My first attempt at Crochet

I've been following Ninu's blog for quite some time, and have been admiring her creations. Inspired by her, I decided to try my hand at crochet, and after getting directions from her on where to get the materials for it, tried out this pattern from ravelry.com. As I didn't know the specific stitches, had to find tutorials on the net for them. And more than once, I had to undo the stitches and do them again. Finally, I finished it and am happy with the result. :)

Tutorials for the Bag, Cushion and Pincushion

As I've got a request for tutorials of these, I'm giving the link to the pages from where I got these and for the pin cushion, I didn't take any pics while doing it, so will write up how to go about it.

Bag
I wanted to make a handbag for my friend and had been searching the net for patterns when I came across this. It was the closest I could get to the one I wanted to make. As you can see, I've changed the shape a little bit, and also omitted the zipped pocket and included pouches. Was too lazy. :) The method I used was more or less the same, except that for the top section, I used 2 layers of interfacing. So, it stays firm. And the magnetic press buttons keep the two sides together.

Cushion Cover
I got the inspiration for this from the different blogs I visited. Vani's blog describes the first part of the pattern. In fact, you can just do that and leave it. That itself is one pattern. But I found this pattern in another Portuguese blog. Here Sonia describes the process from beginning till end. Actually, for this, the stitching part is quite easy. It's the drawing part that's tedious. Here are a few pics which'll definitely give you a better idea on how to do it.

This is from where Vani's tutorial ends.

Fill each alternate space with the cushion filling, and stitch it close.

The circled area is where the filling has been added. And the rest of it is without the filling. You can also use it like that.

Pin Cushion
I got the pattern for this from a free e-book downloaded from sewdaily.com. I'm not sure if it is alright to give out the tutorial here on my blog, when they are giving it out in their e-book.

Pin Cushion

I've seen many tutorials of pin cushions, and have wanted to make one for myself. But I never liked any one in particular, until I came across this one. I really loved it, the look and the concept. So, straight away sat down with the scraps of fabrics, and selected one for a simple button I had and here it is.. :)

This pin cushion is attached to a strip which can be wrapped around the wrist, and the press buttons are added for my wrist size. So, now, before I start cutting the material, or do anything that needs pins, I put the pin cushion on my wrist. And then go ahead with the rest of the stuff. It helps me keeps the pins very handy.. :) And no fear of misplacing the pins anymore... !!! 

Cushion

I've finished making a cushion and a cover for it. And after completing it I'm super happy. I got the inspiration from some blogs I came across. Got the pattern and complete directions from there. Some Portuguese blogs and some Indian blogs. There were so many different types that I had a very difficult time deciding which one to do. Then finally, I started doing each and every one of them on an old piece of cloth to see how it actually looks. And decided on the most beautiful and the most time consuming one. Now that I've completed it, I've started doing another one. And planning to make a complete set for my home. Here is the pic.

Handbag

Well, this is my first attempt at making a handbag, though not my first attempt at crafts/ stitching. I've always been interested in such stuff, from the time I can remember. I've always tried to make something myself, when I wanted to gift someone close to me. But never bothered to click a pic of it. After seeing many blogs where people display and give instruction to the things they make, I thought I'll do the same. Such blogs have been very helpful for me. Right now, I'm working on something, for which I got the instructions solely from blogs. But it's not complete yet, and I happened to click some pics of this handbag which I made to gift a friend.  At the time I did this, I didn't have any tutorial or pattern for this. But later, I found that there are lots of free patterns and tutorials available on the net for handbags and almost anything you ever want to stitch. This was a trial one. But thank God, it came out well. And my friend to whom I gifted it, just loved it, which made me even happier. :)

 That's the end product, from outside. And below is the photo of the inside of the bag. I added 2 small pockets to keep the mobile phone or keys or any other small item that you might want to take out easily. And I've added magnetic press button, for which I had to hunt a lot. Since I'm new to this kind of stitching, and I don't know anyone who does these here in Bangalore, I'm struggling to find the raw materials.

But it was fun making this. I really enjoyed it. :) Especially the part where I had to figure out how to cut the cloth. Tried it out a couple of times on paper. And the size, I had no clue. But I've cut paper patterns of all the pieces I used for this bag. If anyone is interested and wants to know, please do let me know. I'll add it to the blog.