If you don’t already know, it will become very obvious very soon that I absolutely love everything Disney. Lately I have been trying out the method of finding inspiration for designs through dates (not like romantic, but on a calendar haha). So my last pattern was in honor of Valentine’s Day and I decided to focus on Mardi Gras for this one! Now to tie that back to my love of Disney, usually the second I think of Mardi Gras I think of Princess and The Frog, which is one of my favorite Disney movies. Additionally, Tiana is hands down my favorite Disney Princess so it was kind of a no brainer to me to name the design after her. As traditional Mardi Gras Colors are Green, Gold, and Purple, I decided to use a green yarn and added some hints of gold for some flare. I had intended to actually post this on or before Mardi Gras, but life happens and sometimes our schedules get derailed, so I apologize for the delay!
In my last post I had mentioned that I was trying out some different cotton yarns that I ordered online because I have had the biggest struggle finding lighter weight cotton in any stores in my area. For this project I tried out this La Mia Cotton that I found on Amazon. It is a Weight 3 yarn that comes in a pack of 5 balls and has a lot of really nice colors, a fair amount of bright and bold colors as well as some really pretty pastels. When I first felt it, I was surprised by the fact that it actual felt a bit silky, I’m not entirely sure how to explain it but it felt more stiff than other cotton yarns that I have used, which actually seemed to be perfect since I was mainly going to use it to create fringe and it didn’t want it to stick to itself too much. In the end it did end up acting just like other cottons and was sticking to itself pretty heavily which was a bit frustrating, but overall I am very happy with the end result.
Overall I would say that this pattern is super easy, however looping on the tassels for the fringe was rather tedious so just be prepared for that part haha. Now before I get into the details of the needed materials, I want to note that I don’t typically create my patterns on a standard size basis (XS – XL). I don’t do this because no two bodies are the same and I think that if you really want to make a piece specific to your body, that can be achieved much more accurately through taking personal measurements rather than following a pattern that will generally follow certain size guidelines.
Materials:
- La Mia Mercerized Cotton in Dark Green (3 DK Weight)
- Aunt Lydia’s Metallic Crochet Thread in Gold ( 0/Lace weight) (Optional)
- 4.50 Crochet Hook
Measurements:
- Across the front of the Bust
Abbreviations
- DC – Double Crochet
- DC2TOG – Double Crochet 2 Together
- SC – Single Crochet
The fringe is laid out in a Chevron Pattern and this is because the base of the front of the top is worked in a chevron as well underneath the fringe. Therefore we will begin the pattern by working the Chevron Base.
Chevron Base
This section will be worked in multiples of 4 (plus 3). Due to the fact that the chevron pattern scrunches you chain foundation, it isn’t quite as simple as creating a foundation chain that matches the “Front of the Bust Measurement”. However, that is generally how I figured out how long to make my foundation chain. I just made it a little bit longer than the actual measurement and it scrunched back down to the proper size. I had to do a bit of trail and error with this, but just try to make it so that the ends of the chevron pattern each land a few inches below the middle of you underarm on either side.
Foundation :
- Work a foundation chain that is a multiple of 4 (plus 3) that is a bit longer than your “Front of the Bust Measurement”.
- Make a note of what multiple of 4 you used and divide that number by 4, this will help you figure out how many stitches you need to work in each “section” of the chevron pattern. Though your number is different than the diagram below, you will generally be following this pattern.
(Picture from www.planetjune.com, you should check out her site, she has a bunch of super cute patterns!)
Row 1:
- As the diagram shows that extra 3 chains counts as 1DC, now work 1 DC into the fourth chain from the hook.
- Take the number you got when you divided your multiple of 4 by 4 and subtract 4. Take this new number and work that many DC’s across the foundation chain.
- Once you have worked those stitches, DC2TOG
- DC2TOG into the next two stitches as well.
- Work the “multiple of 4 by 4 and subtract 4” number of stitches across the foundation chain.
- Once you have worked those stitches, work 2 DC’s into the next stitch.
- Work 2 DC’s into the next stitch.
- Take the “multiple of 4 by 4 and subtract 4” number and work that many DC’s across the foundation.
- Once you have worked those stitches, DC2TOG
- DC2TOG into the next two stitches as well.
- Work the “multiple of 4 by 4 and subtract 4” number of stitches across the foundation chain.
- Once you have worked those stitches, work 2 DC’s into the last stitch.
- Chain 3 and turn your work.
Row 2-8:
- Repeat all the steps in Row 1
Row 9:
- Repeat Row 1, however only work your DC’s into the “Front” stitch of the DC’s in the previous row. This will create a a row of stitches that are protruding out a little further than the rest of the section, these stitches will be where you ties your fringe tassels in.
Row 10….
Repeat Rows 1-9 as any times as needed to get the top to your desired length. I did 3 of these sections and it came out to be about 10″ long without the tassels and 12.5″ after adding the tassels. For the last “Top” section you don’t have to work the last row in the “Front” stitch of the DC like you did in the other rows.
(I apologize for the not very pretty progress photos, I am currently working on making a much more appealing station to take progress pictures)
Once you have completed the Chevron portion of the top, we will begin working on the back.
Back Section
As you may have noticed I am obsessed with the “Suzette Stitch” and probably use it too often, but its a love that just can’t be broken apparently haha. Therefore, I worked the back portion of this piece as just a block of Suzette Stitches, however you really can work the back using whatever stitch you’d like.
Row 1:
- Turn the Chevron section so you are working on the side, you don’t have to start on any particular side of the piece so it is up to you exactly where you want to start working the back. (If you are doing the back in the Suzette Stitch, you can follow the following instructions). Work SC stitches as evenly as possible across the side of the chevron piece, make sure you work an amount of SC stitches in a multiple of 2.
- Chain 1 and turn.
Row 2:
- Work 1 SC into the first stitch
- Work 1 DC into the same stitch
- Skip 1 stitch
- Work 1 SC into the next stitch
- Work 1 DC into the same stitch
- Repeat steps 3-5 two more times until you reach the last two stitches
- Skip 1 stitch
- Work 1 SC into the last stitch
- Chain 1 and turn your work.
Here you can see how the Suzette Stitches were added onto the side, it was too long to fit the whole piece in the picture but this is the general idea you are going for.
Row 3….
Repeat Row 2 until the back section wraps around your back comfortably and then attach it to the other side of the chevron piece. You can do this by sewing it on with a tapestry needle or with slip stitches across to attach the two pieces. However you chose to attach it I recommend using stitch markers to clip the sides together in a few locations so that they stay aligned while you are attaching them together.
Attaching the Fringe Tassels
When you worked the Chevron Pattern you did a few rows that created some protruding stitches, these are where you will attach the fringe tassels. You can kind of see them in the picture below, and on your own project you should definitely be able to at least feel where these rows are when you brush your hand over the top.
When working the fringe tassels be sure to start at the lowest section first and then work your way up. Personally, I didn’t add any to the very bottom of my top, but if you want to add extra length you can totally add them there as well.
I wanted my fringe to be pretty thick so I used 3 strands of yarn per tassel, if you don’t want it as thick I think that only doing 2 strands would work as well. Because the chevron pattern creates the peaks and low points for you, there is no need to cut the yarn at different lengths. Cut your strands all the same length and they should follow the chevron pattern naturally.
For the lowest section, I measured my strands to go a few inches past the bottom of the chevron piece and attached them all along that protruding row.
As you can see I had worked my fringe on one half and then worked the second half, you can work it this way too, but i actually recommend doing the entire row at a time for the sake of consistency. Also this picture shows the color of the yarn MUCH better than the previous photos, hallelujah for natural daylight.
I remeasured how long my yarn would be for each layer because when wearing the top, the tassels raise up a little bit, so for each layer working up I actually ended up cutting my yarn a little bit longer for each of the top two layers.
For the top layer, I attached them a little differently than the other layers. Because the top row doesn’t have the “protruding row” I just tied the fringe tassels in between the stitches. In addition at the top peak points (the gaps pointed to in the photo below) where you are going to attach straps, you leave those empty and work the tassels in the section below the gap.
This is what it looked like once all the fringe has been added. The strands stick to each other a little bit just it helps to brush your fingers through them to straighten them out a little bit, or even steam them straighter if you have a steamer. Now you just need to add the straps!
Adding the Straps
On the front of the top, the straps will be worked in the gap at the two peak points.
Row 1:
- Work 5 SC’s into the gap
- Chain 1 and turn your work
Row 2:
- Work 1 SC into each of the 5 stitches from the previous row
- Chain 1 and turn your work
Row 3…
Repeat the steps of Row 2 until the strap fits snuggly over your shoulder and onto the top of the back panel. (I also suggest taking the measurement of a strap from a bra that you own to try to gauge how long the strap should be). It will stretch overtime so make it a little bit tighter than you would think is needed.
Sewing on the Straps
Lay each of the straps on top of themselves so they line up and see where they lay naturally on the back panel. On the top of the back panel count inward the same number of stitches on both sides to the point where the strap is laying naturally. I counted inward 5 stitches from the end of both sides and places stitch markers there to mark where I need to sew on the straps to the back panel. Once the straps are lined up evenly, sew them onto the back.
Adding some Flare
I really enjoyed the top the way it came out, but I felt like it needed something a bit more shiny to really channel the Mardi Gras spirit, so I decided to add a few strands of Gold Thread. This is of course optional if you are happy with the top without it. I decided to limit the gold to just being in the middle portion of the top fringe layer and cut it to be a little shorter than the strands in the top layer. I tied them in between each of the fringe tassels from one gap where you added the strap to the other.
I got a little discouraged as I was working on this top because I just felt like it wasn’t turning out the way I wanted it to, but once it was finally finished I actual kind of fell in love with it! It’s super fun to wear! Also I am a little new to writing patterns so please let me know if you noticed any errors or have any clarifying questions! I also have slowly been creating a setup to improve the production and consistency of my In-Progress photos, so hopefully that shows up in the next pattern tutorial!
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