Magical Crochet Button-Fastening Toy Bracelet

My very first official crochet design: Magical Crochet Button-Fastening Toy Bracelet!

One day when I was out with my family, I felt a bit bad that my son didn't have any toys to play at hands during the car journey. I really wanted to make something that he can play for some time and doesn't get bored easily. Then I thought that he was still not able to fasten a button. I searched the internet for a button fastening bracelet and couldn't find one I'm satisfied with, so I decided to create my very own button-fastening toy for him.

I thought about button shapes and once wanted to crochet the buttons, and then decided I should start with the most basic and simplest idea. So now here it is! This bracelet can actually made of different yarns, threads and buttons - you can decide the materials! And once it's made, it can be worn with many different looks! My hubby is a math teacher and I asked him how many looks exactly can it create. He hesitated and couldn't give me a satisfying answer, because the bracelet has too many ways to fasten the buttons, and there are just too many possibilities!

I put the pattern for sale on ravelry.com (Also available on my etsy store and will soon be available on ebay too), hoping there will be kids enjoying this little magical bracelet! You may be even get your kids to make it on their own, because it's really really easy to make!

And what happens when I give the toy to my boy? 

Well, he's only 2 years and half, and he's not hugely interested in the button-fastening game yet. But I'm sure he will soon be interested and spend some fun time playing with it when we are on another car journey!

A crochet skirt made of space dyed yarn

I came across this gorgeous pattern on Ravelry and immediately decided to make it. I've got 3 balls of space dyed woolen yarn I bought from the talented girl (little crab yarn) and before that I hadn't really known what to do with them. They were finally somewhere to go!

what it looks like on me

what it looks like laying flat

what the original design (D&G2013) looks like

what the crochet pattern looks like

I'm quite happy with how it turns out. It took almost exactly 3 balls. I repeated the part where the pattern requires, and also repeated the big flowers (Line 4-10) at last. The skirt finally comes a bit big, and doesn't really need a zipper or buttons. I made it a flat piece and this turned out to be a little mistake for colourful yarns like this - the seam will never look natural when sewn together! My mother later started to make a black one and I asked her to crochet rounds instead of the flat piece. Her black yarn looks great as the skirt. She hasn't finished it because the yarn ran out, and she will continue when she's back home.

This skirt now is sometimes worn by me at home as a poncho. Because it contains some cashmere it's quite warm! I might wear it some day out for a yoga or pilates class. After all, that was why I decided to make this skirt at the beginning!

A few vintage patterns are on their way

I've been editing a few 1950s crochet patterns of blouses and a dress lately. They are simply gorgeous. I will make the final editing of the photos and then put them in my etsy store. The 1930s dressing jackets will also be in the shop in the near future. I just haven't typed them in yet...

crochet patterns of blouses and a dress from the 1950s

Another vintage pattern which is literally "on its way" is a Modes Royale pattern also from the 1950s which I won from an eBay auction yesterday.

a dress sewing pattern by modes royale from the 1950s

It's said to have lost it's cover envelope, but the dress itself is just beautiful, isn't it? The pattern is unused. I wish I could make use of it, even though it's a tiny bust 32 (mine: 38). I'm in love with the neck detail and the wast gathering on both sides of the hip.

I know very little - in fact almost nothing - about this pattern brand. But all the patterns and catalogs I've seen on the internet are very beautiful with lots of surprisingly amazing details. I purchased 2 digital catalogs of this brand on etsy, and I really enjoyed browsing them. (Digitalised everything is so for me, as I'm a collector but have not much space to put my real collections, but digitalised books just take no space at all, in real life!)

According to the book Blueprints of Fahions - Home Sewing Pattern of the 1940s I lately borrowed from my local library, Modes Royale patterns only existed during 1943 - circa early 1960s. But it doesn't say more than that, nor does it provides any pictures of the brand. I think the illustrations of Modes Royale and some of the Vogue patterns are the most beautiful ones of that period.

On the seller's page of this item, she also provides some information of Modes Royale as below:

Modes Royale patterns were sold in the most up-scale department stores in the 1950s and 1960s. They were known for their very stylish dresses and suits.

I will try to find more history about the brand in the future.

Working on the Flower Power shawl / a 1930s crochet pattern book

So this is how the shawl's like right now - I'm still working on it. The flowers from a different kind of mohair yarns seem a bit too overwhelming, but let's wait until I finish the whole thing. Maybe adding a trim will balance the heaviness of the thicker yarn's texture.

I bought a booklet for crocheting dressing jackets from eBay last week, as well as a Madame Weigel's sewing pattern. Both are from the 1930s. The above are the crochet jackets which I'd say are stylish enough for today's wearing out! I asked my hubby to scan the booklet for me, and once it's ready, I will put the patterns on Etsy. So you can expect to make these beautiful blouses!

The sewing pattern's style reminds me of a dress from my friend Jennifer's shop. Here's the comparison:

Both have complicated yet very pretty pleats. The fabric of the dress on the right makes the dress even more feminine! You can go to Jennifer's EadoVintage store to purchase the dress if you can't fight the urge to own it (it's very difficult for me not to buy it)!

Back to my crochet project... I hope I can finish the shawl within this week if my babies allow! Since my mother's not very keen in wearing a floral shawl, it's possible I might put it in my store and sell it. But let's see what it will turn out to be next week.

New Mohair Crochet Project and something about this blog

I must say I've not been very good at sticking to one project and finishing it! One or two weeks ago I tried to create a pattern for ear warmer from a photo of my favourite Taiwanese singer in her 20s (photo taken in the 90s of last century). I spent my spare time from looking after my 2 babies, house keeping stuff, and internet surfing on creating this pattern, until my hubby saw me put it on my son and said, "What's that weird thing? A ear warmer?" His look kind of discouraged me and now I've got no urge to finish it any more!

But since I still love crocheting during my free time, I decide to start a new project with my beautiful space dye mohair yarn. I purchased them from a lady in China who dyed them by herself. The colour is very sweet - sweet exactly like candies! I bought 4 balls and that's all she had for this dye lot.

The colour is very pretty!

I looked through Ravelry (this is really an amazing website for crocheters!) by searching mohair crochet patterns and finally found a very beautiful shawl pattern here, called Flower Power Shawl. As the name shows, it features lovely flowers around. It's got more than 100 projects on Ravelry so you call tell how popular it is! I'm going to make it with the yarn above, and I might use white and pink mohair yarns to make the flowers. If It turns out to be as beautiful as I expect, I might make one more for my daughter even though she's only less than a half year old!

© Ekin Deniz

To be honest, I've no idea where this blog will go. I'm right now a vintage lover, crochet addictive, and a pattern collector including sewing patterns and crochet patterns for garments, so probably I will write things about these topics. I used to draw a lot, especially beautiful girls. Now that I'm a vintage lover and a vintage sewing pattern collector, I might try to develop my drawing skills by sketching some girls in vintage dresses soon. I just asked my hubby to bring his Wacom board back. It's time to pick up the pen and draw!