The native poinsettias have been blooming this month, here in north central Texas, inspiring me to make a little Christmas in July!
Along with a few hints for crocheting the showier, everlasting Poinsettia in Crochet Garden: Bunches of Flowers, Leaves, and Other Delights, I’ll show you how I turned a crocheted poinsettia into a Christmas ornament.
For a very thorough Poinsettia photo-tutorial, please visit http://cache.lionbrand.com/faq/590.html
To make an ornament, you will need:
- Crochet Garden: Bunches of Flowers, Leaves, and Other Delights, pages 91-93
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Aunt Lydia’s No. 10 crochet cotton in your favorite red and green
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US 4 (steel) (2mm) hook
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4″ square of felted wool, 1 each of green and red
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Beads for flower center
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Sewing needle, pins, sewing thread in green and red
I designed the Poinsettia to be realistic, so it isn’t symmetrical. That means we have to follow the instructions very carefully and avoid making assumptions. (Yes, me, I’m talking to myself.)
When Rnd 2 is finished, you’ll see three small petals (marked with ‘s’ in photo 1). These are like the small petals in the hothouse poinsettias we can buy around Christmas time. The small petals are worked into the hdc sts. The other petals are worked into the ch-spaces. They are supposed to look like red sticks.
Rnd 3 is worked around the red sticks of the previous round. First work up the side, placing stitches in the ch-2 space (yellow arrow at right), then the free loops of the chain (yellow dots on the right). Several stitches go into the ch-3 loop at the tip of the petal (pink arrow). Work down the other side of the petal into the stitches (yellow dots at left) and into the ch2-space (other yellow arrow).
Photo 3 shows a completed Rnd 3. Every two leaves have a ch-1 space between them. You will crochet into this in the next rnd.
For Rnd 4, fold the petals out of the way to the front. Sometimes you will ch 3 behind a petal (yellow arrow in Photo 4). Then you’ll anchor the next petal in the ch-1 space between petals.
Rnd 5 finishes the petals in the outer round. For the ornament, you don’t need to leave a long sewing length of red thread. The leaf is crocheted separately and sewn on.
To block the cotton poinsettia, I held it under the running tap, then stretched and pinned each petal to the ironing board, and let dry (photo 5).
To make the ornament, pin the poinsettia to green felt, leaving at least a 1/4-inch overlap around the flower.
The yellow marks in Photo 7 show how to sew the flower to the felt: sew invisibly (matching sewing thread helps) around the outside first. Gently sew down the sides of the top petals. Take one stitch in the tip of each small petal.
Add beads or other decoration to the center of the flower.
Cut excess felt away, leaving about 1/4 inch showing around the edges of the flower. Start by leaving too much felt showing. Cut away tiny slivers of felt until the border around the flower looks good.
This is how the ornament looks from the back. Ew, messy! But don’t worry. Use this piece as a pattern to cut a piece red felt. Now, go to “How to Make an Ornament Hanging Loop from Embroidery Floss or Crochet Cotton,” and follow directions for making a hanging loop.
Determine the top of your ornament and sew the hanging loop to the wrong side, with the loop emerging beyond the top edge.
Pin or hold green and red felt together, with red in back to hide all those stitches and the end of the hanging loop. With No. 10 crochet cotton, sew the layers together with a whip stitch or a buttonhole stitch (my favorite).
The oak trees around here look like they’re celebrating Christmas in July, too. See their bright, round ornaments? Oh. Never mind. They are oak galls.