Pencil Pouch!

     Hello, it is I, a simple girl who is going to have to go back to school soon. :( With the school year starting there is a need for pencil storage! So, I decided to crochet a....

                        Pencil Pouch!!

     Here are some pictures:

Here's how:

MATERIELS:

  Any yarn (I used Red Heart, don't remember the color, sorry about that)

  Hook of corresponding size (I used U.S. size I or 5.50 mm)

  Zipper

  Blunt/tapestry needle (For attaching zipper and weaving in ends)

This pattern may or may not be 100% accurate, I made the pouch, and now I'm trying to 

remember what I did to share the cuteness of this pouch, so bear with me!

LONG SIDES  (make 2)

Chain 30ish (just make sure it's an even number)

Chain 1, turn

Sc all the way across starting chain, *ch 3 (counts as double crochet) 

(bobble stitch, sc) all the way across to the end, ch 1 turn, sc all the way across*

If you don't know how to do a bobble stitch, try this tutorial: 

http://www.dreamalittlebigger.com/post/bobble-stitch-crochet.html

Repeat from * to * three times

Ch 3, (counts as dc), dc all the way across

Tie off and weave in ends

SHORT SIDE A (make 2)

Ch 11, Hdc in  second ch from hook

Hdc 8, *ch 2, turn, 9 hdc*

Repeat from * to * 3 times

Ch 1, turn, sc 9

Tie off and weave in ends

SHORT SIDE B (make 2)

Ch 12, dc in third ch from hook

Dc 8, *ch 3, turn, 9 dc*

Repeat from * to * 2 times

Tie off and weave in ends

BOTTOM PIECE A

Ch the same number you chained for the long side pieces +2

hdc in second ch from hook, continue to hdc all the way across, completing the row

*ch 2, turn, hdc all the way across*

Repeat from * to * 6 times

Tie off and weave in ends

BOTTOM PIECE B

Ch the same number you chained for the long sides +3

Dc in third ch from hook, continue dc all the way across, completing the row

*ch 3, turn, dc all the way across*

Repeat from * to * 3 times

Ch 1, turn, sc across

Tie off and weave in ends

ASSEMBLY 

Take one of each of your short sides (one A and one B), and match their wrong sides together so that the right sides are facing out; and slip stitch them together along the edges. Repeat with the other two short side pieces.

Take both bottom pieces and do the same thing; wrong sides facing in, slip stitching them together along the edges. 

Now you have some double-reinforced pieces to reduce pencil pokage :) If you want to, you can add a second layer to the bobble/long side pieces, but I didn't because I thought it was thick enough already.

Okay, now it's time to put the sides and bottom together.

Take your double bottom piece, and one of your long bobble side pieces. We're going to use a blunt/tapestry needle to sew them to each other with a blanket stitch. When you sew them together, make sure that the puffy side of the bobble stitch is facing out, the row of double crochets on the long bobble piece is on the top, and that the double crochet side of the bottom piece is facing in/up (this helps with the whole poking issue, in my opinion)

Repeat with the other long bobble side piece.

Blanket stitch the short sides on in the same manner as before, with the double crochet facing the inside of the pouch. 

If you don't know how to do a blanket stitch, try this tutorial:

http://www.holiday-crafts-and-creations.com/how-to-do-blanket-stitch.html 

I know the tutorial is for sewing edges, but it's very clear and you can easily apply it to this project. 

ZIPPER

Attaching the zipper wasn't really that difficult, it was just hard to poke that little plastic needle through the zipper fabric.

Here's how: 

Unzip the zipper

Turn the pouch inside out

Blanket stitch one side of the zipper to the double crochets on one of the long bobble pieces

Repeat on the other long bobble piece 

Turn pouch inside out

Sew together any leftover double crochet space that doesn't have any zipper (you may not have any)

At least that's how I did it. Lots of other people use a sharp crochet hook to sc through the zipper, then attach, or they even start from the zipper and work from there.

However you do it, just enjoy your cute little bobble pouch!

Little Donut

     Hello, it is I; a simple girl. A simple girl who hasn't posted anything A LONG TIME. How have you been? I've been good. Did you have a good spring break? I did. I thought that you would like to know that I made a small donut over the break whilst I was doing nothing. I sewed it out of leftover flannel and patterned cotton blend. The flannel is white and soft and the cotton blend is hot pink with white, green and baby pink polka dots. I have not taken a picture of it yet, but I will post one at a later date.

Cookies

    Hello, it is I, a simple girl. A simple girl who hasn't posted for a LONG time. I'm sorry. It's been awhile. Happy New Year! How have you been? I'm good. Did you have a good holiday break? Good; I did too. Anyway; I digress. I did A LOT of baking this holiday season. Made about a ton of cream cheese cookies, chocolate chip biscottis, peanut butter cookies, sugar cookies, and the like. Fun, but tiring.  So, I pretty much just made and decorated a bunch of cookies over the break. I also learned how to needle felt. I made a penguin! I'll show a picture of it next time I post. 

Shell Flowers

Hello, it is I, a simple girl. I've discovered that this whole blogging thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be, so I decided that I would post my very first craft tutorial! Here goes nothing...

Shell Flowers

Ok. Let's get started. The materials you will need are:

• 9 large jingle shells (about the size of a quarter)
• 4 slightly smaller jingles
• 3 more jingles that are slightly smaller than the previous 4
• 2 little baby sized jingles
• Non-stick craft square (basically a little rubber square that won't adhere to hot glue)
• Hot glue 
• Floral tape 
• Sturdy floral wire
• 1 plastic rose sepal (available online and at some craft stores)
• Something to cover your work area (newspaper, a tablecloth, anything really.)

(P.S. find more on jingles at this url:

http://www.edc.uri.edu/restoration/html/gallery/invert/jingle.htm)

First, cover your work area. (I'm feeling lazy so I'm just doing this on paper plates.)

Next, you need to gather your jingles and line them up by size.

Next, pull out your rubber square, and squirt a little glob of hot glue onto it. You probably should wait for the little glob to set for a few seconds so that the shells hold up.

Then, take one of your large jingles by the hinge and stick the blunt end into the edge of the glue.

Put another shell next to it in the same fashion as the previous one.

Continue around with 2 of the other shells.

Here's the tricky part. You will need to place the 5th jingle over the last jingle you laid and under the very first one you laid. 

Here is a photo of the flower after I have placed the 5th large shell.

After you do that, you need to grab one of your four slightly smaller jingles, and stick it in front of the larger jingles.

Did the picture help? I hope so. Well, once you do that you need to continue around like that with 2 of the remaining shells and do the same over under thingy.

By now, your glue will most likely be dry. So, you will need to apply glue directly onto the three smaller shells. In order to do that, you have to hold the jingle by the hinge, and put the glue on the blunt end.

Once you have the glue on the shell, place it inside just like you did the previous four. Just place them in the middle like a triangle.

After you're done with that; do the same with the little baby sized jingles and put them across from each other.

After you're done with that and the glue is dry, just peel it off! Simple as that!

Look! A pretty flower! Where did that come from? Now; if you want to learn how to put this on a stem, go on; but you don't have to. You can put a magnet on the back, make a Christmas ornament out of it (the season is right around the corner!), or glue it onto a picture frame or something.

To put a stem on your jingle rose, you are going to need to add a few more petals. First, you need to get your 4 other large jingles.

Then, you need to flip your flower upside down, and put some hot glue on the blunt side of your new shells.

Once you put the glue on the shell, put it on the flower.

Now, do it 3 more times, and be sure to leave a little gap in the middle. 

After you've accomplished that, grab your stem wire, (my wire came with a little knot at the end, but you may need to bend your own knot with pliers) and wrap it with the floral tape.

Then, after you wrap your stem, squirt a little glob of glue in that gap in the center, and stick that little knot into the glue.

Once you have put the stem in the glue, (you will need to hold it up) wait a few seconds, and then squirt some more glue on top of that little knot thingy.

You're going to need to hold it up while it dries. 

Once the glue is dry, take your sepal and slide it onto your stem.

Bring the sepal closer to the flower and squirt some glue into it.

Once you put the glue in the sepal, slide it up the stem and hold it there until it's dry.

You now have a pretty jingle rose! You should be proud of yourself.

You can make a flower out of any shell following this basic outline. I did it and I made a whole bouquet of shell flowers!

See?

Get to Know Me

Hello, it is I, a simple girl. This is my first blog ever. You should be proud of me. By the way, happy Thanksgiving, everybody! You should know that I will be posting a lot of things ranging from book reviews to craft tutorials to random short stories I happened to think up. Now, go eat your turkey and be happy. The End.