10 Cutest Crochet Rag Dolls With Patterns

My little girl's first birthday is coming up and I was planning to crochet something for her. While browsing and looking for ideas I have found so many lovely toys which are rather easy to crochet and they could make good presents or even decoration items for different occasions. I've selected the best ones which had free patterns:

1. This couple would make any Christmas bright and joyful :D The pattern for these gingerbread cuties can be found on Maria's Blue Crayon site.

2. Isn't he cute, I mean spooky? This awesome fellow would be a great decoration item for Halloween. Maria's Blue Crayon is sharing the pattern.

3. My baby loves giraffes, using this pattern by Lulu's Crafts it would really easy to make one.

4. George stole my heart! Never thought I could feel so much love for a goose, but he is a special one :D This pattern by Meg is definitely made with love <3

5. I just love this Unicorn! How do people even come up  with this gorgeous ideas? You can make this beauty by using  this free pattern from Spin a Yarn Crochet.

6. Pretty Martyna shared her pattern for this cute Dimitri Dinosaur and she even translated her pattern from German. Scroll down the page to find the English pattern.

7. Just look at this adorable snowman! Check this pattern out and enjoy the Christmas mood this little guy is bringing!

8. What a cute little elephant, makes me want to hug him right away! The free pattern is on Rivelry.

9. This bunny lovey can be found as a free pattern from Lion Brand. Depending on the size you want to have it in, it could serve as a nice toy to cuddle with or even as a blanket!

10. Such a happy popsicle :D Get the pattern here and create the summer mood in your house even in winter!

These all are so adorable, I think I will use the Unicorn pattern for my baby. Which patterns have you used? Show your own creations in comments!

Simple DIY Play Dough

Earlier this month I was looking for some new activity to keep my daughter busy with. Even though she is not even two years old I thought she might already enjoy molding clay. When I started looking for options in a toy store, all they had to offer was not suitable for children under age of three. Sure thing, my child still wants to taste anything she gets her hands on, so I would rather have her playing with something safe (and edible). So there it was, our perfect way out - homemade play dough! Luckily, mister Google has lots of links to tell me how to make it. After surfing the net for a while and getting tips and advises from different sources, I have put together the best recipe for homemade play dough. 

The recipe itself is rather simple. All you need is a cup of flour, 1/2 cup of warm water, 1/4 cup of salt, 1 tbsp of oil and, of course, food coloring. Mix flour with salt in one bowl and warm water with the coloring in another (for each color I used several drops of gel food coloring, it makes colors more vibrant). Now pour colored water into the bowl with salty flour, add oil and mix well. You can add more flour to make it less sticky or, on contrary, add a bit more water to soften your dough. 

The type of flour you choose for your mixture might have a rather interesting effect on the molding experience. For example, the only flour I had on my shelf was bread flour with various kinds of seeds added. At first I was quite hesitant to use it, but then I decided to give it a try and the end result turned out great! Seeds made the texture more complex and, at the same time, fun to play with.

When making this dough at first I was sure that this is a one-time use product, but it may serve you many times more if you keep it in an air-tight box. At least my kid have already used it several times during this month. I still have to look into the ways of baking the molded item or any other way to make the end product more lasting - it would make a great present for Father's day, don't you think? ;)

Enjoy playing with this dough and I would love to hear your feedback!

Crochet basket

Crochet baskets always draw my attention. Tons of pictures on Pinterest inspire me to experiment with shapes, sizes, color combinations... This time a hanging basket caught my eye and I felt the urge to make it :D And guess what?! It turned out super cute! 

It was one of the easiest and yet adorable projects I had to crochet so far. And it is definitely a handy item to have in any household. You can find the free pattern here. 

Octopuses for preemies

Being fond of a pretty wide range of handcrafts I must say that at this point I am literally hooked on crochet. Haven't held the hook in my hands since school until recently, when I discovered this great initiative for prematurely born children - crochet octopuses. Originating from Denmark, the project is now spread in several other countries, like Finland, Poland, Sweden and Ukraine.

My very first crochet octopus

The main idea behind it is that these little creatures help prematurely born babies feel safer, as preemies tend to associate tentacles with the umbilical cord and, the same way it works while kids are still in mommies' bellies, holding to it calms them down. Moreover, according to doctors' observations, having tiny hands busy "playing" with tentacles, reduces the occasions of pulling catheters and pipes out of place, ensuring faster and safer healing process.

Learn more about the project from the founders on their website The Octo Project 

And if you are willing to contribute to the project in Ukraine - you are welcome to find all the information you need on the Facebook page of Chudo-vosmynizhky (in Ukrainian).

Meanwhile, I would like to share with you the pattern I have been using to create these little creatures. The pattern is translated from Ukrainian and spread with the permission of the project coordinators. You are welcome to use it and make your own octopuses for kids, however, remember that this pattern is not meant for commercial use and selling it is prohibited. 

There are certain requirements one should follow in order to make these octopuses safe for little babies. So if you intend to donate your creations to the hospital or use for your own baby, please, make sure to read the following text carefully.

1. The yarn used for making octopi has to be 100% cotton, because of its hypoallergenic qualities. It also ensures the durability of your toy, as it has to go through a lot of washing to stay clean. 

2. Use hollowfibre or sintepon for stuffing. Fill in as tightly as you can, because with time filling tend to loose its firmness. Make sure you sew the stuffing into nylon stocking, so that it stays inside after all the washing. Nylon is the best material to use, because it allows the octopus to dry out fast and it doesn't wear out easily. 

3. Make your work is tight and doesn't contain any holes or loops, which can trap baby's tiny fingers. 

4. Decorations also have to be tight and safe. They should be firmly attached to the the body of octopus or they can be left out at all. 

5. The outstretched tentacles should not exceed 20cm for safety reasons

And here is the pattern itself

Abbreviations used:

st - stitch
ch - chain
sc - single crochet
sc tog - single crochet 2 stitches together
sl st - slip stitch

The body: 

Round 1: 6 sc in a magic ring (6)
Round 2: 2 sc in every st (12)
Round 3: 2 sc in every 2nd st (18)
Round 4: 2 sc in every 3rd st (24)
Round 5: 2 sc in every 4th st (30)
Round 6: 2 sc in every 5th st (36)
Rounds 7-10: sc in every st (36)
Round 11: *16 sc, sc tog next 2 st*, repeat *-* once (34)
Round 12: *15 sc, sc tog next 2 st*, repeat *-* once (32)
Round 13: sc in every st (32)
Round 14: *14 sc, sc tog next 2 st*, repeat *-* once (30)
Round 15: *13 sc, sc tog next 2 st*, repeat *-* once (28)
Round 16: sc in every st (28)
Round 17: *12 sc, sc tog next 2 st*, repeat *-* once (26)
Round 18: sc in every st (26)
Round 19: *11 sc, sc tog next 2 st*, repeat *-* once (24)
Round 20: sc in every st (24)
Round 21: *10 sc, sc tog next 2 st*, repeat *-* once (22)
Round 22: sc in every st (22)
Round 23: *9 sc, sc tog next 2 st*, repeat *-* once (20)
Round 24: sc in every st (20)
Round 25: sc in every st (20). Finish with a sl st and pull the thread through. Secure the ends. Fill in the body with the stuffing.

The bottom:

Round 1: 5 sc in a magic ring (5)
Round 2: 2 sc in every st (10)
Round 3: 2 sc in every 2nd st (15)
Round 4: 2 sc in every 3rd st (20). Finish with a sl st and pull the thread through. Secure the ends.

Tentacles:

Take the body and the bottom parts, put them together (bottom facing upwards) and join them along top loops while working on the tentacles: *1 sc, 50 ch, turn and, starting with the second ch from the hook make 2 sc in each ch all the way till the end of your ch, finish with 1 or 2 sc*. Make 7 more tentacles, remember to insert your hook through both body and bottom loops, joining them together. End with 1 sl st and pull the yarn through. Secure the ends. Try making 3 or 4 sc in each ch in case the tentacle doesn't curl.

In the nearest future I plan to add a step-by-step photo tutorial, so stay tuned!

Good luck with your creations!

Welcome to my crafting blog!

Hi and welcome to my blog about crafting and handmade!

Since Sunday is usually the most perfect day for relaxing and spending some time on things that make one happy, it was not at all hard to come up with the name for this blog - Sunday Project. And what could be better than publishing its very first post on Sunday? (well, let's overlook the fact that there's only 15 minutes of Sunday left...)

Anyhow, I am very pleased to start this new page in my life and I hope you will also enjoy browsing through my posts, getting inspiration and ideas for your own projects!

Let's go!