Crochet Flowers

Now I know flowers can be knitted - but they seem too complicated and time consuming (I maybe wrong!), I like to crochet them. They are so versatile, you can add them to cards, scrapbook pages, bags, and loads of projects, as well as making them into hair clips and brooches.  So I thought I would take you through a quick guide on how I do them.


I did have a wander around the internet but I just couldn't find something easy - so in the end I decided to make it up as I went along.  If you do not know how to crochet I suggest you google it - or look on Youtube, just to get the basics, there are so many sites out there showing you how to do it, and much better than me!  If you get stuck give me a shout on the forum and I will help you out :) I have been adding links as I find them to the forum here:
Crochet forum

Linda on the forum makes some beautiful crocheted items and I just had to share some of her creations on this page, make sure you have a look as it will inspire you to get making.  

Then once you have the basics - follow this guide on making flowers. Basically crochet is pushing your hook into your work and pulling the yarn through, holding the hook in one hand and the yarn in the other.

To start you need to know the following terms:

  • Ch - Chain - this is the basic start for most crochet, it is just pulling the thread through the loop on your hook
  • SS - push your hook through and pull through the yarn, and at the same time pull through the loop on your hook, I sometimes can't do this as one movement, you just need to remember not to pull a new lot of yarn through.
  • DC - Double crochet (this is know as SC - single crochet in the US), push through and pull your yarn through, 2 loops on hook, pull yarn through both loops.
  • TR - Treble crochet (this is know as DC - double crochet in the US), wrap yarn around the hook first, push through pull yarn through, 3 loops on hook, pull through 2 then pull through remaining 2. This gives a 'taller' stitch than double.
  • DTR - Double treble - wrap yarn around the hook twice first, push through pull yarn through, 4 loops on hook, pull through 2, pull through 2, then pull through remaining 2.  This gives a 'taller' stitch than treble.
  • HTR - Half treble - wrap yarn around the hook first, push through pull yarn through, 3 loops on hook, pull through all 3 loops. this gives a 'fatter' stitch.
  • Finish - just by breaking the thread with a few inches left, and pull through the loop on the hook, and then weave in the end.


    • All stitches are really made up using a combination of these - well pretty much.

    So here are my rules

  • I generally make an odd number of petals
  • For the front set of petals I make narrower petals ie I use less stitches
  • One set of petals can be enough
  • You only need scraps of yarn
  • I have a selection of thicknesses of yarn and use the thicker at the back, or double the thinner yarn.
  • Practice with double knit and a 4.5mm or 5mm hook
  • Find a way of wrapping the yarn around your fingers to get a reasonable tension - I do mine around my little finger then on my first finger
  • Leave the tails of yarn to sew, always thread it through the back of some stitches, if you have not worked it in before cutting.
  • Finish with buttons, beads, gems or even brads - depending on where you are going to use the finished flower

    •  

    Let's start one then:

  • Make 5 chain and join to form a loop (as you get more proficient you can vary this, 4 can give a tighter flower.
  • You are going to put your hook through the centre of the round (circle) that you have just formed
  • Now to make 5 petals each one is the same - so just do this 5 times:
  • Make 2 chain, 2 TR, 2 chain, and SS into the round.
  • See you have made a petal already, you can move the stitches along, as you add the next petal.
  • As you are going along you can put the tail along the edge of your round, so that it is caught within the stitch - but this might come later - don't worry at this stage
  • 5 petals should fit in, just move them along - so there you have it one flower, pop something in the centre and you are done.

    		•

    So what next:

  • You can do another to go behind it - a nice simple way is to do a round with more chain - say 7.
  • Then do 2 ch, 2 TR, 1 Dtr, 2TR, 2ch SS, 5 times - it is just a case of symmetry - so each is taller (2 ch is the equivalent on a DC, 3ch is a TR).
  • You can sew them together or glue them for a card or scrapbook page.


  • OR once you have mastered that try this for a second set of petals:
  • Do not break off and finish your first set, but make 2 ch (maybe 3 depending on the thickness of your yarn), put it round the back and SS to the back of the petals at the dip I hope that makes sense, find a couple of loops to join.
  • Do this 5 times, so that you now have little chains to work your bigger petals into. You can finish off and change yarns - just rejoin on one of the chain gaps, by pulling through the yarn, and then anchor it as you start your TR.
  • This saves any kind of joining and is quite quick once you get the hang of it


  • OR keep it simple and just make a complete round of TR - start with 3 chain, then 12 - 15 tr - just until it is full really, and SS to the top on the chain once you have gone all the way around, a perfect back drop to a flower on the front.

    		•

    So shall we get a bit fancy:

  • You can go all around the edges with DC - in another colour
  • You can make the petals pointy by doing a picot (3 chain bobble really) - this is just the following:
  • 2 ch, 1 TR, 3 ch and then SS to the top of the TR, 1TR, 2ch SS
  • Just make a series of 6 chain SS into the round
  • - if you do the above and do say 5 lots - you can then go around each chain loop with a set number of DC, probably 6 or 7 if it pulls too much
  • - or do a lot and the chain will look like petals

    		•

    Well I think that is pretty much all that you need to make all sorts of flowers -please feel free to ask questions on the forum. Here are few more pictures of flowers....

    Not finished with a centre, but I crocheted in some red lame, you could use any sparkly thread.
    		 This is the cover I made for my Kindle, I decided not to add a centre as I did want it to scratch the screen.

     © Carolyn Woodruff Sept 2011