• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
How to Crochet a Sweater Without a Pattern Parts 1 to 3By Clotilde MenendezForhttp://www.craftybegonia.blogspot.com/ Part 1---How to Crochet a Sweater Without a Pattern for a Child or Anyone Else
Have you ever wanted to make a special garment for a little one who is very dear to you and didn't have apattern at hand with which to make it? Don't give up! It takes a little figuring out but you can make it!If you have granny squares lying around which you made for a project a while back but got sidetracked andnever got to use after all, you can make some cute sweaters with them.This is what you will use:Granny squares already madea roll of brown paperscraps of worsted weight yarn in colors to match granny squares or contrasting colors of your choicea crochet hook appropriate for the thickness of the yarnscissorsa penmeasurements appropriate for size and age of person who will wear the garmentor a commercial pattern for a top for the person's size and genderAssuming that you are making the garment for a child and you have the child around (a grandson, a niece,your little girl, etc.) you can take measurements and make a schematic in paper and write the measurementson it, then enlarge it using brown paper and follow it, to make your sweater. Ig you do not have the childbut can obtain from the mother a top belong to her or him, you will trace the outline of it on the brownpaper, and after taking the measurements and writing them on the paper, you will follow that. If thegarment is a surprise, like for Christmas or for a birthday, you can otain measurements online for a child of that particular age, there are free charts available, and use those measurements to guide you as you prepareyour brown paper pattern.If you feel more comfortable having something already made out for you, go ahead and buy a commercialsewing pattern for a top, cut it out and trace the pieces in brown paper, or simply pin them on the brownpaper and carefully cut them out. Once you have it all drawn and cut out, the best part begins.Pin your granny squares to the brown paper shape, and simply fill out the rest of the space with sc, hdc ordc until you have a garment. It is as easy as that! Do that for the body of the sweater and for the sleeves.Once finished,join the sleeves to the sweater. With a contrasting yarn color, sc all around once, and whenyou come to the side that will have the buttons, 6 sc ch 1, skip 1, 6sc, repeat, until you have all the buttonsyou want across the front. Fasten off and clean all threads.There is no limit to what you can do, but I would suggest you start with a small garment so you can seeyour results almost immediately.This is really not a pattern but a method to make up your own garments, following the contour of a paperpattern. It is very liberating, because it will allow you to use the stitches you like, to insert anything youlike, like bobbles, shells, etc. in between the rows. You can place the grannies across the bottom, across thefront, vertically down the front and back, and in any way your imagination dictates.
How to Block and Strip Crocheting (How to Make a Sweater Without a Pattern, Part2)The Tunic
 
This is the second installment of my article on how to crochet a sweater without a traditional pattern. Thistime is an adult garment, with a smoking type of neckline and generous sleeves. It can be made shorter, toturn it into a classic sweater, or longer to turn it into a coat.This is what you’ll need:Worsted weight yarn, colors of your choice, the sample used 6 solid colors and 1 matching variegatedSize H crochet hook 1 pair of scissors1 tapestry needle to join pieces1 Measuring tapeBrown paperEasy sewing pattern or personal garmentMore than an actual pattern, what I will give you is a very useful formula that will enable you to make allkinds of sweaters and garments for yourself and for others. Following this formula but changing sleevestyle, the length of the the garment itself and whether you put patches for pockets or make them on thesides, etc. You can make dozens of sweaters for yourself and for others.The steps are easy, take a sweater you really love and which fits you well, or, if you are making it forsomeone else, take a garment from that person or purchase an easy sewing pattern for the standard fit of that person's size.Cut out the pattern and transfer it to brown paper (trace it and cut it out), if you use a garment, trace theoutlines of your garment and make a good skematic of it, with measurements and all, if possible. Next youwill decide the size of your blocks, they could be small or large as in my example (this is a tunic I made asa birthday gift and the recipient loves it.) Choose your yarn or thread and start making your squares, theycould be grannies or textured stitch blocks like the ones I made.Fill the space of your paper outline with the blocks, pinning them with pins in place, the outward sidefacing the paper. Then, join them together, the wrong side facing you, while they are still pinned to thepaper. Once you have your garment in one piece, crochet the strips all along to fill the sides, the necklineand the back, the wrong side facing you.Do the same with the sleeves, making a paper outline that could fit you and your garment, fill that withblocks and crochet strips in between and if you want to, at the bottom as a loose "cuff."If you want pockets, you make two squares, sew them together and just join them to the side strip at eachside facing inward as you go about crocheting and joining them. Or, if your sewing pattern broughtpockets, you just copy them to the brown paper and crochet following the outline and sew them to thegarment as you would to the sewn garment.Tips:You can use many colors in this coat, but try to tie them all together with the colors of the variegated yarnso that the finished garment will not look odd.If you are making a coat for spring, don't use too heavy a yarn and try to use nice textured, almost pebblystitches, to make it thicker without being too heavy.Do not use stitches that will narrow as you go along because they will deform your garment.
 
How to Make a Sweater Without a Pattern---Part 3The Summer Strip Shell
More than a pattern, this is a formula that will liberate you and teach you to make your own garments asyou want to.It works as follows: You follow simple tips every time, changing the stitches you use, the yarn or threadappropriate for the season of the year you are making the garment for, adapting the hook size to the yarnthickness and you have an endless amount of tops you can make for yourself and for others!Materials you'll need:brown paperscissorsmeasuring tape or long rulettop or favorite sweater with good fitpinsmarker or pencrochet hook (for the garment on the illustrations, I used crochet hook size 1)crochet yarn or thread, I happened to use No. 10 crochet threadStitches of your choice, you can really have fun here picking stitches you always wanted to use.Tip: the best ones are the ones that are already "tailored" for a block or granny square, you work them just as the pattern says, but you do not end the blick but keep on going upwards, forming a strip.One of the ones I used for this top I came up with on my own. But you can use whatever stitches you like.Procedure:Lay your favorite top on a clean table and measure it across. Write down the measurement. Then measureits length and write it down. You will need to keep an eye on those measurements to make sure yourgarment is not wider nor narrower than that. And to insure that it is the length your like. Then you are goingto lay a sheet of the brown paper under that top and carefully pin the top to the paper so that it will notmove, then you will trace it all around. Remove the pins and the garment and return it to your closet ordrawer. Cut out the pattern you just outlined on the brown paper and write down the measurements youtook previously, so that you can keep an eye on length and width as you work, and you are set to start.To begin, choose a block that could easily be converted into a strip. Pick up the thread and hook that areappropriate and begin, is that simple. For my specific strips I simply chose a stitch that startedwith chain 26 loosely and I started the pattern in the 2nd ch from hook, and in each st across, making it 25sts across. Although it would have originally been meant for granny a square-style block, I continuedcrocheting upward until it formed a strip.My first and 2nd strips reached from the bottom of the top shell to the shoulder (you make 2 identicalstrips, one for each side of the front--2 more for the back if you are not going to crochet across the width of your pattern like I did.) Then, you make 1 for the center, which will go from the bottom of the top you haveoutlined to the beginning of the neckline which you drew on the brown paper schematic. As you finish eachstrip, pin them in their appropriate places on the brown paper and make sure you've got a fit.
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...