I had an “Aha!” moment one day at work. The children were “make your own costume”ing, in which, they were given a bag fabric fabric and let loose! The pieces of fabric I dug out of the cupboard for this experince were decent sizes, the smaller ones 1m x 50cm, up to pieces approx 3m long.

The “aha!” moment came when a child made a hooded vest from a rectangle of fabric and one line of sewing. They folded the fabric in half, and stitched one short edge together, this formed the hood. They then cut arm holes. This made me realize that garments don’t need complicated pattern drafting, simple can be really effective!

And thus I set off exploring ideas of what I could make with a simple shape of fabric and a few well though out cuts or seams.

I decided to have a go at making a crochet shrug from one granny square.

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My shrug story may have started with an “AHA!” moment, but the supplies started with a box of wool roving, leftover from making my wedding bouquet! (I’ll admit, I bought extra, so I could spin some!)
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The roving turned into gorgeous hand spun yarn!
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And then I started crocheting one big granny square, using my gorgeous hand carved hook I made years ago!
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Once I had made a square big enough to go around me (occasionally check by using safety pins to hold it together) I gave it a bit of a wash and then pinned it out onto a piece of acoustic board I picked up at the Green Shed.
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I folded the square together and stiched partway along the edges. This made arm holes. After that, I crochet about 3 rows around the main edge.
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The finished shrug on the dress makers dummy. I think i need to make a nice wooden shawl pin! It’s currently held together with my wooden crochet hook!
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The back view, you can really see the granny square pattern 🙂

It’s still wayyyyy too hot to wear this! But I’m all set when the weather starts to turn! I think it will be nice to wear over a long sleeve shirt for a little extra warmth!

I’m so in love with the hand spun yarn I used for this! I have one ball left! Do you have any suggestions on something small I should make out of it?

As for making garments from simple shapes, there are many more ideas to explore! I’ve seen a few circle shrugs made from crochet, where they leave arm holes in the making process. I would also like to explore something hooded. So many possibilities!

Have a creative week!
Cate