Thursday, June 27, 2013

Granny Flower Square Tutorial


Hi everyone!  I am here to show you how I made these flower granny squares that I used while making the pillow above.  Please note that I am using one color of yarn in this tutorial, so I could keep going while taking photos but for more interest, have fun experimenting with various color combinations. 

 Let me start off by explaining, that you can turn any flower into a granny square.  This is a 6 petal flower with double layers.  You can do this with just about any flower as long as you build a chain in the back side and attach on all 4 sides equally spaced.  I have several blankets that my grandmother made way back when turning simple flowers like this into squares.   She did it out of simple flowers like these easy 6 petal flowers and some more complicated flowers many many years ago.  I need to pull them out of storage some day and show them off, but that is another day. You can do it with 5 petal flowers, 12 petal flowers, etc.  All you need to do is count the number of stitches around, and divide by 4.  That will be where you place the slip stitch with the chain you make to attach on the back side, and start a granny square off that foundation you built.   It is not so difficult to do, but I am getting ahead of myself here.  I hope that everyone finds this tutorial easy to follow.   Let's get started shall we?  


First we will be making the flower.  All terms mentioned here are in American crochet terms. If you are from the UK or anywhere else, you will need to convert to the crochet terms in your land :)  

 Chain 4 and then slip stitch into the first chain to form a ring. 


In the center of the ring, chain one stitch, this will count as your first stitch and go around until you have 12 stitches total.  Slip stitch into the first stitch to finish this round off. 


Chain 1 and then in the next stitch make 3 double crochet stitches and then in the next one slip stitch, alternating all the way around, through both the front and back loop of the single crochet stitches.


You should do this until you have a total of 6 flower petals.  Slip stitch into the first single crochet stitch when you started the round to finish off this round. 


Chain 3 stitches.


Turn the project around so the back side is facing you.  Make a slip stitch in every slip stitch space between the petals when you finish off the chain.  Do this 6 times with a chain 3,  behind each and every petal. 


When you are done it should look like this from the back.  Finish off that round with a slip stitch where you started the first chain of 3.  


Flip the flower around so it is facing the right way again, as you will be working from the front again.  Make a single crochet over the first chain 3 space and then 5 double crochet stitches.  Do this for each 3 chain space (1 sc and 5 dc).  You should have 6 flower petals now.


Make a slip stitch in the first single crochet stitch that you started the round with, and then chain 5 stitches. 


Turn the flower around so the back is facing you again.  You can see in the diagram above where to make a slip stitch, and that is at the base of the next flower petal over, between the 2nd and 3rd double crochet stitches.  Then chain 5 more stitches and make a slip stitch between the petals.  Do this again until you have a total of 4 chain stitches secured to the back of the flower.  


Still working from the back side, now you will be making stitches like a granny square.  Chain 2 (this counts as your first stitch) and then 2 double crochets after that to form a granny square cluster on to the chain, of 3 double crochet stitches together.  Then, chain 2 and make 3 more double crochet stitches to form another cluster.  This is side one completed.  Do this on all  4 of the 5 chain spaces on the back of the flower. 


Finish this round off by making a slip stitch into the first chain 2 when you started the round. Flip the project around and chain 2.  You will be working from the front again. 


Make a double crochet stitch in each space around, and then 2 at the end, and then 2 chain stitches to go around the corner and then 2 double crochet stitches, and continue around in each space, for a total of 12 stitches on each side (not counting the chain stitches around the corner). 


It should look like this photo above at this point. 


Chain 1 stitch and then single crochet all the way around, with 2 single crochet stitches at the end, and then 2 chain stitches to go around the corner, and 2 single crochet stitches again, and a single crochet in each space after that around.  You should have 14 single crochet stitches on each side not counting the 2 chain crochet stitches to go around the corner.  


Finish off and then to add some bling, you can sew a button in the center.

That's it!  Now you have made a flower and  converted a flower into a granny square.  You can make a blanket, a pillow or many other things with these flower granny squares.  If you want to use another flower, just have fun experimenting.  You have learned the basic technique and with simple math you can do this.  To figure out how long the chain should be, depends on how wide your flower is.  Just make a chain that reaches across tightly (but not too tight) and if it lays flat, do that all the way around.  It really is that simple and no big mystery here.  Don't be intimidated, just have fun... I know you can do it!  I have confidence in you dear reader. 

When I made the pillow above, I changed colors with the petal rounds and the final outer round of single crochet was made with the white, and they were whip stitched together from the back loop only to make a flat seam.  

I hope you can understand my instructions as I am not well practiced at writing patterns.  If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment and I will update this post or answer you in the comments section depending on the question.  

Now go forth and create!  Until next time... xxxxxxxx




No comments:

Post a Comment

I love your feedback, and thank you for commenting.