1940s Snood/Headband - Crocheted Double Quick

This is a fast crochet project. I started this cute little snood and had the band finished in about 2 hours. It was great, and super motivating to finish the body of the snood in one sitting. I used our 1940s Snood & Hat, Calot, Pill Box & Bandeau pattern. I had 2 balls of Aunt Lydia's Fashion Crochet Thread, size 3 that we had purchased for a different hat. But that was a couple of years ago, when we had no idea how to estimate yardage and balls of yarn needed for a hat pattern. We guessed wrong - so wrong that I didn't have enough to even finish one portion of the hat. Those 2 balls of crochet thread were perfect for this little snood.

The color of the crochet cotton is Copper Mist, a copper metallic thread. I just discovered that the brand has been discontinued by Red Heart and replaced by Red Heart Fashion Crochet Thread. This color didn't seem to make the new color card, which is unfortunate, I'd like to make another snood out of this thread. 

It turns out that working with the size 3 crochet thread isn't nearly as scary as I remember it being, when I first started crocheting. The pattern calls for a size 0 steel crochet hook (3.25mm). That's a US size D. It's not that tiny for working with crochet thread. It's awesome!

Finished measurements, laying flat are: 2 inches wide x 10 1/2 inches - measured down the center of the band.

Happy crocheting!

Tapestry Crochet - Here's What We've Discovered About It

We have several tapestry crochet patterns for sale in our Etsy store. Periodically we get questions about the tapestry crochet and the yarns that the patterns used. The patterns are from the early 1900s - around 1913. The yarns are no longer available, which isn't that surprising. Finding a substitute can be a pain. I know I want to see what the old (vintage) yarns looked like so I know what to look for when I am out and about shopping for the latest project.

So, here's what we have discovered about Tapestry Crochet & the yarns from the Fleisher's booklet.

Fleisher’s Germantown Zephyr was likely a worsted/light worsted weight, 100% wool yarn. The yarn was sold in 1 oz, balls. Compared with similar yarns made by the parent company the balls were likely about 100 yards per skein. If you are looking for easy care, an acrylic yarn would be the way to go. Many of the acrylic yarns are virtually indestructible and machine wash & dry. If you are looking to stay true to the pattern, then 100% wool is the way to go. It would be warm; but more of a hand wash item so it wouldn’t felt after all of your hard work. 

I’ve tried and really like the Loops & Threads Impeccable worsted acrylic yarn found at Michael's. It has a lot of body and softens up after washing. Lion Brand makes Wool Ease an acrylic & wool blend yarn. Plymouth Yarns makes a really nice acrylic/wool blend yarn with their Encore Worsted. Joann's Sensations acrylic worsted weight yarn is really nice too. I’ve made a couple of hats for my kids with the yarn and really like how it works up.

We have not yet tried tapestry crochet, but it seems to make a thick, dense fabric, so the crochet hook used is often smaller than those called for on the yarn wrappers.

As for the color options, Attached is a link to a color chart for color available during the time period. As for the color options, we found this Fleisher's Color Chart from 1929 at VintageKnits.com. While the color chart is not the exact time period, it gives a great view of the colors from back then.

When we started looking for information on how-to do the tapestry crochet we found several sources of information. This video by Carol Ventura provides a close-up showing the difference between crocheting back and forth or working the afghan with the front facing you at all times - you crochet right to left, then left to right.  It seems like you can work your project either way as long as you work the correct number of rows. I'm not sure I could get my head and my hands in sync to work the afghan with the front facing me at all times. It does look really cool though.

One of the problems we run into with vintage patterns, especially the really early 1900's patterns is that they rarely provided finished measurements. Once you have a swatch that you like the looks of, you will be able to calculate the stitches per inch and figure out the final measurements of your afghan. I don't have a link for doing this. I'm a lazy crafter and generally go with what the number of stitches the pattern tells me to use.The pattern doesn't provide for fringe, but it is super easy to add. Verypink.com has a bunch of tutorials - she's one of my favorites sources of information for knitting and crochet. Her fringe tut is located here.

Happy crocheting!

A Boat Load of Aprons

We have a bunch of aprons to show today....

All were made using guidelines and patterns from our 1940s Aprons and Bibs Sewing and Crochet Patterns & Ideas booklet. I decided to make the aprons that were calling to me....

The first apron is a cute little one to wear when serving cocktails at your next dinner party. You can look cute and stay drip-free in this apron. The ruffles make it fun and kicky! The front circle panel features a pocket. 

Gay Ones for Cocktails Apron

The pocket view

The Heart Interest apron is a fun little hostess apron. I had this fabric in my stash, and I knew immediately that this goose print fabric was going to make up as the heart apron. Sometimes the fabric just talks to you.

Heart Interest Apron

Closeup of the hearts & bows

Of course I had to make the Knitter's Delight! This is a neat apron. Alison has her hands in the top pocket, but if you look carefully below the triangle pocket you can see two buttons that show where the bottom pocket is located.

Knitter's Delight

The pockets

More aprons will be coming soon. I am working on a few more in between all of my other projects that Alison insists I work on.  You can find the booklet in our Etsy store.

Happy Sewing!

Measurement Chart from 1942

We have a measurement chart from 1942. It's a fun (possibly horrifying) way to keep track of your measurements when getting ready to start a knitting or crochet project.

 

Click here to download the pdf of the chart.

Happy knitting & crocheting!

Modern Substitutions for Nomotta Ruban d'Art Ribbon Yarn

Alison found a few booklets by Nomotta, featuring patterns made with their Ruban d'Art yarn. It's a vintage and discontinued yarn. We wanted to make a pattern or two from the booklet, but didn't have any Ruban d'Art - until Alison found some on eBay and won an auction for 10 spools of black. The color isn't ideal for making projects and posting the pictures online, but we decided to pair it with a modern ribbon yarn (which turns out is also a discontinued yarn). More info on that as I finish the Jiffy Knit Sweater and start on a ribbon yarn project.

When I first went looking for modern equivalents to the ribbon yarn, I didn't know what size ribbon yarn I was supposed to be looking for.

Once we had the spools in hand, I wanted to show what the weave of the ribbon looks like. It makes looking for a substitute ribbon yarn so much easier when you have an idea of what the original yarn looked like.

The Ruban d'Art looks like a lightweight rayon taffeta fabric, without selvedge edges. The edges are "fused" so the yarn is the same weight and thickness across. It is about 5mm wide.

Happy crafting!

Our New Needle Conversion Chart

Alison worked her butt off tracking down all of the different sizes of needles (knitting & crochet) over the last few months. She put all of this information together to make life a little easier when we are posting patterns and trying to figure out the modern needle/hook equivalents.

This chart (in pdf format) can be downloaded by clicking this link, or by visiting the Vintage Needle Sizing Charts page.

As we were going over the list, we realized that there is no info listed from the 1940s. That means Alison has a lot more digging to do.

My hat is jinxed

Have you ever felt that a project, no matter how great you think it will turn out, is jinxed? My rolled brim cloche is one of those projects. I know I made one in the past year, but after cleaning my sewing and knitting spaces (really cleaning not just a pretend cleaning), I could not find it. So I started another one out of the taupe yarn leftover from the first cloche. But in a massive lapse in judgment I left it sitting out one night and the cats got to it and pretty much destroyed it. The indoor cats almost became outdoor cats the morning I discovered that they had thrown a shredding party with my hat.

So, I started on hat number 3. Number 3. New yarn, new needles, new project bag to store it in. Hat #3 took a little longer than the other ones. I think the pattern may have worn me down a little. But I finally prevailed over the hat, the yarn, and the cats. I haven't had much luck taking a picture of myself wearing it, and my sons definitely will not wear it for a picture. So for the time being, we are offering a picture of the finished hat sitting on my ironing board. 

Taaa-daaaa!

 

Along the way, I took some photos of the hat. The hat starts off knit back and forth, then it is seamed before the "brim" portion is knit in the round.

The back seam being stitched together.

Front view after the back seam had been stitched.

Top view of the unfinished hat.

So, the lesson learned on this project. Always put things away when you are done working or playing with them. Geez, that sounds an awful lot like what I tell the boys 30 times a day.

Free Monthly Pattern for November (hand sewing)

This month's pattern features a great idea for fancifying any outfit.  From the late 1920s or early 1930s, this guide sheet will help you make any holiday outfit glamourous. The flower "cascades" are made from stiff organdie and require some hand sewing, The chrysanthemums look pretty easy to make.

Click on the pattern link or check out the "Free Pattern Downloads" page to be taken to the free pattern compliments of eStitched.

Free Pattern Download for May 2014

Alison has a pattern booklet featuring super cool patterns using Nomotta Ruban D'Art yarns....This is one of the patterns from the booklet. Click on our Free Monthly Pattern Downloads page to download this sweater.

This month's pattern download is a blouse pattern with a full scoop neckline and rosette detailing. The pattern download features pages from the booklet showing how to work with ribbon yarn.

While the yarn is no longer available, it can be occasionally found on Etsy or eBay. In fact, Alison just purchased 9 balls of black Ruban d'Art ribbon yarn from eBay. We have info on the yarn specs available on our yarn wiki page. Click here to visit the Vintage Yarn Wiki page.

Happy knitting!