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BASIC STITCHES

These instructions assume a knowledge of how begin a chain and offers all the stitches you will need to finish the patterns in this book.

SINGLE CROCHET (SC)

Insert your hook into stitch or chain yarn over and pull through work. Yarn over again and pull through both loops on hook. Continue on in this manner for as many stiches as indicated in pattern.

HALF DOUBLE CROCHET (HDC)

Yarn over and insert your hook into stitch, yarn over and pull through work. Yarn over and pull through all three loops on hook.

DOUBLE CROCHET (DC)

Yarn over and insert hook into stitch, yarn over and pull through work. Yarn over and pull through two loops on hook. Yarn over and pull through remaining two loops.

DECREASING AND INCREASING

Standard Decreasing is best for flat pieces that will be visible from both sides.

To decrease you insert your hook into first of stitches to be decreased, yarn over and pull through. Repeat for remainder of stitches to be decreased.

Yarn over and pull through all loops on hook.

Invisible Decreasing is best for working in the round when the back of the piece will not be visible.

To work the invisible decrease you insert your hook into the front loop of the first of stitches to be decreased, do not yarn over, insert hook into next front loop.

Yarn over and pull through all front loops. Yarn over and pull through the two loops on hook.

The photos below are examples.

Increasing is simple technique where you crochet multiple stitches into one stitch space

The below photos are examples.

Optional tools

PLIERS: in case your needle gets stuck in a tight stitch, pulling it through with your hands can be difficult and lead to a smooshed or dirty final piece. Just remember not to pull too hard or you could snap the needle in half.

FELTING NEEDLE: For stuffing and shaping the small pieces. Stuffing is rather springy by nature and using the felting needle gives a dense body that will hold it’s shape with regular handling.

A SMALL BLUNT TIP OBJECT: I like to use the non business end of a bamboo skewer. If you don’t have one you can use your scissors and open them up just a bit. The ends will grab the stuffing and help compact it, but it won’t be as snug as using the felting needle. If you haven’t got anything else the non hook end of a crochet will do.

Tools and materials

GOOD SHARP SCISSORS: preferably no longer than 3-4 inches. Larger scissors get cumbersome when working with your tiny pieces.

EMBROIDERY NEEDLE: long and thin needles will work the best for weaving in yarn ends, it makes pulling through the tiny tight stitches a good deal easier. Make sure the eye isn’t too wide or sewing up your mini will be a very tough and leave your piece looking like Swiss cheese.

SMALL CROCHET HOOKS: Size 8-10 for double stranded, size 10-12 for single strand. You can use any size if you adjust your fiber accordingly. All these miniatures can be made full sized buy using a G-H hook and a worsted weight yarn.

STUFFING: For stuffing your creations. I prefer to use a cotton or cotton-poly blend, it holds it shape better than straight poly-fill.

CROSS STITCH FLOSS OR CROCHET THREAD: I prefer DMC personally and will include the color number for DMC skeins, and total number of skeins used in all the patterns in this book.

ITEMS THAT CAN BE USED FOR EYES: You can use French knots, a triple strand will stand out the best. Small beads are great, even small brads might work depending on the size of your finished piece and the look you are going for.

CROCHETING IN THE ROUND

Crocheting in the round is very easy once you learn the ropes. There are several ways to start your circle, but for this book I’m going to show you the one I use.

Begin by chaining 2, Single crochet 6 (or eight depending on pattern) into the first chain you made. Do not finish or slip stitch, simply start the next round in the first stitch of previous row. You’ll double your stitches on the next row by crocheting two into each stitch.

For subsequent rows you’ll add one single crochet between the 2SC stitches. The photos below show examples of ever increasing rows.

CHANGING COLORS AND JOINING NEW YARN

There are three main reasons to join new yarn to your project:

THE FIRST: A color change at the end of a row. When you reach the end of your row, yarn over with the new yarn and pull through the loop on hook. Continue on with your pattern.

THE SECOND: A color change in the middle of your project. When working the last stitch before a color change, yarn over for the final time with the new color and pull through the remaining loops of previous color. This will give you a smoother change

THE THIRD: Running of yarn mid project. Insert your hook into next stitch, yarn over with new yarn and pull through. Yarn over and pull through both loops on hook. Continue on with your pattern.

STUFFING YOUR PIECES

It is very important to keep the shape of the finished piece in mind when stuffing. You can’t just cram your pieces full of stuffing and expect them to turn out correctly.

Take the photos to the left for example. The one on the far left is what the finished piece should look like. The one on the right is what happens when you stuff the piece to full capacity without regard to the shape. That is why there are reference photos for each individual piece of the patterns, so you can replicate the finished plushies as closely as possible.

It is also very important not to over stuff, crochet will stretch and leave gaps between the stitches and the stuffing will show.

FINISHING YOUR PIECES

SC ALL TOGETHER

This method only works well if you have ten or less final stitches in your last row. Two hooks are needed for this technique. To work it you put the first hook through the front loops only of half your stitches.

Then using the second hook (the first is still in your piece) repeat the process for the remaining stitches.

When you’ve reached the end, yarn over and pull through all loops on your hook. Remove working loop from hook and transfer to waiting hook.

Pull through the remaining stitches and pull through. Work a chain or two and pull thread all the way through the stitch

SEWING IN THE FRONT LOOPS

This method is the cleanest I’ve seen, and creates a finish that nearly mimics the beginning of your piece. When you reach the end of your piece and pull the thread all the way through the stitch. Take the tail and thread a needle. Run the needle under the first loop of each stitch like a whip stitch.

FINISHING OFF

When you finish off for the purposes of this book, you simply work a chain (or two if you like) after you last stitch and then pull thread all the way through the stitch. This creates a knot to keep your piece from unraveling.

Other tips and tricks

For the purposes of this book only all rows are worked by turning the piece at the end of the row, and all rounds are worked in a continuous loop.

Joining with a single crochet: Secure your yarn to your hook insert into stitch yarn over and pull through work. Yarn over and pull through both loops. If your pattern calls for you to join with a double crochet, yarn over before you insert you hook into stitch and work like you would a regular double crochet

When I finish a piece that is going to be sewn to the body of a plush, I like to leave a tail long enough to sew it with. Using the tail eliminates a few extra ends to weave and makes the piece a little more secure. This is especially handy with miniatures as you can use the length of thread to sew your finished piece into a terrarium scene.

When sewing your pieces together don’t sew straight up and down, it will leave a very noticeable seam. Instead sew on a diagonal across the stitch to make the seam invisible.

If you’re sewing on a piece that needs to be symmetrical, it is very helpful to pin the piece in place with straight pins. But keep an eye out not to snag your yarn.

If you forget to place your safety eyes before you finished the piece ( I do it a lot), you can remedy the problem by using fabric glue and gluing the eyes onto the piece. *Note do not do this if you are making the toy for a child, safety eyes are the safest way to go for children's toys. With miniatures this is not really an issue as you will most likely be using beads or French knots for eyes.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

1. Always, always have clean dry hands. The floss will pick up any dirt or oils on your fingers. Likewise wet floss will pick up any dirt or grime on your hands and leave you with a streaky finished piece

*A good way to spot clean a miniature is to use a q-tip and a bit of peroxide. Soak the q-tip with the peroxide and dab it on the dirty portion of your piece. Do not scrub just let it bubble and dry on it’s own. Test your thread first to make sure it won’t bleach out.

2. Good lighting is key. Working with the small stitches will result in eyestrain, give yourself the best lighting you can to make it easier on yourself.

3. Keep your projects away from furry pets! Pet hair in a mini is a nightmare.

4. Have patience. It’s going to be tough starting out the new pieces, the thread is tiny and if your stitches are tight you’re going to end up having to undo and redo the beginning rows, possibly more than once. It’s just part and parcel of crocheting on a smaller scale.

5. Hook size is very important. You need a hook that will give you a good size stitch for the thread you are using, if the hook is too small the stitches will be too tight and your finished piece will be stiff and full of puckers. Not to mention working on it will be difficult and frustrating.

6. You might want a thimble. I poke myself on a regular basis with the tiny hooks. They are small, metal and sharp, just like a needle and I frequently find myself bleeding and tender after working on a miniature.

7. If you are working with multiple strands of floss, be careful not to cross them into a stitch. They can get caught up in knots that won’t pull out easily if at all.

8. When you are weaving in your ends, and you’ve pulled the thread back out the fabric, cut it as close to the body of the work as possible without cutting into your thread. Then just insert your sewing needle into the body nearby and run the tip of it under where the thread is showing and it will snag it and pull it into the body.

HOW TO WORK A FRENCH KNOT

Insert your threaded needle into your piece, having it come out where you want your knot to be.

When you’ve got your desired amount of loops on your needle, insert it back into your piece near where it comes up but not in the same hole.

Hold your thread with your left hand (or right if you’re a lefty) and wrap it around your needle from above the needle.

Pull your thread snug against needle with pulling too tight. Hold onto loops as you pull your needle and thread through the piece.

The more you wrap the larger your finished knot will be, be keep in mind it’s all being held in place with one small stitch. So too many loops on the needle will result in a sloppy knot.

Tie off or weave in end as you prefer.

The Basics of Picking Your Container

There are very few limitations on what sort of container you can use for a terrarium, so what you’ll be looking for is something that will show off the scene you have planned.

You’ll want to avoid colored or milky glass. Make sure that if there is a pattern or writing on it that it won’t obscure the view of your miniature creations.

You’ll need to also take the opening of the container into consideration. If you have a narrow necked bottle, you’ll only be able to get smaller or thinner pieces into it. This will affect not only the materials used but how it’s finished.

For example if you use a wide mouth container you can sew all the pieces together outside of the container and just insert the finished piece into the jar.

With a narrow bottle you’ll need to insert the base layers in individually and glue them into place. You might have to do the same with the feature pieces.

BASE LAYERS

All your terrariums will vary depending on many different factors, such as the size and shape of your jar, your available materials and of course you vision for finished product.

With a few basic elements you can create a variety of terrariums.

The first thing you’ll need is the layers that are the foundation your miniatures will sit on.

If you are going for a realistic look then you’ll want to do one or two layers in black or very dark grey, a few layers in a dark brown, then one or two more in green if you want to skip the step with the felting needle. You can of course change that up any way you like to suit your piece.

To start your layer pieces use this:

FOUNDATION: Ch 2, SC 6 in second Ch from hook

ROUND 1. *2SC in each* around From here it will depend on how large your container is, just continue adding rounds and increasing the number of single crochets between 2SC stitches. Like so:

ROUND 2. *SC 1, 2SC in next* around

ROUND 3. *SC 2, 2SC in next* around, and so on add on stitch between each 2SC until you reach the desired size.

One of the great things about the terrariums is that you don’t have to work a whole round if you don’t need it. Say your layer is too small after four rows but too big after five, just work the next row a few stitches at a time until it fits how you want it to in the jar and finish it off when you get there.