Character Hats

Happy New Year everyone!

I was quite busy over the holiday season working on custom pieces for people to give as gifts for Christmas.  Which is good, as I love keeping busy!  Mermaid and Shark blankets were definitely a hot ticket item this season (see my other blog post about them), but I was surprised to find out that character hats are also very popular right now!

Here are a few that I've put together in the last month.  It's important to note that these were all hand crocheted by me based on pictures people sent me that they found online.  Patterns probably exist out there for these, and I'm happy to credit them where I can.  I did not use a pattern for any of these myself but I didn't 'invent' the hats at all, other people created them, made them and I just reproduced based on a picture!  Where I've seen them online I've linked them below with the pictures of my work.

For people who have been asking me, most of these hats take ~4 hours to complete from scratch.  That process takes into account figuring out the pattern (often ripping out a few iterations of pieces in the process!), crocheting the pieces, sewing them in place (often adjusting several times) and finishing - hiding loose ends, attaching buttons, etc.  Sometimes I get lucky and they take less time because they're more familiar or straightforward to me.  Once I've developed my pattern for them, making an additional copy of the hat usually takes ~2 hours.

Darth Vader Hat:
People seemed to love this hat, and I appropriately (but accidentally!) put pictures up on Facebook of these on the day Star Wars was released!  I did find a source for a pattern that I can credit on Etsy (click here) by MyLittleChapina.  Again, I created the hat based on this picture but I didn't actually use the pattern when I created the hat.  I love how it turned out!

Optimus Prime Hat:

I've made a couple of these hats and there's another blog post about them talking about the cost of homemade items.  I also got to see an adorable picture of a little boy wearing my hat while he slept after Christmas!  I based my hat on the picture from the Etsy listing (click here) by LaineysBowtique.

Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too

These hats were super fun to make.  The Winnie the Pooh hat was based on a picture (see here) that is watermarked by Ira Rott.  Looking at her page, the item is no longer listed but the picture is still out there!  The Tigger hat was based on a picture sent to me that I can't really find online but it was great to develop!

Ninjago Hat ("Jay"):

Now, I don't know anything about Ninjago... but this one was pretty straightforward to make, and cute!  I couldn't find it exactly but I believe it was from this Etsy shop (click here) by MaryOriginals.  I think this blue guy's name is Jay.

Minion Hat:

Now, I had made a minion hat before but hadn't made an adult one before!  It was super cute but pretty huge for an adult head!  Bless this customer, she got it for her husband (a GRANDPA!) who love wearing fun stuff like this.  What a cool Grandpa!  I did a search and found this pattern posted online for sale (click here), but again I didn't buy the pattern, I simply reproduced the hat based on the picture sent to me!

John Deere:

If you're from where I'm from (rural Canada), you'll understand the love of John Deere!  This isn't so much a "character hat" but it's still a themed hat!  The picture I based this on looks like it links to a shop (click here) by Lily-Rose Crochet Designs.  I also did a matching girl's hat in the same colours but a more girly style!  Fun!

I hope you enjoyed looking at these pictures as much as I loved making the hats!  Hopefully in 2016 I will be able to start creating some of my own designs and post some patterns for you all!

Mermaid and Shark Blankets

It seems like blankets with tails are the new hot item this winter!  I've made several and have outstanding custom orders for more!  The mermaid blankets are soft, cozy and beautiful and there are endless possibilities with colours.  Each blanket takes me 10-12 hours to make (these are medium sized).  They're cool because they open up like a normal blanket at the top, and it creates as little pouch for your feet to snuggle into at the bottom by the tail.  That way it's easy to get in and out of them!

Pattern credit: Mermaid Tail Afghan by Nadia Fuad (it actually has a pretty great youtube video of instructions as well), I didn't follow it exactly but used it as a guideline.  If anyone is doing this pattern I recommend using 3 colours and carrying the yarn up the sides, it saves a LOT of sewing of loose ends after completing the body of the blanket!

The pictures aren't the greatest, my 'model' wasn't cooperative and the blankets are size M, made for ~10 year olds and she's only 3!







The Shark Blankets I improvised based on a picture sent to me from a friend.  I actually used the same tail from the mermaid blanket pattern above and did the fins, eyes and teeth free form.  I was happy to figure out how to make a string of triangles together and then sc'ed them into place with the red.  The whole shark base is just loose dc stitches.  These take me around 10 hours.

For Knit/Crochet, Homemade = Expensive!

I was approached by a client who was interested in a Transformers hat for their grandson for Christmas.  They had a picture of a hat from Etsy that I based my design on.  Unfortunately, the hat on Etsy was $75 CAD!  That's simply not affordable!

That's the issue with homemade stuff.  If I charge an hourly rate for the work I do and cover my material cost, there's no way people would be able to afford buying this stuff!  Luckily, I happen to love making things and have hit a point where I'd rather make things for others than make stuff for myself and my family.  That's why I started selling my stuff to people... but I wanted to do it at an affordable cost.  So I don't really charge much for my time.  I more think of what I would be willing to pay for such an item and ballpark the price around there.  I'm selling blankets for $40 where the material costs $25 and it takes 12 hours to make!  So if I charged hourly, the blanket would be $145, no one would pay that!  So instead I'm making just over a dollar an hour.  But I love doing it... idle hands are the devil's plaything, right?

Anyways... the hat.  It was pretty fun to do as I had really no plan on how to make it going in.  I simply looked at the picture the client sent me and went for it!  I started with a basic hat and made it longer on the sides.  Then I structured a pointed ear piece + another top half to sew it into place.  I made the circular ear pieces and then stemmed the antenna from them, making 2 pieces the same and sewing them together with a bit of batting in the bottom.  I shaped the front visor and made a piece to go along the headress part.  Then shaped the mask and hand sewed some velcro in to make it removable and adjustable.  Voila!  It sounds basic but it was a lot of stitching and playing around with it.  Overall it's pretty great!

One last collage, for Pinterest's sake!

Frozen Fever is still in effect...

I know Frozen came out literally 2 years ago, but it seems that everyone still has Frozen Fever!  I know my daughter has watched the 'Frozen Fever' short film on Netflix a bunch of times since it became available.

A client asked for an Elsa Hat.  She send me a picture, it seemed straightforward and guess what?  It's amazing!  I went to Michael's (Canada) and found some notions to use - snowflakes, snowflake buttons and some jingly bells.  I make a test hat for my daughter and she just won't take it off.

This hat is... everything!

Custom orders available through my Facebook page, or email me!  This kind of stuff is so fun, I may have to make a whole series of hats for all the different princesses.  It looks GREAT with the Elsa dress!

Just for fun, here she is wearing the test hat.  The only difference is the number of notions in the braid and the hair material is actually wool!!

First Custom Orders!

I'm celebrating this week as I've officially completed my first 2 custom orders!  These are also my first official sales, which is exciting.  I'm getting into the groove.  I have 7 other pieces I'm currently working on for clients, so I'm keeping busy!

I had a lot of fun making my first minion hat.  I improvised the pattern based on a picture that the client found online.  She'll be giving it to a little girl at her birthday party this weekend!  The key to making the minion hat was finding the right yellow.  I ended up using Butter Yellow from Bernat Premium, it's soft and not too light but not too bright.  Just the right amount of minion-ness!

And with the yoda hat... well... everyone loves yoda!  Or rather... love yoda, everyone does.  It's a simple hat that has awesome ears!  Pattern credit: Crochet Yoda Hat by Teri Heathcote.

Stuff I've Made!

I thrive on custom orders from people.  And that's much easier when people have ideas of what they want! So I figured a blog post with pictures of some of my older work might help with that.  See examples of stuff below, or if you see something online (Pinterest, Facebook, other blogs) that you want customized or made for you, please please please email me a picture and let me know!

I have made tons of crochet items.  I've only recently started knitting in the last two years.  Once you do one needle craft, others come pretty quickly!  I can pretty much do anything knit or crochet, and there are tons of free patterns out there in case I need a little help!

Blankets

I love making blankets.  For people who don't know, a crocheted throw blanket probably takes 20-30 hours.  A big blanket like the ones I've made for queen sized beds (which is what most of the pics are from) take around 50 hours.  So if I charged $10/hour for my work, a blanket would be several hundred dollars!  Which is why most people don't sell homemade blankets unless they're smaller baby blankets.  It's also a reason why you should be very, very happy and grateful if someone gives you a homemade garment or blanket for a gift!!  Even if you don't use it.

Realistically I would probably charge $75-$100 for a large blanket, but know that it will take weeks to work on, so if there's something you want or a colour you love but can't find, let me know!  Otherwise, I suggest hitting up your local HomeSense or Bay store to find beautiful machine-knit blankets that are a reasonable $25-$50.

Here are some of my favourite blankets I've made in the past.

Top row: Alphabet blanket (50 hours!), Hexagon blanket (40 hours!), Sunshine blanket (50 hours!)
Middle row: Hearts blanket x 2 (25 hours each), Block blanket x 2 (30 hours each)
Bottom row: Mossy throw (10 hours), Granny Squares (40 hours), Simple baby blanket (15 hours), Ripple baby blanket (20 hours)

Hats

Hats are quick, easy, and can be super fun or really elegant.  I crochet the fun hats, with owl faces or yoda ears, and a knit the more elegant ones with twists (cables) or intricate patterns.  I like doing them because they're quick and they're easy to size, so I know the recipient will be happy!!  Plus I love making pom poms and flowers for them.  Baby hats are cute but I also love making manly hats or beautiful hats for adults.  Homemade is better than store bought, but you can't beat the prices in the stores because they're mass produced by a machine!  My homemade hats usually cost $20-$30 depending on the yarn used and the complexity.

Here are a few hats I've made.  There are lots more on my store!

Clockwise from top right: Pink Cable hat (knit), Engineer cap (crochet), Sock monkey hat (crochet), Slouch hat (crochet), Newborn Berry hat (knit)

Critters!

Sometimes people don't even think of the kinds of little critters that could be made!  Custom critters for their kids, or for adults to have as something fun on their desk at work (reddit alien, anyone?).  Personally, I made some fun angry bird bean bags that I took to the office, and when we were frustrated or bored we would toss them around and it would bring us a bit of joy!  A little critter would probably cost $10-15 per critter depending on the size.  They're quick and fun to make!

Here are some critters I've made.  I found great 'safety eyes' that can be used for eyes that cannot be pulled off by little ones, so that's a great feature to have for these!  Some have stuffing inside, others have a sewn bag with little beads inside and are bean bag quality.

Clockwise from top: Angry bird beanies, Little Penguins, Baby Turtles, Lil' Octopus, Monkey beanie

Baby Clothes

I love making baby sweaters, especially now that I know how to knit.  However, I find it complicated and a bit stressful to make something the exact right size, so I don't do it often!  These sweaters can take a long time (20 hours?) and if the fit isn't right, it sucks!  So they take a lot of planning as well!  Depending on the size of the sweater I'd probably charge $35-60 for a sweater.  Because of the complexity, I don't really make adult sweaters.  I may dive into it sometime but it's not high on my list right now!

Here are some kid's garments I've made.

Clockwise from left: Baby Whales sweater (knit - it's AWESOME!), Baby hat and sweater set (crochet), Baby Sophisticate Cardigan (knit), Lemon-Lime St. Paddy's sweater (knit)

Footwear

You may not think of socks and decorative fooltess sandals when you think of homemade knits, but they're fun to make and the "barefoot sandals" are so quick and easy!  A pair of custom knit socks are a different story, those can take some time and definitely won't be cheaper than socks at the Wal Mart!  But if you want something you really love, they're a great option!  A footless sandal set would probably cost $10 and knit socks would cost around $25.

Here are a couple examples that I've made.

Left: Crimson socks (knit)
Right: Footless sandals (custom made for a couple bridesmaids, crochet)

That's all for now!