Home made crochet ribbon

May 13th

 

I have always admired beautifully wrapped presents and over the years have tried my best, mostly at Christmas, but time always seems to run out, so lately I have been thinking how to make my gifts just that little bit more special.  Over Easter I began playing with the idea and now think I have hit upon a quick and simple yet stunning combo, I thought I would 'pass on' my idea to you, what do you think? 

 

 

Crochet gift ribbon

You will need:

♥  3 different coloured yarns

♥  crochet hook appropriate to yarn, plus on a size larger

♥  scissors

♥  yarn needle





To begin with I used a crochet hook larger than I wanted to actually crochet with.  This is so that once I begin on the first row, it will be easier to find the correct stitch.  So I began here with a hook size 4.5, but after the initial chain, I continued with a hook size 3.

 

Depending on the size of your gift will determine the length of your chain.  I wanted to wrap a small book and so chained 65.  To determine the length of chain you need to chain as many as you think you will need and then put it along the side of your gift, to give you a rough idea, this part is not exact science.

 

 

Initial chain of 65 on the larger hook.

 



When desired length is reached, switch to the smaller crochet hook and single crochet into the first chain.  Continue to single crochet to the end of the chain.



Here you can see the difference in the width from the chain and the chain with single crochet.

 



In the last chain single crochet three times into the same stitch, this will produce a neat curved end.  As you continue to single crochet on the other side of the chain you will see the original loose thread from the beginning of the chain.  To avoid needing to weave it in at the end, hold the loose thread close to the chain and 'catch it' into the single crochet stitch,
thus hiding it and trapping it within the ribbon.

 



Continue to single crochet along the second side until the end of the row. In the last chain, again, single crochet three times and then pull thread through to finish the row.

 



 

Once you have single crocheted on both sides of the chain, it should look like this:

 



 

Introducing the second colour and bordering the crochet ribbon:  Take the second colour and into the first stitch by the end of the ribbon chain two.

 



 

 

For this row, you will need to hdc along both sides.  Continue to the end of the row.
 



 

Into the last stitch, hdc and into the same stitch dc. In the next stitch, dc twice into the same stitch. Into the next stitch dc and hdc in same stitch.  This should now have created a smooth curve around the end of the ribbon.

 

 

Continue on the second side with hdc until the last stitch and again to create the curved end, into the last stitch, hdc and dc, in the next stitch dc twice and into last stitch dc and hdc.  Finish off, leaving a long thread, this will be needed for stitching the ribbon together.

 

 

Your ribbon is probably quite curly and wants to bend, so blocking is necessary to keep the ribbon flat.  I use an old ironing cloth with a doubled over towel underneath to allow for lots of padding and to enable the pins to be bedded in.  Pin ribbon in place and put iron onto steam.  Make sure you do not place the iron on the ribbon, but hover it over and allow the steam to penetrate.  Leave ribbon in place and pinned until dry.

 I think the ribbon needed a little more and so decided to add a flower in the centre piece.  I have had my eye on these puff stitch flowers for a while and decided this would be a great time to try them out. They are quick and fun to make. 

However, any flower that you enjoy making would work just as well and depending on the size of your gift maybe it would call for more than one.



 

As an aside you could use the ribbon for a lovely corsage wrist candy decoration too!

 



 

 

Ribbon with flower sewn on and the gift that needed to be wrapped. A book on 'Hope'.

 



Gift wrap present as normal and sew together the ends,

with the loose thread of the ribbon, to form a loop. Finally slide it onto the gift.

 



I think the home made crochet ribbon wins hands down on wrapping, don't you?

 



This gift smiles out love and happiness.  As this was a small gift to wrap, all was made and done in about 40 minutes, time well spent I think.

 



And it all began at Easter when I thought about gift wrapping, you can vary the theme for season or to make it more personal to the recipient of your gift.  Hope you have a go and let me know how you choose to decorate your ribbon. 

 

 

 

A photo montage of making the Easter ribbon:

 

♥  Happy crocheting!  ♥



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:This blog entry is my submission to the Deramores Blog Awards 2014. Deramores is the UK’s number one online retailer of knitting and crochet supplies.

Paris in the Spring

May 2nd        

Normally for Easter the family and I are on our boat, if we are really lucky, sailing, but more often than not, making the final preparations ready for her to be launched into the water.  Last year, knowing that 2014 was going to be a 'different' year for us, we worked on Brimble long and hard and spent many hours, days, weekends, labouring on her.  Our boat is old, small, well used and loved and it was time she was given a little TLC.  Last year we sailed her across to Norway, ready to embark on another exciting adventure, we do like to get some miles under her belt and she seems to love it.  This meant then, that we were boat free this year for Easter and rather than taking it easy, this family as always had a mad cap idea... "Let's cycle to Paris," my husband and his good friend decided.  "Let's take the boys with us too!" (they are 14 and 12)  Thinking nothing of it, we spouses agreed and said if they did it , we would come along as support vehicles.  I knew I should have believed them back before Christmas when this was suggested.  Although it was not until about three weeks before Easter, that I truly believed it would happen, as suddenly cycles were brought out and a few bike rides took place.  My son completed his first 25 mile cycle just three weeks before the intended long cycle from tower to Tower, that being the Tower of London to the Eiffel Tower in just three days!!  A total of something like 300 miles!!  Padded shorts were bought, my husband and son cycled from Oxfordshire to London the week before Easter to have the bikes 'in situ' and ready for Good Friday.  The night before departure, they were joined by the other father and son combination and we 'girls', two mothers and three daughters wondered how the long week end would pan out...

 

The chaps left London on Good Friday at about 6am, allowing the girl team in cars to leave at a more decent 8am, for a rendezvous at Leeds Castle at 10 am.  A quick refuel of drinks and snacks and they cycled off again, to meet us at Le Shuttle. Here we are, all cycles loaded onto the two cars to be transported to France.

 

A little time for amusement is always allowed!  Here the youngest member was asked to pose with a miserable face, think she managed quite well!

 

 



 

On French soil and off they set again. Next stop a hotel for the night!

 

 



This hotel was a French 'Fawlty towers' and we loved it.  An old converted watermill.

 

 



Rooms with views too

 



Dining room flooring...

 



 

A firm French favourite with us, hot chocolate for breakfast from large bowls.  Note t-shirt, my daughter was official map reader in our car, she has a sense of humour!

 

 



Always time to stop for cakes...

 

 



 

As we were following the cycle route it meant we were driving on the small roads and not motorways, it was such a great way to see northern France and all it's lovely villages and architecture.  We already would like to visit again.  So much to feast all the senses on.



Each day we drove ahead to a picnic spot and set up an al fresco lunch.  Despite the very mixed bag of weather we experienced during our three days of following the cycle route, we were always lucky at lunch time.

 



 

We even managed to celebrate Easter Sunday in style with a picnic with Easter crackers and paper hats and a great egg hunt in the countryside.  Below are sweets, French Easter style!

 



 

We brought the homemade Simnel Easter cake from home and it managed to survive in one piece!

 

 



We even had decorated hard boiled eggs for Easter.

 

 



 

 

We did not need to encourage the children to hunt for the eggs, they rushed around as fast as could be, the older ones being somewhat competitive!

 

 

The chaps really enjoyed the cycling, but I think we were all surprised at how many hills there were.  Every time I drove up a hill, I felt for them and was incredibly glad I was in the car!

 

 



We obviously had some time to spare and so managed some culture and history lessons and visited parts of the Somme area and thought of all those soldiers who gave up their lives. Below are what remain of the many trenches, I was very surprised to see how close the British front line was to the German front line.

 

 



Over the years the trenches have lost about two foot in depth, but it still was a great visual and small glimpse of how it would have been.

 

 



We stopped in many villages and made mental notes to revisit.

 

 



Late in the afternoon on Easter Sunday the support team arrived in Paris, donned on their pink support clothes, kindly sent to us by my wonderful friend Rosie (aka Tulip bulb provider to my garden lady, see previous post: http://eclectichomelife.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/tons-of-tulips-on-sunny-day.html  )




 

...and finally in the early evening the amazing cyclists rode into Paris and arrived at the Eiffel Tower having ridden around the Arc de Triomphe on all those cobble stones after having cycled three hundred miles in three days, think they were a little tender at that point.  Which is perhaps why after completing what they set out to do they walked the 700m to the hotel we had booked for the night.  We are so very proud of them.  They said they would do it and they did.

 

 



View of Paris from the hotel room...

Easter Monday and time to return to the UK

A snug fit in the car on the journey home and we needed now to fit the bikes on board!

 

 



 

We had a fantastic Easter, it seems so long ago now,

but I hope you did too ♥