Using blanket stitch to make lacy trims for hankies

Hi everyone,
After stitching on the hanky with the alternate chained blanket stitch, I kept it aside for a while trying to think of something nice and pretty in the middle.My first option were the tiny roses, and  I stitched them on another cloth simply to try it once. But somehow , it ended up as a trial only.



Then I mulled the option of  monogram..but discarded the idea again.The hanky lay abandoned for a few days and all the while I was wondering how to deck 'her' up.

Then came the idea of lace crochet trims. Why not try them? It was a while since I crocheted and my dc-s (double crochet) and tc-s( triple crochet) were rusty.But when I started piercing the hanky with the hook to make base ,I realized that this method was creating holes at the edges and the fabric was rather delicate to withstand this attack. Thus ended the first attempt.But I was hell bent on crocheting the edges - somehow a base had to be made. That's when the dear old blanket stitch came to the rescue :)

Click on the pics for a better view. In the above pic,on the left ,you can see the holes created in the fabric after my first attempt.

I stitched around the entire hanky with evenly spaced blanket stitches using perle cotton and then...I dc-ed around exactly once and stopped the whole business there.
Are you thinking? - she did all this to crochet just one round??? Heh,heh....that's me :)
To tell the truth, I did try going around couple more times,but it looked awful,probably because of my special crochet skills :) or may be the thread was just not good enough{wink}

At the end of it, I was over the moon at having laced up my hanky,but I had lost interest in finishing the embroidery part and so I lazy daisied and ended it. But the question remains, how does one directly crochet on to a fabric? Crocheting experts, please help.



Let me leave you with another piece of embroidery ,this time on a face towel .I bought it from Koonor,while returning from Ooty. Apparently, these are stitched by nuns.


Simple and elegant, but I would never ever wipe my face with it ...:)

Love,luck and sunshine,
Deepa

Comments

  1. Love the pansies on the face towel!

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  2. Hi Deepa, I am by no means an expert crocheter but I think you are supposed to make a blanket stitch first with a needle and then crochet in the gaps as you did. I would like to know what others think though. Jo :)

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  3. you have transformed a plain hankie into a very pretty piece.
    Not sure about how you crochet straight onto the fabric, as you say it makes big holes.

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  4. Someone sent me a thin crochet hook with a sharp hook. I'm not sure how widely available they are, as it was sent to me from the USA. I've never seen them in the UK. I haven't tried it yet. I've done the blanket stitch base for other projects

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  5. hehe!
    sorry i can't help with crochet edges, but with your determination you'll get there.

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  6. I'm no expert either, but I think doing a blanket stitch first is the way it's done. You did a great job!

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  7. Deepa,
    In school-embroidery class, we were taught to do blanket stitch edging for hankies, tht came to my mind while reading this.For me crocheting around is much easier, may be u need a lil more practice.I love the flower face towel in last pic, sooo pretty!

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  8. Deepa..you need a sharp hook to pierce in the fbric and crochet on the fabric. First fold the edge and hem itdo it by hand or machine. if your machine have an option for rolled hem, that's great. I usually crochet edge of hankie using no.10,20,40 or pearl cotton thread using no.12,13 or 14 steel hook, depends on the weight of the fabric. For flannel, i have made hole and then dig a big hook and do it with thicker thread. you can otherwise invest on a sharp hook from this site http://blog.sharpcrochethook.com/

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  9. Dear Deepa, these hankies are such daity ones!!what you said is true we wont feel like using such delicately embroidered things !.I have this habit of keeping them in my hand bag and when in need to wipe the face I tend to pull out tissues from my travel tissue cozy!:).The pansies in long n short look fragrant!The laced edges and the lazy daisies too look very very pretty!!

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  10. Quite funny coz’ you’re afraid to wipe that hanky on your face. How cute! In my case, I would do the same thing. That piece of artwork deserves to be placed in a frame and hang on the living room, don’t you think? Its simplicity makes is irresistible. Good job!

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  11. Very nice embroidery work. I love the color choices.

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  12. Nice stitching skills, they really stands out, I like the way how you paired them with the fabric too, simple yet elegant.

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  13. Deepa i so enjoy your work. You have many interesting and creative ideas. I love those pretty handtowels.
    shirley

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