Carl Boyd

Let’s Accessorise

Accessories are big business at the moment which means machine knitters are in the wonderful position of being able to create their own from left over ends yarns. With just a little time and effort you can save pounds by creating belts, trimmings and of course handbags as I showed you in the December issue. Lets start by looking at belts, which are very easy to make. All have been knit in 4 ply yarn.

The Belt Base

Cut a length of of pelmet Vilene about 5” (12.5cm) longer than the waist size needed and twice the width you have decided on as its to be folded in half, I have made mine 4” (10cm) as the finished belt will be 2” (5cm) wide. After folding in half, press and machine down both the long edges. On to the back of this I have ironed a strip of fabric interfacing in white, as the belt is going to be cream. The interfacing comes in black or white, so for a darker belt I would use black. Now we need to knit a length of fabric about ¾” (2cm) wider than the base and about 1” (2.5cm) longer, the length is not critical as you can cut and sew one end. The fabric needs to be firm so knit on a tighter tension than normal. I have used a 4ply wool which I would normally knit on TD7 but have knit my fabric on TD4. You will need to knit a small sample to get an idea of stitches and rows to the inch so you can calculate how many rows and stitches you need to knit to get the length and width you require. Or just knit a piece and cut and sew the whole thing. Press the fabric nice and flat and lay your vilene base on top centralised, fabric (interfacing) side up. Working on the long sides first fold over evenly each side and tack into place, fold over the ends making sure you get a neat corner and and tack. Turn belt to right side and machine top stitch about ¼” (½ cm) all round the edge. You now have the finished base ready for your chosen decoration (see diagram 1).

Suggested decoration

For the cream belt cut a circle of white card 3” (7.5cm) in diameter and on one side iron a piece of interfacing and trim around the edge. Now you need to knit a 4½” (11cm) square to cover this, after pressing place card in the centre and draw around with a suitable marker. Leaving a ½” (1.2cm) margin, cut out the circle. Place on a flat surface with wrong side uppermost and place the card in the centre with interfaced side facing you. Using Bostik all purpose glue or similar adheasive, run a line of glue around the edge of the card and fold the hem over, clipping where necessary and press (diagram 2).

 Topstitch as you did the base. To make the flower, knit a rouleau as follows. Push 3 Ns on main bed and 2 on ribber to WP as for full needle rib, set tensions on both beds as far below 0 as they will go slide lever on II, knit cast on row. Hang a wire-loop type weight hanger (shaped like a 7) and a small weight, gently pull on both ends of the cast on row which will pull the Ns closer together which gives a much neater cast on. Set carriages for cicular knitting so that the next movement knits on ribber first, TD up 3 clicks on both beds, knit 3 rows (carriage on the right). RC000 TD4/4 knit to RC200, transfer stitches to main bed and cast off. Draw 2 straight lines 1¼” (3cm) apart and pin rouleau on as in Diagram 3,

at the base stitch all the touching edges together so that when unpinned you can bring the two edges together to form the flower. Stitch onto the circle and add a button in the centre. I stitched mine on using gold thread to match the gold on the button.

Silver belt

For the silver grey belt I have knit a cable trim and threaded a chain through the cables. To knit the cable trim, push 6 Ns in centre of main bed to WP and 5 Ns on ribber. TD on both beds as far below 0 as it will go, knit cast on row and hang a wire-loop type weight hanger (shaped like a 7) and a small weight. Set both carriages for cicular kniting making sure you knit on ribber left to right and main bed right to left, TD2/2 knit 2 rows, TD6 knit 1 row. RC000 knit 12 rows and cable the 6 sts on main bed, push the cabled Ns to hold position to ensure they knit off correctly and knit 24 rows and cable. Proceed in this manner cabling every 24 rows until you have knit enough to cover the length of belt your knitting, finishing with 12 rows after last cable. Transfer sts to main bed and cast off.

Dark Grey Belt

The dark grey belt is exactly the same principal as the cream belt but using a different shape and trimmed with rouleau and pearls.

The One Hour Red Belt

Yes the red belt can be knit and made in 1 hour. Push 28 Ns to WP and cast on using E wrap method. RC000 TD6 and knit 470 rows and cast off. Knit a second piece of 450 rows. Pull on both pieces so the outside edges roll to the centre evenly, stitch the rolled cast on edge neatly so it cant unroll. Take cast off edge and unroll and fold outside edge to the centre and press flat, take the buckle with right side facing you and place the shaft on top of the pressed edge of the longer piece and over sew as shown in photograph (Diagram 4).

Push down so it only covers half the buckle shaft. Take the shorter length and stitch above this in the same manner. Finally thread the two ends through the bucle and adjust to fit waist. If you want you can slipstitch back of belt to ensure they stay together but leave the last 9” (23cm) free.

Finally, with the exception of the red belt, all the belts fasten at the back. For this you can use one of three methods, first you can fasten with large covered press studs as described for the clutch bag in the December issue. The second method is to use Velcro, sew a length of about 2” (5cm) on the underside of the top of the belt and 1” (2.5cm) of the corresponding Velcro on the bottom of the belt. This gives you the advantage of adjusting the waist size for a perfect fit. The final method is to work a machined buttonhole and stitch on a covered button. Most of all have fun and experiment.

                                                                            Carl

Clutch Bag

By Carl Boyd

Materials

This very easy to make clutch bag is ideal for evening and would be perfect for a bride, and a great christmas present. Also uses up those yarn oddments we all have stowed away all over the house.You need about 100g of yarn depending on type, wool, acrylic, novelty etc. in 4ply or any yarn that is 1 or 2ply that can be used 2 or 4 fold. I used Yeomans Supersheen 4 fold on TD4 as you want a nice firm fabric. You also need ½ metre of pelmet Vilene costing approximately £3.50 metre and a novelty buckle plus a small piece of matching lining.

 First Step

Take the vilene and and cut an oblonge to measure 15” x 10 ½” ( 38 x 26.5cm ). Divide the longside into 3 putting a pencil mark on both sides at 5” and 10” and draw two lines across giving you 3 sections.Knit a tension swatch in you chosen yarn on TD4 and calculate how many stitches and rows you require to knit a 16 ¼” x 10 ½ ” piece of fabric, the extra 1¼” on the lenth is ¾” for the inside hem and ½” for ease so bag folds without pulling. My swatch gave me 9 sts and 12 ½ rows to one inch ( 2.5cm ) which meant 94 Nds and 200 rows to get my fabric. If its slightly wider or longer, don’t worry, just do a little cut & sew.

 Side Gusset

For the side gussets I cast on over 12 Nds and knit 132 rows putting a marker each end of row 66. which gave me a strip 10 ½” long ( slight variation in the width is not that important ). Press to roughly 1” wide by 10 ½” and turn down a ¼” at each end and press. Now press the fabric to size and with wrong side facing you turn down a ¾” hem at the top and press. Place knitting onto vilene right side facing you and pin round the edge easing in fullness between each end, opening up hem so edge of vilene is level with the hem fold as in Diagram 1.

 Place a marker thread each end of the drawn lines on vilene then place right side up. Take the gusset and lay on top , matching markers and having each end almost on 2nd marker and vilene edge and fold line as in Diagram 2.

 Make The Lining

Take the lining and cut to 15 ¾” x 10 ½” making a ¾” hem at one end and press. Pin lining to knitting right sides together with both hems open, starting at the hem edge machine down long side, across bottom and back to hem edge. Re-enforce the two corners by about 1” either side and trim diagonally across close to stitching, turn through like a pillowcase and press the seams. Fold hems to inside with vilene inside the knitted hem and slipstitch lining to fabric.

 Finishing Touches

For a neat edge, top stitch about ¼” from edge around the 4 sides. With rightsides together fold gussets in half at marker and stitch very close to edge, turn down small hem and slipstitch into place. Lightly press top and bottom folds and turn bag to right side. Sew a large press stud on to bag so that its about 1” from flap edge, don’t worry about stitching showing on right side of flap as this will be covered by the buckle. I covered my press stud with the matching lining to give a professional finish as in the photograph.For the decoration you need to knit 5 pieces of rouleau as follows :-     Push 4 Ns on main bed and 3 on ribber to WP as for full needle rib, set tensions on both beds as far below 0 as they will go slide lever on II, knit cast on row. Hang a wire-loop type weight hanger (shaped like a 7) and a small weight, gently pull on both ends of the cast on row which will pull the Ns closer together which gives a much neater cast on. Set carriages for cicular knitting so that the next movement knits on ribber first, TD up 3 clicks on both beds, knit 3 rows (carriage on the right). RC000 TD4/4 knit to RC218, transfer stitches to main bed and cast off. Stich buckle on to bag covering press stud stitching and thread the rouleau through, starting at the outside first and working to the centre. Invisibly stitch into place. The way I decorated the bag is only a suggestion, you can decorate it in many different ways using flowers, beads ribbon etc. just be creative and have fun.

Carl