We have our newest Guest Yarn Punk today – Please say hello to Brenda from Geek Crafty! We’ve seen how to add yarn to our clothing before, but here is a fun way to add butterfly and/or dragonfly appliques to your pants for aesthetic purposes or for those time your jeans rip! Down below you can find the free pattern.
About Geek Crafty:
“Hi! My name is Brenda Fineman. I am from Michigan, the Ann Arbor area. I first played with yarn when I was a child during the time my own mother was creating with it. However, once she stopped, my interests seemed to wane as well. It wasn’t until I became pregnant with my second child in 2015 that I decided to learn since he would not benefit from a baby shower as his sister did. After making a few blankets for my kids and some family members, I began making large bunnies and amigurumi. Then I tried my hand at clothing. Eventually I found I had a knack for inventing my own style and creating my own patterns. With many in my family having strong geek interests, I dubbed my creative nook geekcrafty in hopes of creating items that were honoring the geek while still be fashionable and functional.”
Here’s where to find me!
Insta: @geekcrafty
Facebook: @geekcrafty
Revelry: Geek Crafty
Got some holes needing patching? This is a simple, fun, and super easy way to patch the holes in your kid’s (or your own) favorite articles of clothing! It’s the perfect project for scrap yarns. And your kids will love the new look on their pants/leggings or whatever you’re patching. All you need is some basic crochet and sewing skills!
I don’t know how your kids play, but my daughter plays rough. She even began declaring herself a young daredevil at the age of 6 and continues to do so (she’s almost 8). She’s ruined a couple pairs of leggings so far this year. They were getting too small for her, so I just scrapped them. But when she came home with 2 very significant holes in her favorite sparkly leggings, I had to do something to extend their life for her (and my wallet…can’t keep buying new stuff whenever she plays so hard they get torn). I could’ve just done a simple stitch up, but that’s boring. And we all know how makers are…any excuse to make something new, they’re gonna do it!
So I came up with the idea of dragonflies or butterflies!
Materials:
For this project, I used some scraps I had of Red Heart’s Unforgettable in Tealberry (a fade colorway my daughter loves and has an infinity scarf I made from it). What’s great about this project and fade is you can choose a color section to use for the focus of your flutter patch. I just used the recommended hook size, 6.0mm.
Depending on the size of whole you’re covering, you’ll start with a chain between 8 and 11. SC into 3rd ch from hook. SC in remaining 5 sts. Ch1, sc in same st, ch1. Rotate your work to work in circular pattern. You will work the back/bottom side of your starting chs. SC in 1st ch, sc in next 5ch. Sl st into next ch. Fasten off. Sew in ends. You have created the body to your flutter creature!
Wings
Dragonfly vs. Butterfly–Typically the wings for the former are more a little more similar in size and length than a butterfly’s wings. Though the dragonfly’s upper wings are slimmer I just did the same size for each wing, keeping the length long. For a butterfly, you will want to have the upper wings fatter and slightly longer than the lower.
Butterfly (Upper Left wing):
(RS)Ch11, sc in 3rd ch from hook. Sc in each st to end (9sts). Turn. (WS)Ch1, sc in 1st st, sc to end (9sts). Turn. Ch1, skip 1st st, sc to end (8sts). Turn. Ch1, skip 1st st, sc in next 6. Turn. Ch1, sk next st, sc to end (5 sts). Fasten off. Leaving a tail for joining with other wing and attaching to body. With RS facing, fold top right corner of wing (the edge that will be attached to body) about ¾ of the way down. Sew the flap down to create a slight fold. (For bigger wings, inc by 2.)
(Upper Right wing):
Working in the opposite manner as the left wing which decreased, you will increase sts for the Right. CH7, SC in 3rd ch from hook. SC in next 4. Turn. Ch1, sc in same st, sc in next 3 sts, 2sc in last st (6sts). Turn. Ch1, 2sc in same st, sc to end. Turn. ch1, 2sc in same st. sc in next 5, 2sc in last st. Turn. Ch1, sc to end. Fasten off. With RS facing, fold top left corner of wing (the edge that will be attached to body) about ¾ of the way down. Sew the flap down to create a slight fold.
Lower Wings:
Follow the same method as for the upper wings, but begin with fewer starting ch. Left wing, ch 9. Right wing Ch5. Follow directions above but with 2 less sts for each row and no need to fold the corner flap as wing will be sewn under top wing.
Line up your wings where you want to them to go. Preferably just on the edges of the back body center, leaving a little tip at the top and bottom if possible. Using the tails left on wings and a tapestry needles, sew your wings onto body evenly. Sewing lower wings last so that the bottom of upper wings slightly overlap the top of the lower wings when viewed from the RS.
Line it up over hole you are patching. (*Opt. attach a small swatch of fabric on back side of hole at same time.) Using sewing pins, secure your flutter bug in place. Find an appropriate color sewing thread and needle size. Sew your flutter bug on to garment. *Note: additional fabric swatch attached to the back can help secure your bug and hole from getting larger.
Dragonfly
These are super simple. Just follow the same method for the body, but inc length at least 2 more than the body and repeat the sc round once more. Then do one more round using hdc starting three sts before top round. Ch1 as with each round, 3hdc in top st, ch1. Hdc in next three. Sc to end of round. Fasten off.
Follow same directions for attaching as with butterfly.
You may not sell this pattern or claim them as your own. You may make items to sell (i.e. on Etsy, at craft fairs) from my patterns but I ask that you link back to my blog and provide credit for the pattern. All are welcome to share my patterns on social media so long as you link back directly to my blog post (providing the link). No copy & paste of my patterns will be allowed under any circumstances.
And there you have it, your big pillow! What’d you think of not using any tools to create it? Did you enjoy this yarn! I personally loved it more than I thought I was going to – Be sure to tag @knot.bad and @yarnpunk on Instagram with the hashtag #yarnpunk to show me your pillows and anything else you make with fiber and yarn!
