back and wear your new friend out and about!

She makes a great pin or patch to use on a bag or anything else!

How To Make A Tulle Pearl Collar

by VioletLeBeaux | Mar 17, 2014 | Craft, Other-Accessory-Tutorials, Tutorial

I’ve had “Some kind of big frilly collar” on my craft list for ages but I never could think of the right design for it. I had a left over string of pearls from another project and they finally gave me the idea for this tulle version!

You need:

Tulle
Needle and thread
Ribbon
Pearls

You will need very long strips of tulle. I used around 1.5m of it but honestly, the more the better because the frills will be more impressive.

Fold it in half length-wise and then fold the crease so it sits around 1/3rd of the way in. You can see what I mean below:

Thread your needle and tie it securely to one end of the tulle at the folded edge. Start a very small running stitch from there to the other end. Gather it as you go by pulling tightly to create the ruffle.

You should have something along the lines of this when you reach the other end:

Decide how long it needs to be to go around your neck and then tie off the thread. Measure out some ribbon which is as long as the gathered tulle but also has enough on either end to tie into a bow. This is how we will tie the collar on.

Stitch the ribbon to the tulle around 5mm from the folded edge.

Once you go all the way around it, you will end up with something like this:

You won’t be seeing this side so it doesn’t matter how neat you are.

Now cut a length of pearls which is as long as the tulle. I’m using pre-strung pearls but you could just sew them on individually.

Sew the pearls on to the non-ribbon side of the tulle.

I find it easiest to get them perfectly even by putting one stitch between each pearl.

Done!

Now just find a cute shirt with a round neckline and tie it on!

Cute!!

Looking good! You can use the same technique with just about any fabric for a variety of collars. You could even cut the tulle into a Peter Pan collar shape for another version!

Hope you found it useful and let me know if you give it a try 😀

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Needle Felted VLB Patch Tutorial

by VioletLeBeaux | Feb 28, 2014 | Craft, Other-Accessory-Tutorials, Tutorial

Today’s tutorial is a request from members of The VLB 😀 The VLB is my monthly *cough*most of the time *cough* newsletter which includes all kinds of awesome things and the logo is a crest representing everything we’re about.

The original crest itself is a little complicated for a quick and easy needle felting project so I’ve just made a simplified version that hopefully you guys can follow along with and make your own!

You’ll need some yellow felt and other general needle felting supplies.

First cut the general crest shape out of the yellow felt.

Apply light green wool in the shapes shown below:

Fill in the opposite corner with pink wool.

Cut out a little crown from the yellow and needle it to the top of the crest, add a little red heart to the middle. My heart looks more like a circle… but whatever >_>

Now add some big fluffy white wings behind it.

Lastly use some light purple wool to write the letters VLB in each section. The last section has a heart in mine but you can add your own initials.

Done! Now you can needle felt it to a piece of clothing or put a pin on the back so you can wear it anywhere.

Cuuute!

Thank you so much to the members of the VLB for this awesome idea, make sure you send me some photos of yours so I can put them in the newsletter! If you want to sign up, just check out the page here.

Jingly Pearl And Gold Bracelet Take 2 – Tutorial

by VioletLeBeaux | Feb 17, 2014 | Craft, Other-Accessory-Tutorials, Tutorial

My obsession with pearls and gold chain continues today with another bracelet. This version is much more jingly so people will hear you coming ^_^

You will need:

Chain
Pearls
Clasps
Wire or thread

To begin with, cut a piece of wire around twice the size of your wrist and attach a clasp to one end of it. Make sure it’s nice and secure because it will be the weakest part of the bracelet.

Slide the end of the chain onto the wire, then a pearl and then the chain again a little further down. You can vary the amount of chain you leave between pearls for different effects, I chose to thread it every 10 links.

Continue alternating between pearls and chain until it’s as long as you want it to be.

Once you reach the end just tie off the wire, attach the other part of the clasp and then snip the extra wire.

Such an easy bracelet to make but it’s so effective and looks really expensive!

What do you guys think?

I love it! Now I’m thinking of perhaps making a matching necklace too!

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DIY Chain and Pearl Bracelet – Tutorial

by VioletLeBeaux | Feb 5, 2014 | Craft, Other-Accessory-Tutorials, Tutorial

I’ve been wearing a lot of gold jewellery lately. I’ve always been a silver girl but for some reason I’ve been so drawn to gold chains. Gold and pearls.

I actually prefer to make my own jewellery because I find it hard to get things from stores that fit my wrists without just slipping off. Having a bangle fly off and hit someone in the face while you’re gesturing wildly while having a conversation isn’t something that you really want to repeat…

So anyway…. let’s make a pearl and gold chain bracelet today!

You will need:

Chain
Pearls
Thin wire
Clasps

Cut a length of chain which can wrap around your wrist.

Lay out the chain and the pearls, you want to place a pearl in every second chain.

Add clasps to the end of the chain.

Now let’s start with the pearls. Tie your thin wire securely to one end of the chain.

Thread a pearl on the wire and then thread the wire back down through the chain.

Weave the wire through the chain again so it’s under the next link, then when you go up again add another pearl. There should be a pearl on every second link.