December
8 , 2003 -- Thread crochet trim
I've been doing thread crochet trimming on flannel receiving blankets lately both
to learn to deal with thread crochet and to make the blankets look pretty. I hate
a plain seam on baby blankets. My mother used to edge them for us so I remember
all my blankets having a ruffle to them. She made two for my baby and then I decided
to get on with trimming the rest of the ones I have because a plain seem just
looks naked to me. The
first two blankets below have the same 5 DC shell while the bottom one had a (SC,
CH 4, SC) shell instead: 
I
used a white cotton thread crochet thread that I think was a #10. Paul had it
laying around from one of his weaving projects so I stole the remainder of the
roll for myself. For
the foundation, I used a 1.30 mm thread crochet hook because it was the smallest
one I had and I didn't want big holes showing in the fabric. I stabbed the hook
through the cloth up near the hem, pulled the thread on through and made an sc. Then
I chained 3. Next
I counted 3 hem stitches over, punched through the fabric again, and did another
SC and CH 3. By
using the seam stitches as a guide for even spacing, I did that all the way around
the blanket and joined where I started from with a slip stitch. Now
that I didn't t have to be punching fabric I moved up to a 1.50 mm hook for the
shells. 
For
the trim above, the shell was just 5 DC done in one one of the CH-3 spaces in
the foundation row. Then an SC in the next CH-3 space to anchor it. Then back
to 5 dc on the next CH-3 space. I repeated that "shell-SC-shell-SC"
thing all the way around and joined with a slip stitch at the end. Last I wove
in the loose threads. 
For
the trim above, the shell was just (SC, CH-4, SC) in each one of the CH 3 spaces
in the foundation row.Go all the way around and join with a slip stitch at the
end. I
have three more I want to trim in green and then I have one I want to do in red
so I have to go get new color thread. I'm going to experiment with other shells
to see how I like the effect. <<
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