Pillows with zippers

I had gotten a crochet pillow kit and finishing it up kind of freaked me out.  It had a zipper that needed to go in it.  I had to supply the zipper myself, it was not in the kit.  But here is how I did it.

I sewed it in!  Yep all by hand.  It actually did not take me that long to do.

I lined it up and sewed in one side with the teeth just on the very edge of the crochet and then unzipped it and sewed the other side in the same way.

see you can barely see the zipper when it is closed.  By the way I couldn't find a zipper long enough in lavender so went with a cream color.  It doesn't show so no problem!

Here is the pillow.  It's beautiful.  I got the kit from Herrschner's.  The kit didn't come with the zipper or pillow form just the yarn and pattern.

and here is a better pic with more exact color of the pillow

this second photo is a little washed out but you can see the stitches.

How to make a rag rug tutorial

Gather some cloth.  I used up some fat quarters and yards of fabric I wasnt too crazy about and used them for this rug.  Cut (or rip) 2 1/2 inch strips.  I tried to use the length of the fabric for my strips.  When I used the width of the fabric (from selvedge to selvedge) I left the selvedge on as you can see in the following pics.  It's a rag rug after all so no need to be too picky.  If you wanted to you could iron your strips and even hide the raggedy edges depending on the look you are going for.

Take your the first strip and cut about a one inch slit about 1/2 to 1 inch in from the end.  If you goof and cut too near to the end, just lop off that section and start again.

With the right side of the first strip facing you, pull your second strip through that slit with the wrong side facing you (of the second strip).  Cut a slit in the second strip the same way you did the first strip.

Now you are going to take the second strip's other end (without a slit) and pull it through the slit you just made in the second strip.  It's like a slip knot sorta.

Pull on that second strip until a knot forms but not so much that you hear cloth tearing (not so good to hear that :))  Continue adding strips this way until you get a length that you are comfortable with to start the rug.  I made my rug rectangular.  I used a big crochet hook (I think it was a L size) and started the rug with a chain of about 12-15 stitches (of course I did this tutorial after I crocheted the rug and didnt write anything down before).  You will crochet around that chain on both sides using a single crochet and making 3 single crochets in each end of the piece.  I did not join on any round, just kept going around in circles, kind of like my life LOL. 

Here is a pic of me doing the single crochet.  I just did each stitch in the back of the loops to form a ridge on the top of the rug.  There are tutorials on the internet for doing single crochet.  I'm afraid I'm not very good explaining it on here but just google it and you'll find a tutorial on it.  It is an easy stitch to do.  One tip, when you pull your loop through the two loops on your needle pull it a little bit looser than you would normally.  This will help keep the rug flatter I found. 

  When you get to the 3 stitches you made in the ends make 3 stitches in the first stitch and 3 stitches in the third stitch.  This will make your corners for the rectangle.  Every round make three stitches in the middle stitch of those three stitches.  Hope that is clear as mud ;)

Here is my completed rug.  It isnt too big just big enough for the bathroom.  You will have a lot of threads come off or at least I did and I just cut those off when they got in my way.  If you are going to use this with children or older people, you might want to use one of those rug backers on the back as it can be slippery underfoot.  I found that this is a cat magnet!  Yes my cats were sleeping on it every chance they got as I was making it cause I would put it down on the floor when I stopped working on it for a while.  It is a great use for all those odds and ends and you could even use some old tablecloths or sheets as if they are stained you wont notice that once it is crocheted up.  The 2 1/2 inch strips make for a very cushy rug but you could also do thinner strips too.  I didnt work nonstop on this because I found that my hands hurt from crocheting and tugging the loops through especially when I came to a knot but then I do have carpal tunnel so you may have no problems at all.

Oh I almost forgot - to end the rug just pull the end of the last strip through and pull tight.  I wove the end into the back side of the rug under some of the previous stitches.  Cut the remainder and you are ready to use your rug!

If you have any questions or problems with this tutorial, just let me know and I'll address them in an another blog entry.

Talk to ya later!

Denise

I have linked this (I think) to:

http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2011/08/on-my-mind_19.html#links

and

http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/search/label/sew%20darn%20crafty" target="_blank">http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z381/sewmanyways/polkadotsewdarncrafty.jpg"/>>

Megan's poncho

This is Megan in the poncho I made her back in December.  Aint she cute!  Course the poncho could be turned with the points in the front and back instead of from side to side too.  I used cotton yarn since she lives in the south and she actually got to wear it cause it got cold enough.

wow it's been a while

Sorry I havent posted in a while. It's summer what can I say? I basically have no excuse. On the crafting front, I have been crocheting a baby blanket and two little ponchos for some very special little girls who shall remain nameless and I will not be posting a pic until they get their gifts.

The garden is doing well as can be expected with the weird weather going on right now. Our tomatoes are not doing so hot. We had a bout of cooler weather which the beans and peas loved and they even sprouted new flowers but the tomatoes did not like it at all. I guess we are not the only ones not to have good weather in the US though. I bought some limes and am going to try to make some lime marmelade. I have never made jelly or jam before so this should be interesting. I bought a new canner a couple of weeks ago and would love to get a pressure cooker at some point. It all stems from a new book I got. It has so many recipes in it. Oh the ginger jam looks sooooo good with apples as a base and crystalized ginger it it. Might have to try it as well.

DH is getting another bike. He will then have four. yes I said four...sigh. He even has his own "bike room" where he stores all his bikey things. Is that a word? Well it's only fair since I have a computer/craft room.

Work was a bear on Friday and Monday with my partner being off and me covering for her. It amazes me when people call you at 10:30 and need dictation for 6 people done by noon. Not like they didnt know they needed it before Monday. But she was back today YAH!

We now have a bird that likes to sit on the flag pole outside on the porch and tease my little kittens...well all except Molly, he could care less. He was snoring on the couch while the others were lined up at the storm door acting like they were going to have lunch soon ;) And then tonight a new pal came around for Penny to get upset with. Penny is our resident guard cat. Yes she doesnt like the UPS guy and growled at him the last time he came to the door. So funny.

Well I will try to get some pics up of some finished things I have almost done so you can take a look see.