Simple crochet edgings and things you can make over with them.

Recently I posted about elevating simple things with braids and trims as an easy way to make gifts.  It's fast and very pretty to add a little row of trim around the edge of a tea towel or along the edge of a pillowcase... lots of easy projects.

Braids, ribbons and trims are gorgeous but mostly are going to cost more than my preferred edging which is to crochet an edge myself around whatever I am working on. 

This is very easy. If you can crochet at all you can do this. You need to know how to chain, single crochet and double crochet. If you don't know these three stitches ask someone to show you or go to You Tube and look on learn to crochet tutorials. Find a teacher you like and understand. You can learn these in an afternoon of evening and then practice them a little bit. Otherwise if you know these three stitches you are set!

This is so useful. It makes lovely gifts and things for your home. Plus it is fun to do!

Some possibilities are edging on hand towels and face washers...  

This makes lovely gifts and is quick and easy.

Edging on tea towels/kitchen towels... this is really pretty.

A soft cotton edging on hankies or muslin face cloths (below) or muslin baby wraps... 

Around the edge of pillowcases. I made these pillowcases from old sheets and the hydrangea ones I made my daughter as hydrangeas are her favourite flowers...

Other possibilities are an edging along the top sheet of your bed or of guest sheets. An edge worked around a throw rug or shawl...  An inexpensive project is a piece of polar fleece as a rug and work a lovely edge around this. Or make a table cloth as a gift and napkins and work pretty edges around them. This looks just beautiful.

Just now I have been working around tea towels as a gift...

and frilly edges around pillowcases...

Now I am not much of a teacher as I cannot read patterns! (you have been warned) But I will try to teach you simple edges and these are the two I use the most. Alternatively try You Tube and find edges you like and learn a few easy ones. It will be such a handy thing to learn. 

In most of these projects I have used cotton thread and in either 4 or 8 ply. For more delicate projects you can get fine cotton in balls, I get DMC cottons from Spotlight. There are no rules! A thicker yarn will give a chunkier result a finer yarn a delicate result. Crochet needles come in all sizes... you will need a very fine needle and then a medium one as well. I have used... a size one hook for the first round to get through tough cottons etc and a size four for most of my edges crochet and on towels this will go through the first round quite easily as well.

Some fabrics are easier to work with than others. Mostly towels are easy as the fabric is soft to get your needle through on the first row that goes through the material.

So a small crochet needle will go through this fabric. But on cottons often a small needle just wont go through! Then you need a super fine needle for this first foundation row. So try a needle out on your fabric and see whats needed.

Whatever you are working on this first row forms the foundation. You might want to work all around something like a face washer or just do one edge like a hand towel, thats up to you.

This is for my frilly edgings as seen above. Your first row looks like this...

With a very fine crochet hook I have gone through the fabric every 8 millimetres or so and then worked one chain then gone in again to the fabric. I usually make the stitch about 1 cm deep. You need to stretch the stitch out so the fabric will sit flat... not bunch up which it will do if you don't allow that stitch to have enough yarn to sit flat. I go carefully the first stitches to get that right and check the fabric is going to sit flat under that stitch. Then you are off! 

An alternative to this is to work a row of blanket stitch with a darning needle around your project to form that first row. It looks almost the same. Another alternative is to use something sharp to go along and make the holes for your foundation row... ie a skewer or large needle then see if you can get your crochet hook through them and work your first row. 

The second row looks like this...

This row I have worked a row of double crochet into the foundation row. I work one dc into each stitch below it. 

The next row looks like this...

This is where the frill starts to form. This row I do three chain and then a double crochet into the stitch below, then three chain and skip one stitch below and into the next stitch below... 3 chain, skip a stitch below and into the next and repeat right along... this makes a row of little bridges....

Then the last row...

Ok this row you are working to make petals into the arches of the last row. Into each arch you do one single crochet, 5 double crochets then one single crochet. This makes a petal. Then repeat right along. 

This gives you the frilly edge pictured on my frilly things above.

For a simple flat edge like on my face washers or muslin or the blue pillowcases... 

Just do the foundation row. The the next row do single crochets into four stitches in a row below... then do five double crochets into ONE stitch below. So you are going along 1,2,3,4 singles which makes a row of four then all those dc into one stitch makes an arch of stitches, then 1,2,3,4 single crochet and repeat. This gives you an up and down pattern that is pretty. And thats it, it is all done in two rows. If you will look at the wash cloths you will see it and hopefully understand what I mean!

Working around a wash cloth is a good way to try it. Often things like towels etc might have a border worked into them and other things light have a hem or seam. These are often handy as a guide to a straight line to work along.  I sort of assess each thing as I go. The tea towels I am working on now have about a 1 cm hem... so I work my first row just along that hem on the side of it that is only one layer of material. You do not want to try and work through multiple layers of fabrics. Have a look and work out what is going to be easy on what you are working on.

I find small projects like these really handy, I can take them anywhere with me. They are really economical. And in a lovely linen store I saw a set of six napkins with pretty edgings that were tied up in a bundle with ribbon. The set was $80. What a perfect gift! Sewing up some napkins from some vintage cotton sheets or some gingham would be so quick and easy then crochet around them. You have gone from a bit of inexpensive fabric and a couple of balls of cotton to a beautiful gift! This is an upcoming project for me. I love table cloths and napkins! Nothing makes a table look prettier! 

Today is the last day of the month, I don't know how the month went so fast! I use this day to see how I did on all the things I hoped to do and plan a little bit for what I want to achieve in October. October is Christmas cake making month amongst other things!

As the year is flying by it's also time to get busy on Christmas presents and save save save by spreading things out. This has helped me so much over the last few years. And it has made Christmas so much better, with out the stress of too much to do and too many expenses. 

I had a wonderful September, I hope you did too! xxx