Spoonflower - Free Shipping Day

Spoonflower are having a free Shipping Day from Monday 9am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) to Tuesday 9am (EDT) it's free shipping worldwide. So I am off to order some fabric :)

Fibre Monday

Spoonflower.com are having a 12 hour free shipping worldwide event starting today :)
My fabrics from their last special offer have just arrived, I will post some pics of them tomorrow.

Earth Day Cut & Sew Bag

 This weeks spoonflower competition is for an Earth Day Cut & Sew Bag, the brief was "To honor earth day 2014, we're asking you to create a cut & sew pattern for a reusable shopping bag. The design should be set up to be centered. Preview will be sized at a single yard of (42" X 36") kona cotton."
This fabric design had two stages, the designing of the bag/ pattern and then the design to go on the bag. Spoonflower did supply a file for a bag if people could not make their own, but I felt it had a lot of wasted fabric space and I also wanted to put lining in my bag.
For me when designing the bag I tried to use as much of the yard as I could, I think there should be very little wastage if something is for earth day. The bag is lined for strength and has no seams on the bottom again for strength. The straps are wider so they don't cut into your shoulders when been used, I may even add a light-weight wadding/ batting to them give them extra support and comfort.
For the design on the bag, I used the crocheted hexagon I had been playing with recently (I posted about last month) and decided to scan them into photoshop. I had to do this many thing as what looks like a good hexagon when scanned for some reason does not always look like a hexagon or the stitches do not show nicely. I played with the scanned hexagons for several hours and created a few different fabric prints I was happy with to use on the bag. I also played with the colour a little, keeping with earth day theme I wanted a "green bag" that was green!
I have ordered the fabric and I am waiting for it to arrive to see how it looks when printed. I will make the bag and post a "how to" when it comes.
To vote for my bag or to see/ vote for the other bags in the competition click the link below http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters_temp/new?contest_id=243 there are some really nice designs. You can vote for as many as you like (only 1 vote per person) just make sure you go all the way down to the bottom of the page and hit submit when you do vote so it is counted (you don't need to sign up to vote)

Spiral Flower - International Crochet Day 2012

Today is the 12th September so it's International Crochet Day, as in previous years here's a new free pattern a Spiral Flower. This is a fast and easy pattern, make the chains than only 2 rows super speedy, crochet, roll and sew.
Add one or more flowers to a bag, hat, shoes, headband, clothes, cushions or make into a brooch/ es, hairpin or necklace.
Play with the colours and have fun :)
Happy International Crochet Day 2012

To make this more international and includes everyone I have added the pattern using symbols also.
If  you are unsure of the stitches just click on the links under stitches used :)

Stitches used
ch - chain (UK and USA)

tr - treble (UK) / dc - double crochet (USA)

dtr - double treble (UK) / tr - treble crochet (USA)

Materials
Yarn - Double knit (DK) / Worsted weight in 2 colours I have called them colour A  and colour B. Pick matching colours or contrasting colours (you can use just one colour if you prefer)
4mm / G hook
Needle to sew together

(Pattern will work with other weights of yarn just remember to use the hook that matches the yarn thickness for best results)

Pattern (UK terms)
Chain 20 using colour A
Row 1: 2 tr into the 4th ch from the hook, [miss 1 ch, 1ch, 3tr into the next ch] X 8, change to colour B

Row 2 : 3 ch, 1 tr into tr, 3 dtr into next tr, 2 tr into next tr,[1ch, 2 tr into tr, 3 dtr into next tr, 2 tr into next tr] X 8

Pattern (American terms)
Chain 20 using colour A
Row 1: 2 dc into the 4th ch from the hook, [miss 1 ch, 1ch, 3dc into the next ch] X 8, change to colour B

Row 2 : 3 ch, 1 dc into dc, 3 tr into next dc, 2 dc into next dc,[1ch, 2 dc into dc, 3 tr into next dc, 2 dc into next dc] X 8

Spiral completed length of crochet loosely around, sewing into the back to hold all the layers together using the yarn ends.





For these who prefer to follow the symbols :)










Let me know how you get on with this pattern, I'll put a link to ravelry also so you can share your finished flower photo's