The bright, happy, flowery cover of Crochet Bouquet was designed by Cindy LaBreacht. People love the strands of flowers at the top and bottom. More than one reader has asked me how to crochet them, including my fellow Texan, Rene. She writes:
Your book’s cover design inspired me to make a really fun spring scarf. I was wondering if you might tell me how to make the leaf chain that’s behind the flowers?
Another reader wanted to make a swag, just like the one on the book cover, to hang above her daughter’s bedroom door.
I took a photo of some of the actual cover flowers (at the top of this post), so you could see how they really are. Cover designer Cindy LaBreacht probably used Photoshop or a similar program, to make all the flower images the same size, which they aren’t in real life. She cut and pasted those little leaves together, and added the resized flowers.
However, you can still make a pretty scarf or swag. To make the flowers all the same size, you’ll have to experiment with different yarn weights. Make the larger flowers in finer yarns, and the smaller flowers in heavier yarns, in order to equalize their size. This might take you a while, but it’s worth it if that’s what you want.
For Rene’s scarf, I suggested making some compound leaves and sewing them together, then sewing the flowers on top of the leaves. Or one could make a very long compound leaf (just keep repeating the instructions for the side leaves), and sew the flowers on top of it. The flowers could be different sizes–in fact, I think that would look more natural.
For a swag, how about buying a swag or garland of greenery from a craft store, and sewing or gluing crocheted flowers on top of that? It would be sturdier than a swag made completely of crochet.