Hanger “how-to”

Hi Everyone!

I’ve been preparing this post ALL morning and am very excited about it’s manifestation onto my computer!  When I have something I really want to blog, it makes the blogging experience much more fun.

It’s a grey rainy day in Wellington and for once I’m really happy about it!!!  It’s my day off today, it’s sunday and I have no impending assignments dragging me away from things I want to do!  Lovely!  it has been a while, I’ve had lots of school-type work to do but everything is handed in for a month so it’s time for some relaxation before the next lot!  So where was I?  Yes, day off, raining, perfect for sitting in my rocker doing some stunning crochet!  Raymond is smart… he’s in my bed under the blankets…. I’m expecting to see him sometime around 4.30pm when he decides its dinnertime!

 I know that you’re all capable crafters, but I thought that today I would photograph the process of how I put the hanger cover together… here goes!

Here are all my “bits” assembled… don’t mind those loose ends, I’ll need them for sewing bits together.

Today’s photography is not the best… it got very rainy early this morning and the sky was dark, so on went the flash and made everything a bit shiny in the photo!  Oh yeah… for my hanger cover, I use 8ply wool and a size 5 hook… the bigger hook makes it hook up faster and use less wool… chain 70, chain 3 and in third chain from the hook, double crochet if you’re from the UK and treble if you’re from the US!  dc/tc to end, chain 3 as turning chain and continue for 5 rows.  That’s only if you are using the same hangers as me… you work it out according to how big your hanger is.

So, find the middle of the crochet…

Notice how my crochet is longer than the hanger?  That allows room for the ends and sorts itself out.

Now poke the hook of the hanger through that middle point

I sew embellishments on first as it makes them more secure… make it nice and tidy and don’t worry about how it looks on the back… no-one is going to unpick it to check the quality of your hand-sewing!!! (I’d just like to add here that my mum would die if she read that… ha ha ha)

Once “embellished,” you are going to single crochet the cover together.  I use a 4mm hook for this, and a different colour wool… I used the same colour once and it didn’t look as good.  Here I’ve used the same colour wool as the inside of my flower.   Ooooh… I just remembered, take a good close look at the outer petals of this flower… see that rainbowey wool?  It’s hooked up perfectly… my mum spun that and for all of you spinners out there, she spun it with a piece of black cotton, just your everyday sewing machine cotton and it’s lovely.  She gave me this tiny little ball of leftovers for a flower and god I wish I could buy some more!!!!!  I have enough for one more flower…

So I begin my seaming in the centre and work out to one side.  I do this so it doesn’t end up baggy at one end and works quite well…

At the end in the corner, don’t forget to make a turning chain between the single crochet

Repeat on the other side and tidy up the centre by tying ends in a knot and weave them in tidily.

Tidy up the flower and add a couple of stitches to make it sit right if necessary!

And voila!

I’ve been having a LOT of fun with these hangers and it’s not over yet!!!  The design with the large centre flower are where it’s at for me… loving the sumptuousness of them, the romantic look…

And here are a few more FOs!

Cute but not my fave… will probably be a gift!  To someone I know who doesn’t read my blog ha ha

Even the photograph of the sunflower hanger makes me feel thrilled… it’s the excitement of spring (which is a long way off!) in the colours… I definitely love this one.

And here is the one… I showed the pic of the flower only, last post… some of you asked for a tutorial… sadly no-can-do… I got the pattern from “crochet bouquet” even though I wish I could take credit for such loveliness!!  Remember though, I told you she has a blog…  so click here www.textilefusion.com/bookblog … she has some patterns from the book on her blog, so this one might be there too… it will be called stacked rose or something similar, the only difference I made is that I put a picot on the end of each petal.  I love the result.

These two are definitely my favourites…

One of my tasks for this afternoon is to clear out my wardrobe to create a space for this loveliness!  I’m excited about them as I usually don’t make beautiful things for myself… I don’t know if I have mentioned before that before I became a student I made my pocket money by selling handsewn felt badges, very cool and contemporary, so I’m used to constantly stitching for other purposes than me!  I haven’t blogged this stuff and probably won’t, because I don’t want to mix business with pleasure!!!  It’s also something I plan to pick up when I’ve finished studying… so maybe in a few years!

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s post… I’ve loved putting it together!  Just one last thing… there is one more hanger left to show you…..

But it’s so special it’s a surprise… and another post in itself!  So pop back in a couple of days to witness the mystery solved…

Thank you for popping by today!  I hope you’re feeling inspired and try out a hanger or three!  If you do make one, let me know how you get on and don’t forget to leave me a link so I can come and admire your talents!  I’m off to surf around my favourite blogs to see what wonderful things others are creating…

Blessings to you from Alice and Raymond XX