Little Mermaid Costume - Updated

It's finally here. An updated version of my little mermaid costume (with proper math this time).

Unfortunately, no adorable baby model this time.

Little Mermaid Costume Pattern and Photographs

© Courtney Wiggers September 2015

Materials:

Worsted weight yarn (coral(A), multi-coloured(B), mint(C))

                I used Loops & Threads Wool to Wash 12 Pink for the top and Red Heart Comfort 4050 Teal for the tail

4.25mm crochet hook

5mm crochet hook

Tapestry needle (for sewing and weaving in ends)

Finished Size:

6-9 months

Abbreviations:

sc - single crochet

dc - double crochet

tr - triple crochet

MC - magic circle

2sc/2dc - worked in the same stitch; increase

sc #/dc # - amount of sc or dc to be worked in following individual stitches

slst - slip stitch

Starfish Top (x2):

NOTE: You can also use worsted weight yarn and a 5mm crochet hook for the top

With A yarn and 4.25 hook

MC

R1: sc 5 in circle, slst to join (5)

R2: ch-1, *2sc* around, slst to join (10)

R3: ch-1, *sc 1, (dc, tr, dc) in next st* around, slst to join

R4: ch-1, *sc 1, hdc 1, (hdc, dc, tr, dc, hdc) in next st, hdc 1* around, slst to join

                Fasten off

Assembly:

Crochet a chain 5-6 to attach the starfishes together, then make four ties approximately 40 chains in length and attach them to your preference

Mermaid Tail:

With B yarn and 5 hook

MC, ch-2

R1: dc 12 in circle, join (12)

R2: BLO, dc 12 around (12)

R3-5: dc around (12)

R6: *2dc, dc 5* twice (14)

R7-8: dc around (14)

R9: dc 4, *2dc, dc 4* twice (16)

R10: dc around (16)

R11: *2dc, dc 3* around (20)

R12: dc around (20)

R13: *2dc, dc 4* around (24)

R14: dc around (24)

R15: *2dc, dc 3* around (30)

R16: dc around (30)

R17: *2dc, dc 2* around (40)

R18: dc around (40)

R19: 2dc, *dc 2, 2dc* around (54)

R20-40: dc around (54)

R41-42: sc around (54)

R43: *sc 2, ch-1, skip a sts, sc in next 2 sts* around (you’ll end with a ch-1)

R44-45: sc around (54)

                Fasten off

I’ve included two patterns to make the fins (they turn out looking very similar but one requires more sewing in the end and the other is maybe a higher difficulty level)

Fins (x2):

With C yarn and 5 hook

ch-23

R1: in 2^nd ch from hook, dc across (22)

R2: ch-2, dc2tog, dc across

R3: ch-2, dc across (21)

R4: ch-2, dc2tog, dc across

Fins V.1

R5: ch-2, dc across (20)

R6: ch-2, dc2tog, dc across

R7: ch-2, dc across (19)

                Fasten off

This is the original pattern for the fins (there is more sewing involved in making it this way)

Assembly:

Sew together approximately ¾ of the way down the shorter sides so that the angle of the fins create a ‘V’ shape

OR

Fins (V.2):

With C yarn and 5 hook

ch-23

R1: in 2^nd ch from hook, dc across (22)

R2: ch-2, dc2tog, dc across

R3: ch-2, dc across (21)

R4: ch-2, dc2tog, dc across

Fins V.2

R5: ch-2, dc across (20)

R6: ch-2, dc2tog, dc across

R7: ch-2, dc across (19)

R8: slst 5, sc across (14)

R9: ch-1, sc 14, ch-6 (14)

R10: in 2^nd ch from hook, dc across (19)

R11: ch-2, dc across, 2dc in last st

R12: ch-2, dc across (20)

R13: ch-2, dc across, 2dc in last st

R14: ch-2, dc across (21)

R15: ch-2, dc across, 2dc in last st

R16: ch-2, dc across (22)

                Fasten off

While there is less sewing involved in this version of the fins, they may be a little more difficult to get right (the advantage is that these fins are one-piece)

Assembly:

Make a chain long enough to form a drawstring around the waist or alternatively you can use ribbon to weave through the spaces in R43

To sew the fins onto the tail, place the bottom end of the tail in the center of the fins. Then, fold the two square corners of the fins over the end of the tail so that they form a ‘V’ shape along the front of the tail. Sew around to secure onto the tail

NOTES:

To adjust the size of the tail, there’s two main places to add or lose length. You can add or take away rows R3-5. Also, to make the tail bigger, you can add increases by repeating R16-17 after you complete R19.

To fasten off when you finish the round, skip a stitch, slip stitch in the next stitch.

This pattern is copyrighted and provided with understanding that you may NOT sell, alter, or share the pattern.

Also, if you intend to sell items made from this pattern, I simply request that you link back to my shop or to this pattern.

That’s it! I’d love to see your finished products and I hope you enjoy this pattern as much as I do!

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to email me:
Courtney17_17@hotmail.com

Christmas and finals and babies, oh my

Between first semester finals and the increase in baby announcements from friends and family, I've been completely swamped. Add to that the fact that I've hardly done any Christmas shopping and I'm a little stressed out right now.

I've been working on a few patterns and I know I promised an updated pattern for my Mermaid costume, but I haven't been able to get any pictures of it yet. It's all written up, just waiting on a baby model for some pictures.

My cousin and his fiancee just recently announced that they are expecting so I was super excited to start working on some new baby stuff (my favourite!).  They're letting the gender be a surprise so they asked for everything to be gender-neutral, and the theme they picked was owls and elephants (not sure how that's gonna work, but I shall deliver).

I decided to use some baby combo yarn I've been saving to make a baby blanket. It's pretty thin yarn and the pattern I'm using makes the rows quite short so it's definitely taken the longest time out of any baby blanket I've ever made.

The way it's working up makes it a pretty dense blanket but it's super soft. I'm excited to see how it turns out. I'm thinking about adding a sc border of yellow once it's done but we'll see.

Since they asked for owls, I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to test out my Hedwig pattern (although I changed the colours). I'm not sure what colour I want to make the blanket part yet (I'm thinking yellow, again, or maybe light green), but so far only the owl is done. I gave it brown wings to make it look more like the owls we have up here.

I've also been commissioned to make baby blankets and such for a few friends and some of my friends family so that will probably be taking up a lot of my Christmas break. Here's hoping that I get everything done on time.

Wish me luck on finals!

Red Riding Hood Inspired Costume, Part 1

The Dress

This year for Halloween I've decided to be Red Riding Hood, with my costume inspired by the movie released in 2011. If you know me, you'll know that my costumes for Halloween are mainly limited to anything I can make from fabric on the clearance shelves, or a witch. Most often than not, I'm a witch. Last year, however, I purchased fabric that would have made for an awesome Rapunzel dress; unfortunately, it was my first time ever trying to make a costume and it really didn't turn out that great (my boyfriends costume was amazing, though). I resolved to do better this year.

For the dress I used the Butterick 4827 pattern (modified slightly) and used a light blue heavy linen fabric that I purchased at Fabricland.

I ended up modifying the pattern to make the end product look more like the blue dress Valerie wears in the movie. Instead of having it lace up in the back, I cut the front and added lacing. I also modified the sleeves to make them 3/4 length instead of full. Before starting, I attempted my first ever fashion design sketch which I think actually turned out pretty nice.

Once I'd decided how I wanted the dress to look, I found a pattern that matched fairly well and picked out the fabric I liked. To be noted: this was the first time I've ever picked out fabric for a Halloween costume that wasn't on the clearance rack. The fabric I bought was 60" wide so I ended up using a lot less than the pattern called for, although I did make the biggest size just in case. I usually have a problem with patterns where the bust and hips are too small and the waist too large. I also didn't use all the pieces the pattern called for. I modified the pieces for the front and back facing so that I could make laces up the front. I just traced the pattern pieces onto paper and cut off the lacing support from the back facing and attached it to the front. I did end up cutting the front facing piece shorter so that it only went down to the waistline.

After I had modified what I need to and pre-washed the fabric, I started pinning and cutting (it was a lot of fabric to work with and it's actually really heavy).

Once I had all the pieces cut out I followed the directions given by the pattern to sew it all together. The below picture is the front of the dress. I ended up cutting a slit down the front center to the waistline for the front lacing.

I don't have any more progress pictures mostly because I hadn't yet bought the eyelets for the lacing and once I cut the slit down the front, it refused to stay on my shoulders. All of the pieces got sewn together, I top stitched around the neckline, and I added eyelets and lacing.

And then it was a dress! A badly fitted dress mind you, but a dress.

I really hated how it was fitting. I saw pictures of dress made from the same pattern and I felt like mine was way too big up top. I do have a smaller waist and this dress made me look much bigger than I actually am. It was really loose so I turned it inside out, pinned it to be a little tighter, and took it in quite a bit. And this is the finished dress!

In my opinion it looks much better now (Shayne agrees although he did suggest I should have made the lacing a little bit looser..... boys.). I say finished but I still have to hem the bottom edge. Doing this project and having to take the dress off after having pinned it does make me realize the need for a dress form. It went on my Christmas list after having been poked by a pin the fifth or sixth time trying to get the dress off.

So that's it! I still have to make my red cloak but I'll make another post for that (I actually already have one made but Shayne disapproved of the fabric and ordered me some new stuff). My friend is a budding photographer and she's been really excited for me to finish the costume so that she can use me in a photoshoot. If she gets some good shots I'll be sure to update with them!

Hogwarts House Loveys

The patterns for these cute Harry Potter Hogwarts house inspired loveys are available on my Etsy and Ravelry shops!

I'm a Gryffindor so I'm really happy with how the Gryffindor lovey turned out, but I'm actually really impressed with the Hufflepuff badger! It's pretty cute, not gonna lie.

I also posted the pattern for my Hedwig lovey.

I've been working on these in my spare time (and by spare time, I mean the time when I'm supposed to be studying or doing homework) and they actually came along fairly quickly. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do in the next few months as I get into Clinical and midterms but I'll keep you all posted!

My boyfriend is a secret paleontologist

In my last post I mentioned that my boyfriend, Shayne, had made me some pretty cool dinosaur things for Christmas. I was hoping to get them installed so I could take some pictures but I thought about it some more and I really want to save them until we move out together.

Before I get to the pictures, I just want to mention how freaking talented Shayne is. These projects required molding, sculpting, painting, and a lot of creativity. It's so not fair how much better he is at painting than I am; I had four years of art classes and he's never had a single lesson.

Here we go!

The first thing Shayne made for me was this Tyrannosaurus rex shower head. Yup! It's a shower head! I saw one a while ago on Pinterest. I got really excited and showed it to Shayne but apparently it was made from one of those 3D printers and there's no place online that you can actually buy the printed shower head. I may be biased, but I think mine is cooler anyway.

Plesiosaurs are my absolute favourite dinosaurs. These are actually shower curtain hooks (Shayne mounted them on some cardboard so they aren't tumbling around together). Apparently my boyfriend carved a negative and made a mold of them and hand painted each one (I feel so incredibly lucky).

Shayne's told me eventually I will have an entire bathroom accessory set but he's still working out how to make them. I'll post pictures when they're made!

Dinosaurs? DINOSAURS!

I've been going dinosaur crazy over the last few months since the new Jurassic Park movie trailer came out! Now, dinosaurs have always been a pretty big obsession of mine (though not as nearly as obsessed with them as my older brother is; he actually works at a dinosaur museum). Ever since the trailer came out though, dinosaurs have been everywhere and I want to buy them all! It also is giving me a reason to wear my Jurassic Park dress again!

That's right. A Jurassic Park dress.

I made it a few years ago when the first movie got re-released in 3D. I refused to go see it in the theatre until I had finished sewing this dress.

I've never been more proud of anything in my life. 

Walmart was actually clearing out all their kids dinosaur bedroom stuff a few months ago and I literally had to buy it all (future children, I'm sorry if you hate dinosaurs because of me). I got a few extra of the dinosaur curtain panels though because they're a really nice blue with dinosaur outlines on them and I want to make another dress or shirt or skirt out of them. (I'll post a picture later)

I have a feeling dinosaurs are going to be very popular again and that might not have been the best idea on walmarts part.

I did use a pattern for the dress but I'm not completely sure which one. If I ever find out, I'll update this post with it.

Also, I got dinosaurs things (AWESOME DINOSAUR THINGS!!!) for Christmas this year, but I'll make a separate post about that when I get pictures of them. My boyfriend is so talented :)

Jingle All The Way DIY

A while ago I saw this post on Pinterest and I immediately fell in love with the idea. Especially the little bit about using it to keep track of how long you've been together with your significant other!

Even though the post suggested to start it the year you get married, I wanted to make it right away. My boyfriend and I have known each other for 15 years(since I was five!) but we've only been dating for a year and a half and I didn't want to wait for him to propose and then for us to get married(it took him long enough to ask me out).

I'm still using the silver bells to keep track of every year we've been together; then I'm going to use red bells for the year we get married and every 5 year anniversary, and blue bells for the years we have a baby.

(I'll add better pictures when I have the motivation to get out of bed and grab my better camera)

I got the shadow box from Michaels (I think it was around $16; I could have gotten a cheaper one but I liked the detailing on the frame) as well as the bells($4). I got the vinyl decal from this shop on Etsy. And Shayne (my boyfriend) printed this picture out for me for the background 

(He edited the colour because I'm not a fan of gold and printed it out using his freakishly awesome printer and crazy thick paper)

Shayne's now really excited to make one to hang up all year 'round except instead of having jingle bells, he wants to put bullet casings in it. 

Puffy Stitch Safety Earwarmer

Puffy Stitch Safety Earwarmer

© Courtney Wiche 2014

Red Heart Reflective in Purple

6.5 crochet hook

Tapestry needle

To adjust the width of the earwarmer, just chain a multiple of 3 + 2 sts (I started with 14 chains for an adult sized earwarmer, and 11 for a child)

Ch 14

R1 – in 2nd ch from hook (sc, hdc, dc), skip next 2 chs, *(sc, hdc, dc) in next ch, skip next 2 chs, repeat from * across, ending with a sc in the last ch, turn.

R2 – ch 2, in first sc (sc, hdc, dc), *skip next 2 sts, (sc, hdc, dc) in next sc, repeat from * ending with 1 sc in top of turning ch, turn. NOTE: you will be making each cluster in the sc sts of the last row

Repeat row 2 until piece measures desired length (mine ended up being about 18” unstretched). Fasten off and sew ends together.

I am absolutely in love with this yarn! The reflective strand that runs through the yarn is a little bit scratchy when you're working with it, but the final product is actually pretty soft. There's also a neon pink colour that I want to get to make for my cousin because it's so cute!

DIY: Button up Tank-top

I've been crazy busy lately with work and registering for school and helping my boyfriend put together his engine but every spare second I get has been spent on Pinterest because it's addicting as hell. I've actually had a lot of inspiration to make DIY posts of things I've seen on Pinterest that I couldn't afford to buy.

Hence this post. 

I saw this super cute dress/top months ago and when I went on the website to see how much it was, I laughed and closed the tab as quickly as I could. 

I never actually found the dress on the website, but the cheapest thing on that site was upwards of $200 and I have never spent that much on clothing before. 

It turned out pretty simple to recreate (seriously, it's a tank top and work shirt. So not worth $200). MINIMAL SEWING INVOLVED!

I ended up paying less than $13 in total. The top portion is a $5 tank top that I got at walmart and the bottom is a mens cotton button up shirt that was on sale for $7, also from walmart. I cut them both off about an inch under the armpits and just quickly sewing them together. It honestly took me less than 15 minutes to make and it looks super cute on. I hate doing pleats and ruffles so when I was pinning the fabric, I just stretched the tanktop and it made its own little ruffle thing. 

Ta-da! See? Super cute with a belt on. I love belts they make everything better.

Brynnleigh's Super Simple Socks

I recently got a whole bunch of balls of sock yarn for babies (thanks Grandma) and my 2 year old cousin Brynnleigh decided she really wanted this blue pair and a pink pair, so that's been my weekend so far. I wasn't really finding a pattern for toe-up toddler socks that I liked so I basically just winged it and here we go. Keep in mind this is my first knitting pattern so please don't hesitate to tell me if there's anything wrong. Here we go! 

Brynnleigh’s Super Simple Socks

© Courtney Wiche 2013

Materials

US 3 (3.25mm) 24” circular needles

Yarn: My First Regia by REGIA (25g ball, col. Marco, approx 105 m)

Gauge: 7 stitches, 10 rows = 1”

Finished size: 4.10” long x 3.5” tall (approx 1-2 years)

This pattern is created toe-up using Judy’s magic cast-on

R1: Using Judy’s magic cast-on, cast on 9 stitches on each needle (18)

R2,4,6,8,10: knit

R3: [k1, m1, k7, m1, k1] twice (22 sts)

R5: [k1,m1,k9,m1,k1] twice (26 sts)

R7: [k1,m1,k11,m1,k1] twice (30 sts)

R9: [k1,m1,k13,m1,k1] twice (34 sts)

R11: [k1,m1,k15,m1,k1] twice (38 sts)

R12-36: knit (38 sts)

Work short rows splitting heel in 5-9-5 sts

                Basic How-To Tutorial -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu5YAKsAEpY

R37-45: knit (38 sts)

R46: knit, decreasing 3 sts (35 sts)

R47-50: [k3,p1,k2,p1] around

                You can continue rib for as many rows as you’d like to increase height of socks

BO loosely (very loosely; I did it too tight the first time and then I had to take it apart and redo it which is a pain in the ass)

Viola! I hope you enjoy it. :)

Wichecraft Etsy Shop Sale!

As a Boxing Day/New Years sale, I am making everything in my shop 25% off!

All you have to do is use the coupon code: TC6DL4MM1KP12 during checkout. My gift to all of you amazing people.

Everything I sell is handmade. I love making fandom related things and I sell a lot of Hunger Games and Avengers items. Come check it out!

Happy Holidays!

Wichecraft

I finally got around to putting up an Etsy shop

If anyone's interested, you can find it here -> Wichecraft

I'll be selling completed crochet items, jewelry, all my nerdy creations, and other random things that I decide to post.

The money I make will go directly back into more yarn/crafting supplies, and also my University fund seeing as it costs an arm and a leg (and my soul).

AKGHFAH;ALK;DG JUST LET ME CROCHET YOU THINGS

Hunger Games Katniss Everdeen Inspired Girl On Fire Beanie

Hunger Games Katniss Everdeen inspired Girl On Fire Beanie

(also, I apologize in advance for the horrific pictures of me; it was a stay-in-bed-until-noon kind of day) 

REVISED *JULY 2013*

Inspired by Cinna’s many designs (I hope he’d be impressed)

6.00 and 5.50 hooks

Sensations Angel Hair yarn (I think the colour is called Berry?)

                This is more of a colour/yarn-specific pattern, so I highly recommend using the exact yarn

Using 6.00mm hook

Magic circle

1: ch 3, dc 11 in circle (12)

2: 2 dc in each st around (24)

3: *dc in next st, 2 dc in next st* around

4: *dc in next 2 sts, 2 dc in next st* around

5: *dc in next 4 sts, 2 dc in next st* around (you’ll find that there won’t be enough stitches for the last few sts, so dc in next 2 sts, then 2 dc in next st)

6 -10: dc around

Switch to 5.50mm hook

11-14: *fphdc in next st, bphdc in next st* around

                To fasten off, skip a st and then slst

And there you have it!

(Not gonna lie, I’m really tempted to use it for part of a Katniss/Peeta Victory Tour cosplay and take pictures, except for the obvious fact that I’d need a Peeta . . .)

District 12 Inspired Headband

District 12 Inspired Headband

3.75mm

You know, I don’t even know what kinds of yarn I’m using half the time, so I can’t tell you . . .

Primrose Flower:

mc

1: ch 2 (count as first st), 5 dc in mc (6)

2: *hdc, ch 2* 5 times (6 spaces) sl st to last st

3: ch 1, *dc, dc 2, tc 3, ch2, dc, sl st to hdc of previous row* in each space

                Fasten off

Leaves (make 2):

1: ch 10, sl st in 2nd ch from hook, sl st, sl st, sc, hdc, dc, tc, dc, *hdc, sc, sc, sc, hdc* in final ch

2: (on opposite side) dc, tc, hd, sc, sl st

3: (to make the band) sc in next st, ch 66

                Fasten off

Attach the leaves between the petals on opposites side and voila! 

Mermaid Costume Pattern

Mermaid Costume Pattern

I made this costume for my cousin Brynn last Halloween.

NOTE: I put a lot of time into creating this so that I wouldn't have to pay for it, so I'd really appreciate if you didn't sell what you make from it. Personal use only, please!

Size H hook
Worsted weight yarn
       This makes a size 9-12 months approximately. If you're looking to make it smaller, try using baby yarn and a G hook. To make it bigger, chunkier yarn and an I or J hook.

Starfish Top:

Mc

R1: sc 5 times in mc, sl st to join (5)

R2: ch 1, 2 around, sl st to join (10)

R3: ch 1, sc in same st, dc, tr, dc in next st, *sc in next st, dc, tr, dc in next st* around, sl st to join

R4: ch 1, sc in same st, hdc in next st, hdc, dc, tr, dc, hdc in next st, hdc in next st, *sc in next st, hdc in next st, hdc, dc, tr, dc, hdc in next st, hdc in next st* around, sl st to join

                Fasten off

Make four ties approximately 35 chains in length and attach them to your preference

Mermaid Tail:

(This is made by joining at the beginning of each row and ch 2 (this does NOT count as a stitch!). You can also try making it without joining it, but at the time that I made this pattern, I wasn't really comfortable with marking stitches, but have at 'er!)

Mc

R1: 12 dc in circle (12)

R2: Blo, dc 12 around (12)

R3-9: dc 12 round (12)

R10: dc 1 in next 3 st, dc 2 in next st* around (15)

R11: dc 1 in next 2 st, dc 2 in next st* around (20)

R12: Dc around (20)

R13: Dc 1 in next 2 st, dc 2 in next st* around (28)

R14-17: Dc around (28)

R18-19: Dc 1 in next 2 st, dc 2 in next st* around

                For optional increase, repeat R13 (48)

R20-45: dc around

R46-47: sc around

R48: sc in next 2 st, ch 1, skip a st, sc in next 2 st* around

R49-50: sc around

                Fasten off

Make a chain long enough to form a drawstring around the waist (you’ll weave this through the spaces in R48)

Fins (make 2):

Ch 23

R1: Dc across

R2: Ch 2, dc2tog, dc across

R3: Ch 2, dc across

R4: Ch 2, dc2tog, dc across

R5: Ch 2, dc across

R6: Ch 2, dc2tog, dc across

R7: ch 2, dc across

                Fasten off

If the fins are confusing, you can try using these:

You should only sew the fins together about three-quarters of the way

Fold the corners over and sew the corners to the end of the tail (sew around; make sure it's connected)

And there you have it!

For everyone who was waiting a really long time for this pattern, I'm sorry, but I didn't have access to the costume for the longest time so I couldn't try and write it down. 

This pattern hasn't been tested except for by me, so any feedback or revisions would be appreciated. If something's unclear, feel free to ask me about it. The beading and sequins wasn't done by me, it was done by my aunt.