2 Hour Elephant Cushion Tutorial

It's been nearly 2 weeks since I last posted something on this blog. I feel bad about it as I promised myself earlier on that I will at least post once a week. Well, it turned out that it's not as easy as I thought, and writing high quality posts takes time. 

School just started, and I have been flat out for the last week and a half preparing for my classes. For my year 9 textiles classes, I am asking my students to design and make a cushion using a combination of embellishment techniques, e.g. applique, embroidery etc. Last weekend, I decided to make a cushion myself. I had so much fun making it- arranging the design, playing around with the buttons and embroidering flowers. Making a cushion is an easy project but it's highly creative and it took no time to make one. In my tutorial below, I show the entire making process, you can simply follow the steps to make one of these cute little elephant cushions to brighten up your room; or you can let your creativity go free and design your own using the same techniques. Maybe one with a heart for Valentine's Day!

ps. you can now download my tutorial for free from Issuu. 

The Hyperlink in the doc won't work.
You can download the elephant image from Here

It's Heart time!

I am starting to think that the older you get the faster the time goes. It's only new year not long ago, we're already in the 2nd month of the year- the season of Heart!!!!


Don't get me wrong, I am not a person who is into the Valentines Day's stuff, in fact both Jack and I forgot about Valentines Day last year.(oops!) But at the moment, I am totally into making HEARTs! I've been searching madly on the net for crochet heart patterns. I came across a couple and made a tea coaster and a brooch out of them.


Sweet Hearts Tea Coaster:

I found this crochet heart pattern on Pip's Blog. It only takes a couple minutes to make one. You can make them as a hanging decoration for the season or you can apply them to your other crochet design. I sew six hearts together to make a super sweet tea coaster. 

How to make a Sweet Heart Tea Coaster:


- Make 6 Hearts, pattern can be found on Pip's blog Here

- Centre of tea coaster (make 1):

• Chain 4
• From 1st chain, double treble 12 times
• Slip stitch to the first double treble stitch to fasten off.

- Sew the six hearts together into a circular form


- Sew the centre to all six hearts


Now, you're ready for a cup of tea and a sweet chocolate cookie!


PS. Lisa of goodknits.com has made this video on how to crochet a heart, click here to check it out. (Take a good look at her photographs when you're there, they are superb!)


Sugar Sprinkle Heart Brooch


This amigurumi heart pattern from Owlishly is so cute and simple. It came in three different sizes and they make a very good blank canvas for putting on your own design. 

I've made mine into this Sugar sprinkle Heart Brooch. Here is how I made it:


You will need these items 

Some 8ply yarn (red or pink or any color)
a crochet hook (4mm or 3.50mm)
a pair of scissor
a hand sewing needle
some white cotton
some clear seed beads
a brooch back

- Make 1 small heart. Pattern can be found on Owlishly's blog Here

- Then, use a hand sewing needle and cotton
to sew some beads on one side of the heart

- Sew a brooch back on, then it's done!!

 

It makes a super cute pin cushion as well!

Click here to take a look at Elisabeth Andree's pin board, it has loads more heart patterns there.

So, start crochet them now and let me know

What you did with your hearts!

Amigurumi panda purse

Happy Chinese New Year Guys! For those of you who are not familiar with this exciting festival, Chinese New Year (or some call it Luna festival) is a time for all family and friends to get together to celebrate a fresh start of the new year, wishing each other good luck, and of course sharing delicious festive food. What makes this festival extra exciting is that it has a tradition in which the elders (i.e. your Mum and Dad) will give red pockets to the younger ones as a lucky charm. These red pockets usually contain money. I loved getting them as a kid, well I still like to get them now.


I remember when I was little, just before Chinese New Year, my Mum would take my sister and I to go shopping for new outfits and most importantly a new purse for collecting the red pockets. Over the years, I have collected quite an extensive range of purses. This year, I have decided to make one myself to add to the collection. I had so much fun making this panda purse, I hope you will enjoy making it too!

It's it cute? This purse is actually relatively easy to make, a great project for beginners in crochet. I came up with this idea when I saw these purses in a Japanese amigurumi book. The book came with a symbolic pattern which I was not familiar with. But I thought they looked pretty simple to make so I work out a pattern myself. It turned out better than I expected. 

 

To make this purse you will need the following materials and equipment.

Materials:

• Yarn in black, white & yellow
•      some black & white felt 
• some white cotton
• a 10 - 13 cm zipper
• embroidery thread (optional)
• Some cotton fabric for lining (optional)
• Plastic eyes with safety catch (optional)

Equipment:

• a hand sewing needle
• a knitter needle
• a 4mm crochet hook
• some pearl pins
• a pair of scissors 
• a pair of pinking shears (optional)
• a sewing machine (optional)

I wrote up the pattern in abbreviations, you will need to know how to chain, single crochet in a round, reduce stitches in a round and finish off at the end. Click here if you need tutorials on any of these crochet processes.

Amigurumi Panda Purse 

Finished size: approx 20cm(w)x 12cm(h)

Face (make 2 in white yarn)

Rd1:  Ch2, 6sc in the 1st chain

Rd2:  2sc in each sc around (12 sts)

Rd3:  'Sc1, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (18 sts)

Rd4:  'Sc2, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (24 sts)

Rd5:  'Sc3, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (30 sts)

Rd6:  'Sc4, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (36 sts)

Rd7:  'Sc5, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (42 sts)

Rd8:  'Sc6, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (48 sts)

Rd9:  'Sc7, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (54 sts)

Rd10: 'Sc8, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (60 sts)

Rd11: 'Sc9, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (66 sts)

Rd12: 'Sc10, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (72 sts)

Fasten yarn off and for one face piece, leave a long tail for sewing 

Mouth (make 1 in yellow yarn)

Rd1:  Ch2, 6sc in the 1st chain

Rd2:  2sc in each sc around (12 sts)

Rd3:  'Sc1, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (18 sts)

Rd4:  'Sc2, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (24 sts)

Rd5:  'Sc3, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (30 sts)

Fasten yarn off and leave a long tail for sewing.

Ears (make 2 in black yarn)

Rd1:  Ch2, 6sc in the 1st chain

Rd2:  2sc in each sc around (12 sts)

Rd3:  'Sc1, 2sc in next sc', repeat this 6 times (18 sts)

Rd4:  Sc18

Rd5:  Sc18

Rd6:  'Sc1, dec1', repeat this 6 times (12 sts)

Rd7:  Sc12

Fasten yarn off and leave a long tail for sewing.

Now, you are ready for the fun part- assembling the panda purse!
You will need a knitter needle and a pair of scissors.

Nose & mouth

You will need:
some red yarn, a knitter needle
& a pair of scissors

Satin stitch the nose;
insert needle in the top left
corner of the nose.

stitch across to form the
top line of the nose.

Repeat the process, following the shape 
of the nose (in the form of a triangle) or
a shape you prefer.

When you are happy with the triangle,
make two long stitches on either
side of the nose. 

From the point of the nose,
make a long stitch to where
the mouth will be.
Leave the stitch slightly loose.

Make a couple of little stitches
over the long stitch to hold it
in position.

Bring the needle out at the
right tip of the mouth.

Insert needle at the at the
bottom of the long stitch.
This leaves a loose strand of
yarn to form the mouth.

When you are happy with the
shape of the mouth,
Make a couple of little stitches
over the yarn to hold it in place.
Repeat this process for the
rest of the mouth.

What a beautiful smile :)

Cut out felt pieces for the eyes,
you can use a paper template to
do this, so both eyes will look
the same. I made my eye with three
pieces of felt.
Once you have all the pieces,
you can try to place them in
position on one of the face piece. 

Pin them down when you're happy.

Line up the sc stitches on the
mouth piece and the face.
Use the long tail for sewing.
Insert needle through the
sc stitches on both pieces
to join them together. 

Keep sewing all the way around.
Fasten off and tie a knot at the back.

Eyes

As I mentioned earlier, you need to cut out felt pieces for the eyes. You can make a paper template to do this, so both eyes will look the same. I made my eye with three pieces of felt. You can do the same or you can design your own eyes. Alternatively, you can use plastic eyes available from most craft store. 


You will need these items to make the eyes:

• a hand sewing needle
• some black and white cottons
• black and white felt
• a pair of fabric scissors (or a pair of sharp scissors)

Using a hand sewing needle and some black cotton, 
sew the largest eye piece onto the face
with running stitch.

Pin the other two pieces in place.
Sew them together with some black cotton.

Pin them onto the larger eye piece,
slip stitch them on.
Repeat this process for the other eye.

We are almost there!

Assemble the purse

Place the zipper around the face piece 
to measure the opening.Place a pin on either sides of 
the opening to show the start and 
the end of the zipper.
Leave that edge open.

Having the right sides facing,
line up the edges,
pin the front and back together
around the edge,
except for the opening edge.

Sew front and back together with the 
long tail from one of the face pieces. 
Insert needle through the sc stitches 
on both pieces to join them together.
Make sure you leave the
opening edge un-sewn.  

Tie a knot to fasten it off,
remove all the pins.

Turn the right side out,
say cheese!

Ears

Place the ear just below the opening,
secure its position with a pin
on both front and back.

Using the long tail from the ear piece, 
sew it to the purse.
Insert needle through the sc stitches of 
the ear and the purse to join them together.

Make sure you sew all the way
around, from the front to the back. 

Fasten off at the end.

Repeat the process for the other ear.
Now we've got a complete face!

Zipper attachment

You will need these item to attach a zipper:

• a 10cm-13cm zipper
• some white cotton
• some pins
• a hand sewing needle

Keep the zipper closed.
Line up one side of the opening
over one side of the zipper.
Make sure the edge is fairly close
to the zipper and it is consistent
all along the edge.
Pin the zipper in place.

Running stitch along the pinned edge.
Use white cotton, the stitches won't
be visible on the front. 

Once you sew to the end of the edge,
back stitch the edge to ensure
the zipper is attached securely.
Tie a knot on the zipper side
to finish off the stitch.

Open up the zipper, 
line the other side of the opening over 
the other side of the zipper. 
Pin the zipper in position.
Check the ends of the zipper is
lined up on both opening edges.

Repeat the process to complete
the attachment. 

Yoo hoo!

Lining (opional)

You can get away with not making a lining for this purse, but a lining definitely makes it tougher and more usable. 

You will need these items for making the lining:

• a piece of cotton material
• some white cotton thread
• a hand sewing needle
• a pair of fabric scissors (or a pair of sharp scissors)
• a pair of pinking shears (optional)
• a sewing machine (optional)

Turn the purse inside out, place 
it on a piece of folded material.

Cut 1cm away from 
the edge of the purse.

You now have 2 pieces of material for lining.
With the right sides (the printed sides)facing,
place 2 pins on the materials
to indicate the opening edge.
Leave that edge open,
pin the remaining edges together.

Machine stitch along the pinned edge
with a 1.5 cm seam allowance,
so the lining will turn out a
bit smaller that the purse.
Back stitch to reinforce the opening.
If you don't own a sewing machine,
you can hand stitch this. 

Use a pair of pinking shears or a pair of
scissors to trim the seam.
Do not trim the opening edge.

Insert the lining into the purse.
Clip the opening edge (1cm),
 so it can be folded easily along
the curve edge of the purse.

Fold the raw edges to the inside,
where it can not be seen.
Pin the folded edge along
the back of the zipper.

Slip stitch the lining to
the back of the zipper.

Make sure the stitches are small,
consistent and close to the edge
of the folded lining, so
they will be hidden under
the zipper when we are finished.

WA La lala la la! Ready for some red pockets!

If you like this post, or if you have any further questions, please leave me a comment. 


I will keep posting more DIY projects, if you like this post, you can subscribe to my blog on the right hand side. 

http://peppercon.blogspot.com/ pattern by connie stewart 
Please don’t sell my patterns! you are welcome to sell things you make from this pattern, or just simply make them for your love ones:)