Make a Template
Crochet Charm Lace can be any shape you want. All you need is a fabric template in that shape.
For the Flower Cloth Scarf in Crochet Garden, I used a piece of fabric the exact size I wanted the scarf to be. It’s just a long rectangle. In the photo, you can see that I used burlap. That’s what I had on hand that day. Since burlap frays so easily, I machine sewed a line of zig-zag stitch around the outside.
The Rose Cape template is sewn from a commercial pattern. I used some old double-knit fabric, which didn’t require any zig-zag stitch on the edges. Can you see the piece of cardboard I placed between the front and back of the cape? That was to keep me from pinning through both layers of the template.
I suppose you could use a garment for a template, as long as it won’t be ruined by the many pins you will use to hold the motifs in place.
Crochet Motifs
Crochet your chosen motifs, weave in ends, add details as necessary (like the centers of the Perspective Daisies), and block them. Motifs are much easier to arrange and pin after they are blocked.
The original plan for my Perspective Daisy table mat was to include the daisies and some leaves. Here they are on the ironing board. I held them under the water tap and squeezed the water out as best I could. I unfurled and stretched every petal, turned the flowers right-side-down, and steamed carefully with the iron.
How many motifs will you need to crochet? Good question!
Fold your template into quarters and mark the size of one quarter (1/4). I ironed the folded piece to set the creases. Then I could easily see how big 1/4 of my template was.
Crochet enough motifs to cover the marked area. Make sure the motifs you crochet represent the variety of motifs you will use in your finished project. I needed about 14 daisies to cover 1/4 of my table mat template.
Write a list of the motifs and how many you needed to cover 1/4 of the template. Multiply the numbers by 4 for an estimate of the total number of motifs you will need to crochet. My table mat will need about 14 x 4 = 56 daisies in all.
This method gives you a chance to experiment with arranging the motifs. I really wanted to have leaves among the daisies, but no matter how I arranged them, the leaves looked awkward. Regretfully, I put the leaves aside and used green crocheted circles as space fillers instead of leaves.
Here’s my list of daisies made with different yarns. I checked them off as I finished them.
On November 8, 2013: blocking motifs.