Minecraft Crochet || Zombie (Free Pattern)

Another year and I've finally got round to another character in my Minecraft series! This time, the Zombie... oooh... I have assembled some notes together as I did for the Creeper, I hope they make enough sense to you.

Pattern Notes

I use a 5mm crochet hook, and 2 strands of double knitting wool. I like the effect this gives. I stitched the pieces together and added the face details with one strand of double knitting wool.

For the zombie greens I used:

Stylecraft Special DK Meadow

Hayfield Bonus DK 0825

For the turquoise top I used:

Sirdar Supersoft Aran 0924 (I couldn't find any DK in the right colour, and this aran was fine enough to work.)

Stylecraft Special DK Aspen

For the blue trousers I used:

Stylecraft Special DK Aster

Hayfield Bonus DK 0979

The face details were scraps from my stash. 

Head piece (make 6)

Chain 9. 

Row 1-9: sc 8, use a turning chain of 1.

Body back (make 1)

Begin in turquoise, chain 9.

Row 1-10: Sc 8, use a turning chain of 1.

Row 11: Change to blue, sc 3, change to turquoise, sc 3, change to blue, sc 2, use a turning chain of 1. (Carry the yarn under as you work.)

Row 12: sc 3, change to turquoise, sc 1, change to blue, sc 4.

Row 13-22: Sc 8, use a turning chain of 1.

Row 23-24: Change to green. Sc 8, use a turning chain of 1.

Body front (make 1, unlike the other body pieces this is worked from the bottom)
Begin in green, chain 9.
Row 1-2: Sc 8, use a turning chain of 1.
Row 3-12: Change to blue. Sc 8, use a turning chain of 1.
Row 13: Change to turquoise. Sc 1. Change to blue. Sc 7, use a turning chain of 1.
Row 14: Sc 6. Change to turquoine. Sc 2, use a turning chain of 1.
Row 15-23: Sc 8, use a turning chain of 1.
Row 24: Sc 3, change to green, sc 2, change to turquoise, sc 3, use a turning chain of 1.
Row 25: Sc 2, change to green, sc 4, change to turquoise, sc 2.

Body right side (make 1)

Begin in turquoise, chain 5.

Row 1-10: Sc 4, use a turning chain of 1.

Row 11: Sc 1, change to blue, sc 3, use a turning chain of 1.

Row 12-22: Sc 4, use a turning chain of 1.

Row 23-24: Change to green. Sc 4, use a turning chain of 1.

Body left side (make 1)
Begin in turquoise, chain 5.
Row 1-11: Sc 4, use a turning chain of 1.
Row 12-22: Change to blue. Sc 4, use a turning chain of 1.
Row 23-24: Change to green. Sc 4, use a turning chain of 1.

Arm ends (make 2x green and 2x turquoise)
Ch 5
Row 1-4: Sc 4, use a turning chain of 1.

Arm sides (make 8)
Begin in turquoise, ch 5.
Row 1-4: Sc 4, use a turning chain of 1.
Row 5-12: Change to green. Sc 4, use a turning chain of 1.

Base (make 1)

Using green, ch 9.

Row 1-4: Sc 8, use a turning chain of 1.

 

When you have made your parts, stitch on any extra details such as the face features. Pin your pieces to your polystyrene shapes (see more information about this here) and simply stitch the edges together. Because you have used two strands of wool this is quite forgiving. You will notice the body piece only has one end covered - the other you are attaching to the head so it is unnecessary. Stitch the head to the top of the body and the arms to the sides of the body, and ta-da!

Pattern copyright to Helen Morris at Creative Chaos Art. It is not to be used for commercial gains.

Tried and Tested Tip Number 31 [Origami Heart]

Well, it's only been two years since the last T&T, that's not too bad, is it?! Hopefully the next one won't take quite so long...

I have needed to make quite a few wedding and anniversary cards recently, and I wanted to continue my adventures into origami! I came across this Simple Decorative Origami Heart on Instructables, which was just what I needed.

[Notice the little gems again, I'm using them everywhere at the moment!]

My folding bone was a real help with this tutorial, especially when opening points up and flattening them down, as well as the standard clean edges. The pattern flowed naturally and they were quick and easy to make. I *think* I used 20cm x 10cm rectangle to create these hearts, which are a nice size on an A6 card.

Because of the details on the heart, I would recommend a lighter paper rather than card, and I would recommend double sided paper - even if the other side is a contrast colour! They're great as gift tags to finish off a present too.

I really recommend this tutorial, and I think it is just flat enough to fit through on the smallest Royal Mail slot, which is always helpful!

Camper Van Wallet

If you've been on my Facebook page over the last few days, you will have seen sneak peeks of this fabric, and my excitement at having sewn my first zip! So, now to share all...

I seriously LOVE this wallet, and I am so proud of myself!

The basic tutorial is here at All Wrapped Up, however I also followed Colour Me Domestic's modifications. These modifications included the extra flap with button closure, and extra fabric inside the zip pocket. I also made a couple of modifications myself - there are actually two buttons layered up on the closure, to help the elastic slip behind (although I'm not convinced it was necessary!), and I sewed it up leaving the pointed flap til last, and I really like this look.

I love that it has 12 sections for cards (which can each hold between 1 and 3 cards), a zip pocket for change, and 2 open sections which I can even fit my medications and my phone in, meaning it can be used as a mini bag as well as my wallet!

There was only one bit where I got super confused, and that was trying to assemble the card slots with the inner and outer fabrics... I ended up with it looking like the picture below: extra flap on the right (at about 10-12cm, I think), card slots with excess stitched down (at the same depth as the others), a gap allowing room for the wallet to bulge, and the the other card section placed with the excess fabric over the edge, again at the same depth as the other slots. The three sides I stitched up are (looking at below picture again) top, left and bottom, leaving the extra flap til last, and meaning there isn't an row of stitching on the left hand card slot at the bottom. I also did each seam with pins, then tacking, and then on the sewing machine, for a neater finish.

I managed to complete this in a week or so, which is really great for me, bearing in mind I can only do small amounts each day! But I really, really enjoyed the process, and I love using it. If you're loving this fabric as much as me, it's available on eBay here.

Tried and Tested Tip Number 20 [Wish Stars]

I remember being taught how to make wish stars many years ago, and they are so easy to make and fun to have around! They look great sat in jars, sprinkled on tables, or sprinkled inside gift wrap when wrapping presents. You can add messages to your paper before folding, and try different colours and textures of paper.

To start? Gather strips of paper. Mine are approx 1cm wide and 29.7cm high (i.e. the height of A4).

Take one strip, and fold the top down at an angle, like so:

Then fold the short piece back behind the strip at an angle. On the left here you can see the fold, and on the right what it looks like from behind. If there is any excess sticking out you can either trim it like I have or fold it over.

Fold your long strip back behind and up, and you have a pentagon (left)! You really want to make sure these edges are even, so your star has that perfect shape. Bring the strip back over the top, and follow the shape round so that you are wrapping the strip across each side in turn - this should happen quite naturally.

Keep folding your strip until you run out of paper. You do not need to make defined creases when you fold, and don't do it too tightly. You want it to be able to puff up into a star later. Tuck the end (you may need to trim it slightly!) into the star, under previous layers, and you have a rather neat looking pentagon! Here you can see the importance of making your first few folds at the correct angles, so your pentagon is even.

Now simply use your thumb nail and make a dent in the middle of each edge, which will form 5 little points - your wish star!

And now your can make millions of wish stars! Sparkly :)

Tried and Tested Tip Number 18 [Fork Pom Poms]

Believe me when I say I wanted to love this fork pom pom tutorial floating round the internet. The traditional cardboard ring can be a bit of a faff, and this seemed a great alternative.

[source: Eskimimi Makes]

Having tried it? I'm just not that impressed. A cute little craft, yes. But they are not the best pom poms ever made, partly because it is so difficult to tie the middle string tight enough when the wool is wrapped around a fork!

If you do give it a try, I have 3 tips:

1. Wrap the wool around the fork as "on top of itself" as you can - a narrower area means you can tie the pom pom tighter.

2. If you wap the wool round a bit looser, you can fit your scissors in whilst it is still on the fork, making cutting easier.

3. Your pom pom will not come off the fork looking perfectly spherical. You will need to trim, trim, trim!

[Experiment with different wools - I have used chunky, double knitting, 4 ply, and a very fine wool here.]

There are lots of great uses for mini pom poms though, whatever method you use. I can just see these looking delightful on top of a present :)

Tried & Tested Tip Number 16 [Stab Stitch Tutorial]

When I first wanted to learn how to make a book using stab stitch (also sometimes called five stitch book binding) I searched the internet for tutorials (such as this and this). They were good for basics, but I wanted to make something a bit more special...

This tutorial adds in some extra steps and advice to make a more advanced book, with extra depth between pages, different sized pages etc. I have used it to create books filled with wedding photos as special gifts, but you really could use it for anything!

So, let's get to it!

You will need:

Card/paper for cover and pages

Cutting mat and scalpel (optional: guillotene)

Metal ruler

Pencil

A piece of scrap board/wood

Clean nail

Hammer
Thread (anything from string and wool, to embroidery floss and fancy cottons will work)
Needle
Scissors
Pritt Stick/double sided sticky tape
Pegs (or bull dog clips)
PVA glue

Note: Here you can see the piece of board I used for this project:

However, on smaller projects (if you're not heavy handed with the hammer!) you can get away using tiny scraps of wood, like these which come with canvasses:

1. Begin by cutting your card to size. I used a pearl cream card for the cover, which I made 20cm x 20cm - you need to cut two, one for the front and one for the back. I used a plain white card for my pages, cut to 19cm high and 19.5cm wide, so it would sit flush with the left hand binding, but be indented on the other edges. I had 22 pages.

(If you want your inner pages the same size as your covers, then simply cut them the same size. You can make your covers and pages any size you want.)

2. Score your front cover on the left hand side. For this 20cm x 20cm book, I scored 2cm in down the left hand side. This will about right for most books, but smaller books may need less. Don't score the back cover.

3. Now you need to mark the holes through which you will sew the book together. Mark these along the score mark.

Mark your first hole at the mid point along the score.

Mark your second hole an equal distance in from the top edge as your score is from the left edge. 

Similarly, mark your third hole an equal distance from the bottom edge as your score is from the left edge. 

Mark your fourth hole between the middle hole and the top hole; and your fifth hole midway between your middle hole and the bottom hole. 

Make sense?! On my 20cm x 20cm book, I marked the holes at 2cm, 6cm, 10cm, 14cm and 18cm. You also want to mark these holes on your back cover, so they align with the front cover.

4. Place your piece of scrap board on your work surface, and place your front cover on top, front side up, so you can see your marks. Hold the nail on your first mark, and hammer a few times - you should make your first hole! Continue with your other four holes. Repeat with your back cover, again hammering from your external side to internal side.

 

(To clarify, you want to hammer from the front of the front cover, to the inside of the front cover. And from the back of the back cover, to the inside of the back cover. This keeps your covers neat and tidy.)

5. Now score your internal pages. As with the covers, I am scoring 2cm in from the left on every page.

6. Now you need your hammer, nail and board again. Mark holes along the score line of your first inside page. You need these holes to line up with covers - remembering your inside pages are smaller than your covers. For me, this makes my hole placement 1.5cm, 5.5cm, 9.5cm, 13.5cm and 17.5cm along the scored line. Now, punch your holes as before.

It can take a while to do it one at a time, and you will need to mark every page. However, do too many at once and the holes can look quite ugly. So... I begin by punching holes on the first page, the one we just marked. I then use pegs to hold the next two pages perfectly aligned underneath the first page, and hammer through. I unpeg, and take the bottom page to use as the guide to punch through the next 2 pages, and so on. This stops any page being over hammered, and keeps things aligned. Your holes should always be on the score line.

Feel free to stack your pages and covers together at the point to take a look - your book is beginning to take shape!

7. Because I am using this book as a display book for photographs, I want to add extra depth to each page to compensate.

23 of my pages will have contents (the 22 inside, and I am also using the back cover), therefore I want 23 strips of card. Each strip for me is 1.5cm wide (just less than the depth of the score from the edge) and 19cm long (the height of my inner pages). If your lucky, your offcuts from earlier will be exactly the right size!

8. Attach these strips to each of your pages (and your back cover, if you wish) within the score line. I used Pritt Stick because it is repositionable, but you could use good ol' double sided sticky tape. You want to stick each strip on the front of every page, between your left hand edge and the score line, preferably flush to the left edge.

9. If you are planning to use this as a notebook/generally fill at a later date, go straight to step 10, and enjoy seeing your book come together!

If you are planning to use this as a scrapbook/presentation book, you may prefer to fill your pages now, before assembly. Remember, this book won't open as wide as a "standard" book, so you may wish to position your contents slightly to the right of the page.

10. Now you're ready to assemble! Make sure you are happy wih how your pages look and are ordered. (You can always undo your stitching to make changes, but it's more work!) Stack them neatly and so the holes and edges line up. (If your book is small enough you may wish to peg it again!)

11. Cut a length of thread at 4 - 5 times the height of your book. (Because I am using quite a delicate thread, I folded it in half for double strength.) Thread your needle - you want it big enough to hold your thread, but small enough to pass through your holes without too much difficulty.

12. Now, to stitch! And this is when you realise just how important it is that your holes DO line up! Looking at the front of your book, you want to imagine the holes numbered like this:

Every stitch is going to pass through every layer of your book. Pull the thread tight to hold it all together, but not so tight you break the thread! This is fiddlier with more delicate thread, with more pages, and with different sized pages, but it is also very much worth your effort!

A. Begin by passing your thread from back to front through Hole 3, leaving a few inches of thread behind at the back.

B. Pass your thread back down through Hole 2.

C. Wrap around your left edge, and go back down through Hole 2.

 D. Pass your thread up through Hole 1.

E. Wrap around your left edge, and go back up through Hole 1.

F. Now wrap around your top edge, and go back up through Hole 1.

G. Go back down through Hole 2.

H. Pass your thread up through Hole 4, skipping Hole 3. (I like to make sure the end I left at the beginning is to the "stitching" side as the thread passes down, ready to tie your knot later.)

I. Wrap around your left edge, and go back down through Hole 4.

 
J. Go down through Hole 5.

 
K. Wrap around your left edge, and go back down through Hole 5.

 
L. Now wrap around your bottom edge, and go back down through Hole 5.

M. Pass your thread back up through Hole 4.

N. And back down through Hole 3, staying on the "book" side of the strand from step H.

O. Wrap around your left edge, and go back down through Hole 3, again staying on the "book" side of the strand from step H.

P. Remove your needle and knot your ends, making sure your stitches are straight and taut. If you are using fine thread, be careful not to pull too tight and break it, but you do want it secure. I added a drop of PVA glue to help secure it.

Note: If you are finding it difficult to pull your needle through, try resting the book on it's edge and passing the needle through a page or two at a time:

And that's it, you've made it! I just added a small placard to the front of mine:

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions or clarification :) And keep an eye out over the next few days for more stab stitch inspiration!