Crochet guide
Adding crochet to clothes
Crochet goes onto a bought garment in three ways. An edging is worked straight into a hem, a cuff or a neckline. A crocheted piece, such as a motif, a pocket or a patch, is sewn on. Or the first row of an edging is carried on, round after round, into a longer hem or a sleeve.
On this page 6 parts
Choose the yarn for the wash
A garment goes on being washed the way it always was, and the crochet is now washed with it. Choose a yarn that takes the same care as the garment. For clothes that go in the washing machine, the how-tos use cotton thread, cotton yarn or acrylic yarn. A yarn that must be washed by hand is the wrong choice for a garment that goes in the machine. How to wash crochet covers what each fiber needs.
An edging worked into the garment
This is the simplest thing to add. A row of crochet is worked straight through the cloth along a hem, a cuff or a neckline, and the edging is built on that row.
- Leave the edge as it is, or cut it. An edging can go along a hem that is already there. A neckband can also be cut off and replaced with crochet. Fold a cut edge under about 1/4 in (0.6 cm), so that the raw edge is hidden.
- Get the hook through. Use a small hook that can pierce the cloth, or poke the holes first with a sharp tool. Another way is to sew a row of blanket stitch along the edge and crochet into its loops.
- Work the first round through one layer of cloth, just under the fold or the hem.
- Work every later round into the round before, not into the cloth.
Crochet edging on fabric gives the first row in full: the three ways in, the spacing and the corners. Shells, picots and ruffles are edgings that go on top.
A crocheted piece sewn on
A piece is crocheted on its own and then sewn to the garment.
- A motif or an applique, on a t-shirt, the leg of a pair of jeans or the back of a jacket.
- A pocket, on a jacket.
- A patch, over a hole or set into it, such as a piece of crochet lace sewn into a hole in a pair of jeans.
Pin the piece without pulling or bunching the cloth, then sew it on by hand with sewing thread. Sewing crochet to fabric, and things onto crochet covers the stitches.
A longer hem, or sleeves
The first round of an edging is a foundation. More can be built on it than a narrow trim. One teacher points to t-shirts with crocheted hems and crocheted sleeves made this way: the rounds go on, each worked into the one before, for as long as the hem or the sleeve is to be.
Cloth that stretches
A t-shirt is knitted cloth, and knitted cloth stretches more than crochet does. Two things follow.
- Do not stretch the cloth as you work. Let it lie flat and relaxed while you pin, sew or crochet into it.
- Fit it on the body. One how-to pins a patch to stretchy jeans while they are being worn, so that the crochet sits right when the jeans are on.
Where to go next
- Crochet edging on fabric for the first row in full.
- Sewing crochet to fabric, and things onto crochet for pinning and hand stitches.
- Yarn for crochet clothes for fibers that suit things that are worn.