Tutorials

Cunning Hat

~ DMWCarol ~ Leave a comment

I loved the Firefly series and have been thinking about making a Jayne Hat for ages.  Today I finally did

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And since I’ve been asked for instructions here’s how I did it.

You need a ball of red, orange and yellow wool.  I just used cheap basic DK because I am a cheapskate and was just playing around but posh stuff would probably make it nicer.

I used 6.5mm needles.  If you’re so inclined you could use dpns and knit in the round, but I just went with what I had handy.

Start with the basic hat.

  1. Using the orange wool. Cast on 70 stitches using whatever cast on method you like.
  2. Knit 4 rows of K1 P1 rib
  3. Switch to stocking stitch and keep going until you have about 4.5 inches of knitting.
  4. Switch to yellow and continue in stocking stitch for another 3.5 inches
  5. Start the decrease – k5 k2tog, repeat to end. P next row
  6. K4 k2tog, repeat to end. P next row
  7. K3 k2tog, repeat to end. P next row
  8. K2 k2tog, repeat to end. P next row
  9. K1 k2tog, repeat to end. P next row
  10. K2tog, repeat to end.
  11. Cut your wool leaving a fairly long tail, thread through the remaining loops and pull tight – use the tail to sew together the seam as far as the orange, use orange to sew the bottom part.
  12. Now you need to add the ear flaps – The flaps want to be about half the width of the hat (a quarter each) Find a point half way down each side and using the red wool pick up stitches evenly either side of that. You want to pick up 17 stitches so 8 either side of your central point.
  13. Knit about 3 inches
  14. Knit/Pearl together the first and last two stitches of each row until you have just three stitches left. Cast off leaving a long tail.  Thread through an extra piece of red and tie the strings together to leave three dangling strings
  15. Make a pom-pom from all 3 colours and attach to the top of the hat. I find wrapping the wool around the prongs of a large fork easiest but it doesn’t really matter how you do it.
  16. Weave in all the ends.

And that’s it.  Your cunning hat is now ready to wear.

Monsters molished

~ DMWCarol ~ Leave a comment

Huzzah! It worked 🙂

Monster Dice Bag

With a working sewing machine these were actually pretty straightforward.  So much so that I thought I’d have my first attempt at a tutorial 🙂  My methods are kind of vague but that’s okay as all monsters are different.

Start with matching rectangles of fur and lining material (I used red felt). You’ll also want some triangles of white felt and a pair of safety eyes.

First you need to stitch together the different layers at the top edge – fur, lining and teeth – the fur needs to face inwards with the teeth between the fur side and the lining.

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Then once that’s all nicely stitched together

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Open it out flat – and smooth down the seam

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Fold the rectangle down the centre and sew into a tube with one end the lining and the other the fur

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Make sure you leave a gap in the fur for the drawstring – It wants to be close to the top but far enough back that it won’t stop you inserting the eyes.  Two to three inches should do it.

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Flatten out the tube and sew up the fur end.  I put the seam in the middle because I liked it that way but you could leave it to one side just as easily.

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Then you need to add in your eyes – they want to be about an inch or so apart and close to the teeth edge.  I added circles of felt around mine as they looked a bit too small.  I forgot to take a photo of this part, bu you can see the placement on the finished bags.

Then all you need to do is sew up the bottom edge of the lining and sew a couple of channels for the drawstring to go in (lined up with the gap you left in the seam in the fur)

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The rows of stitching should be either side of the gap you left in the fur – just poke a finger through to see where it starts and finishes.  Thread some cord through and if you want to, add knots or toggles to stop it coming back out again.

And that’s it – one monster ready to eat your dice 🙂  I also made a tongue shaped pouch to hold pencils which attaches inside with a piece of stick on velcro but that’s completely optional.

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I’ve ordered some different colours of fur so I can make more of these, they’re such fun!

Let me know if you give it a try.