Do you have old clothes that are boring and you don’t wear anymore? If so, here is a way to spruce them up and give them a brand new look! You can add crocheted edging to your shirts, sleeves, skirts or any other piece of fabric you wish. In this example, I transform the plain neckline of my old shirt into pretty crocheted edging using a simple edging pattern. Remember, you can do this for all sorts of fabric using different edging patterns. Use this example as a guide for the edging you choose to crochet onto your clothing.

Materials:
Old T-shirt or other fabric
Scissor
Size 10 thread (you may use other threads or weights of yarns if desired)
Crochet Hook US 7 (1.5 mm)
Note: Use a hook that is appropriate for the thread/yarn you chose to use. The smaller the hook the easier it is for it to pierce the fabric. (Learn more about types of yarn and recommended crochet hooks)
Optional: If your hook is not able to pierce through the fabric you may use a darning needle or other sharp tool to pre-poke the holes into your fabric

Here is my old, plain shirt. Boring, right?

The first thing I’m going to do is cut the neckband off. You can cut the neck hole bigger or wider if you desire. The neckband will be replaced with crochet edging.

Fold the edge of the neckline under approximately 1/4″ so that it hides the raw edges created by cutting the cloth. You may choose to place pins around the neckline to keep the edge folded under. Personally, I fold the edge under while I crochet, since I’m afraid of pricking myself with the pins.

Now it’s time to crochet! Starting with a slip knot on your hook, insert your hook at the shoulder seam directly underneath the 1/4″ fold. Your hook should go through one lay of fabric (not both) and will prevent the fold from coming apart when you make your stitches. Now, yarn over and pull the strand of yarn through the fabric and the loop on your hook. This will secure the thread onto your fabric.

Use the following pattern to create your crochet edging around the neckline:

Round 1: ch 6, (dc into fabric, ch 3) around, place marker
Note: Make sure that the space between each double crochet is the length of the chain 3.

Here is what the first round looks like:

Now use the rest of the pattern to finish the edging. You will no longer need to crochet into the fabric. Instead you will be crocheting into the previous round of stitches. This pattern is created in a spiral and no joining is necessary after each round.

Round 2: (dc in next ch-3 space, ch 3) around
Round 3: (dc in next ch-3 space, ch 2) around, sl st in next ch-3 space, finish off.

Here is what the finished neckline looks like. Much prettier than the old, boring neckline.

Remember, you can add crochet edging to more than just necklines! You can add edging to your sleeves, skirts, fleece blankets, or any other fabric you desire. You can even use different edging patterns!

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 27th, 2009 at 12:46 AM and is filed under Free Crochet Patterns, Tutorials and Help. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.