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Crochet Butterfly Flower Leaf with Pattern & Tutorial

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Difficulty Level: Beginner, must know how to crochet ch, sc, dc, tr & slst.

Materials & Tools:
For crochet butterfly, flower & leaf
1. DMC perle cotton thread #8 (double strand) or cotton lace thread #20, various colors
2. Crochet hook: 1.5 mm
3. Tapestry Needle # 22
4. Scissors

Others
5. Sewing kits
6. Hot glue gun
7. Photo frame, felt or photo, Burlap / hemp cloth, ribbon
8. Clothes pin
9. Hair clips
10. Brooch pin & small piece of felt

Abbreviations:
ch = chain
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
tr = treble or triple crochet
st = stitch
slst = slip stitch [see important note]
sl knot = slip knot
fo = fasten off

IMPORTANT NOTE: if not specify where to do the tr, dc or slst, do it on the same st.

The color inside { } is only for the pattern reference, you can mix and match what ever colors you want and get some surprises with your creation.
Butterfly Crochet Pattern:
{blue} Begin with a sl knot of approx 3″ tail.
r1 – ch2, sc6 on 2nd st from hook, slst to the first ch to make a ring.
{yellow} Insert the hook at the last st of r1, yarn over to make a loop as the beginning st of r2.
r2 – [forewing: slst on next st, ch4, tr2, tr1 on next st, ch4, slst.] [hindwing: *slst on next st, ch3, dc, [tail: ch3, slst on the loop of dc st], ch3, slst, repeat * 2 times.] Repeat forewing pattern to complete the butterfly. fo & leave approx. 3″ to make antennae.
[Antennae] Tie 2 yarn ends to make a knot, trim away excess yarn. Repeat the same for the other antennae.

Flower Crochet pattern:
{white} Begin with a sl knot of approx 3″ – 4″ tail.
r1 – ch2, sc6 on 2nd st from hook, slst to the first ch to make a ring.
{orange pink} Insert the hook at the last st of r1, yarn over to make a loop as the beginning st of r2.
r2 – *slst on next st, ch3, dc, ch3, slst, repeat * 6 times to make 6 petals. fo & leave approx. 3″ – 4″ tail

Leaf Crochet Pattern:
{green} Begin with a sl knot of approx 4″ tail.
r1 – ch9.
r2 – sc1 on the 2nd st from hook, hdc1, dc3, hdc1, sc1, slst on the last ch st, turn and work on the other loop of the base ch. ch1, slst on 1st st, sc1, hdc1, dc3, hdc1, sc1, slst. fo & leave approx 4″ tail.
Use tapestry needle to bring the yarn end to the starting side of the leaf through midrib.

Plan your design and determine the quantities and colors of each butterfly, flower & leaf you need for your project.
For Photo Frame:
Cut burlap or hemp cloth and fringe the edges by removing a few warps’ and wefts’ thread.
Position the flowers and leafs, secure them with pin.
Sew or glue them with hot glue. I prefer sew because the burlap could be too weak to hold the flower in place with glue.
Tie a ribbon and sew it on the “stems” of the flowers and leafs.
position & glue the motif on the felt or photo’s plastic cover or on the frame of your photo frame.
If you want to put photo in the frame, position the motif away from the main display area so that it won’t block your beautiful photo. Glue some butterflies and flowers to decorate.
For Clothes Pin & Hair Clips:
Make a knot on the yarn tails at the back of the crochet flower, trim away the excess yarn but not too near to the knot. Glue the flower on the clothes pin with hot glue.
Do the same to hair clip, hair barrette, bobby pin, hair claw, hair band, bun holder etc…

For Flower Bouquet Brooch:
Crochet 8 flowers, sew them together from behind and minimize the appearance of stitches in front. Use similar sewing thread color to camouflage the stitches within the bouquet just in case they did showed up on the front.
Take 2 yarns from behind to the front and tie a knot to secure the “stems” in place just like a flower bouquet.
A brooch pin and a small piece of felt enough to cover the back of the pin.
Sew brooch pin to the back of the flower bouquet, again, try not to show any stitches in front.
Cover the back of the brooch pin with a small piece of felt either by gluing or by sewing along the edges.

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Easy and Fast to make - Lace Trim Handkerchief

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As a Generation Y, we hold a duty to educate our next generation (Z) so that they don’t repeat our mistake in slowly killing the Earth. To be frank, I am not a 100% green folk as many does, whom who put all their time & efforts to save the Earth, I am just doing my best in my own comfort zone, sigh… (shame on me ** blush*** !!!!) Besides using old bed sheets to make into rags & rugs; scrap paper tube into pencil holder; old torn T-shirt into tarn; grocery plastic bags into recycle bag; one of my tiny efforts is to teach my daughter to be eco-friendly to our mother Earth, for this instant, I encourage her to use handkerchief instead of tissue paper.

I love making handkerchiefs, it is the easiest and fastest project to complete.  All the while, I just zig-zag sewed all the 4 edges of a 10″ x 10″ cotton scrap fabric, those are nothing special to shout about so I never mentioned about them here. This time, I made them a little different so that I have something worth your time to visit my blog (what a good excuse  LOL….)

This is a very simple and fast to complete project, but…. you need to have some basics:
If you major in crochet: You need to know how to do blanket stitch and use sewing machine for zig-zag stitch. If you can’t sew with sewing machine, it is not end of the world, you can skip it by using a ready-made handkerchief.
If you major in sewing: You need to know how to crochet chain, single crochet stitch and slip stitch. Well, if you really can’t crochet, skip this tutorial, buy some ready-made lace and sew it around the edges of the handkerchief.

Since these hankies are for my daughter, I made them a little feminine with pastel color and matching color lace thread. I can imagine how they would turn out if they were done in contrasting colors.

Materials:
1. Fabric stashes or scraps (10″ x 10″)
2. DMC pearl cotton thread #8 (double strand) or cotton lace thread #20

Tools:
1. Crochet hook: 1.5 mm
2. Tapestry needle
3. Sewing machine
4. Sewing kits
5. Iron

Cut fabric scrap to your desire handkerchief size. I used 10″ x 10″.
Double fold the edges about with 3/8″ hem, press with warm iron to set the crease. Zig-Zag stitch from the wrong side with sewing machine. Repeat all 4 edges. You can skip this step if you have a ready-made handkerchief.

Now, you have the handkerchief, tapestry needle, crochet hook, cotton lace thread (or DMC pearl cotton thread #8), a pair of scissors ready.
(I used lace thread #20 for these handkerchiefs. If you use DMC #8, you need to use double strand.)

Cut the lace thread approx. 1.5 times the length of the perimeter of the handkerchief (about 60″ for my case).
Insert the thread through the eye of the tapestry needle and make a knot at the longer end.
Pierce the needle on the edge of the handkerchief from the fold, this will hide the knot in there.

Sew approx. ¼ ” apart near the edge, with thread below the needle to make a blanket stitch.

A correct blanket stitch should show the thread intersect or cross at the loop.

Repeat the blanket stitch with an interval of approx. ¼ ” apart. You can refer the zig-zag stitch for a consistent spacing for the blanket stitch. For example, a blanket stitch at every 2 zig-zag etc…

Go round the 4 sides of the handkerchief. Fasten, cut and hide thread end.
Insert a new lace thread into the fold, tie a knot and hide it in the fold. Get ready to crochet.

Insert the crochet hook at the blanket stitch’s intersection (refer the second photo below for a clearer picture), pull the yarn over to become a loop on the hook.

Crochet 3 Chain stitches as shown in the picture on the left.

Single crochet at the blanket stitch’s intersection. To get into the intersection easier, insert the crochet hook into the blanket stitch loop, swing the hook to get into the next loop from the front (follow the yellow arrow in the picture). You should see altogether 3 loops on the hook (see the second picture below).

Again, repeat 3 chain stitches after the single crochet at the intersection.

And, single crochet at the next intersection again. This picture shows better how the hook sit in the intersection with the 3 loops on it.

Continue to crochet 3 chains and single crochet stitch until you come back to the starting point. Slip stitch and fasten off. Hide yarn end into the fold.
Wet the hanky by spraying some water on the lace area, press with warm iron to set the crochet.

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Crochet Bead Necklace With Ribbon Flower

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Materials & Tools:
1. DMC pearl cotton thread #8 (double strand) or cotton lace thread #20
2. Crochet hook: 1.5 mm
3. Plastic or wooden beads: 20mm Ø (5 pcs.), 18mm Ø (6 pcs.)
4. Ribbon (light weight): approx. 2 yards (depends on the length of the necklace)
5. Necklace clasp and jump ring
6. Tapestry Needle with long eye
7. Round Nose Plier
8. Scissors

Abbreviations:
ch = chain
sc = single crochet
sc2tog=single crochet 2 together
st = stitch
sl knot = slip knot
slst = slip stitch
fo = fasten off
mm = move marker

Patterns:
1. Crochet On  20mm bead
beg sl knot, make a big loop of yarn as the hanging string
r1 : ch2, 8sc in 2nd ch from hook (8 st)
r2 : *2sc in each st* repeat 8 times (16 st), mm
r3 : *1sc in first st, 2sc in next st* repeat 8 times (24st), mm
r4 – r8 : 1sc in each st first st, around, mm
Insert bead
r9 : * sc2tog in first st, 1sc in next st* repeat 8 times (16st), mm
r10 : *2sc in first st* repeat 8 times (8st), fo

2. Crochet on 18mm bead
beg sl knot, make a big loop of yarn as the hanging string
r1 : ch2, 6sc in 2nd ch from hook (6 st)
r2 : *2sc in each st* repeat 6 times (12 st), mm
r3 : *1sc in first st, 2sc in next st* repeat 6 times (18st), mm
r4 – r7 : 1sc in each st first st, around, mm
Insert
r8 : * sc2tog in first st, 1sc in next st* repeat 6 times (12st), mm
r9 : *2sc in first st* repeat 6 times (6st), fo

Get the above materials and tools ready. For light color thread, use light color beads like white or beige. Use black beads for dark color thread.

Make sl knot, leave a length of about 3-4 inches tail.
Follow the pattern and crochet with snugly tight tension. Tuck in the bead into the crochet shell when it says “insert bead”.
Continue crochet until the end.
Fasten off with a 3-4″ end.
Use a tapestry needle to insert the start tail through the hole and come out from the other side.

You have 2 ends on one side. Tie them into knot firmly.

Bring both ends back to the start end by using a tapestry needle.
Clip threads close to the bead. The thread ends are thus hidden inside the bead.
Repeat to all the beads.

Close-up photo of the beginning row of the crochet.
Close-up photo of the finishing end of the crochet.
String all the beads up by sliding the ribbon through the holes using a tapestry, with 5 bigger beads at the center and 3 smaller beads on each side.
If you like to space the beads in between, tie a big knot on the ribbon in between the beads.
Measure the length you want for your necklace. Cut away the excess.
Finally attach the jump ring and necklace clasp at the end of the ribbon.
As an option, you can also leave the tail ends long and tie into a ribbon instead of installing the clasp.

Here there is, the complete crochet bead necklace with the ribbon flower.
I went out for a cup of coffee with it, how about you?
Enjoy your day!!!!

I love jewelry making and always admired how beautiful the piece came out when the beads are put together.

Today, I have Johanna Of Tuuma & Toimi to be the guest tutor for Craft Passion. She is showing how to cover a bead with a crochet lace and make it into cellphone charm!!! Beautiful and simply a great idea!!!

If you go to her blog, you will find some beautiful crafts she made… especially this and this. It is in Finnish but some of the posts are in English. If you love good food, you will also find some yummy delicious recipes in Tuuma & Toimi too.

This tutorial really inspired me, I have an idea to make something nice for my neck. Stay tuned!!! Mean while, let’s learn from Johanna how to make this simple yet elegant crochet bead’s cellphone charm.

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Guest Tutor: Johanna of Tuuma & Toimi

I’m a fairly fresh blogger living in Finland. I’ve been a crafter all my life and I’m interested in various craft techniques. Making all sorts of tutorials is very familiar to me as I work as a craft teacher in secondary school. After school hours I still have fascination for my own craft projects of all sorts as it keeps me up to date with all cool things submerging continuously from various sources, especially in the web.

I got myself a new mobile phone and wanted to make a new charm for it, too. The new phone has a metal case and my old charm was made of plastic. It made a nasty clattering sound when hitting the phone case, so the new charm had to be softer.

This charm I came up with has a large bead covered with crocheted net where the bead underneath is still visible. You can vary the bead style with the bead finish and yarn color. If you attach a lobster clasp to it, you can easily unfasten it and replace it with another charm. Or why not use it as a pendant in a cord.

Materials and tools:
• Bead ∅ 15 – 16 mm (wooden or pearl bead)
• Pearl cotton size 8
• Crochet hook 1.25 (UK) / 8 (USA)
• Needle to weave in the tails
• Cellphone strap
• Eyepin 50 mm
• Small bead, silver plated ∅ 4 mm, 2 pcs
• Jump ring, silver plated ∅ 7 mm
• Lobster clasp, silver plated 12 mm (optional)
• Round nose pliers, flat nose pliers and side cutter

Abbreviations:
• ch = chain
• sc = single crochet
• sl st = slip stitch
• * – * = repeat what’s inside stars
• fo = fasten off

Pattern & Directions:
Start with crocheting a net on the bead. Try to make the stitches fairly snug.
Rnd 1: beg sl knot, ch 2, sc 6 in the 2nd ch from the hook, sl st in the 1st sc

Rnd 2: *ch 4, sc in sc* 6 times alltogether (makes 6 ch loops), sl st in the 1st sc, sc 2 in the 1st loop

Rnd 3: *ch 5, sc in the middle of the loop* 6 times, sl st in the 1st sc, sc 3 in the 1st loop
Rnd 4: work as rnd 3
Rnd 5: work as rnd 3
Rnd 6: *ch 4, sc in the middle of the loop*, 6 times, sl in the 1st sc

Slip the bead inside the net and continue to crochet.
Rnd 7: *ch in the middle of the loop* 6 times, sl st in the 1st ch and fo. Cut the thread leaving a tail and weave in both tails.

Slide a small silverbead, crochet covered bead an another silverbead on the eyepin.
Using round nose pliers bend a loop at the end of the eyepin and twist a bit round the pin. Cut the remnant pin with side cutter. Attach jump ring and clasp to the loop with the help of flat nose pliers. Now you can fasten the pendant to the cellphone strap and change another charm to the strap when ever you like.

If you feel crocheting in so small scale as this is too challenging for you, choose a larger wooden bead and a bit thicker yarn to work with and make a keyholder or a pendant for leather band.

Here is the pdf-tutorial for this project if you wish to download.

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Ruffled Flower Corsage Headband

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The first project for this month is the 3 layers ruffled flower / corsage headband for my daughter. I made them from a left over interlock jersey 3/4″ strips from the Welcome home rag rug. Just love the pink and blue, can’t stop myself for not making a darling headband out of them for my lovely daughter.

This Ruffled Flower can be detached from the headband and use as a brooch individually. It can be a hand corsage too if wear on the wrist [the 3rd photos in the photo browser above]. The headband can be put on without the flower for a simpler style.

Basically, you can substitute the materials I used with others to create your own style.
{Get full details on next page.}