This blog is a compliment to my popular YouTube Videos.  Here you will find sizing help and a few free patterns. 

I love to crochet baby dresses and hats - it is my passion.  And I love it when people share with me their success stories.  If you have a success story from one of my videos or a picture that you would like to share - Please do! 

I am going to start posting your success stories - to inspire all the other beginners out there. And if you have any advice, share that too.

Please send your stories that and a picture too.  Thanks everyone : )

You can find these cool success stories on the 2nd page tab above.

 

 

One of my goals for sharing these videos with you, is to inspire you to try!  You should see my first dress, it was a little lopsided and simple, but it was pretty.  It is so simple, and really great for beginners.

Everyone was amazed, I got so many compliments when my daughter wore it.  She started calling it her "blankey dress".  So I named my Etsy Shop after her term.  https://www.etsy.com/shop/BlankeyDresses?ref=search_shop_redirect

I want to inspire you to make your own designs.

Making something up, and then seeing how beautiful it is, is so awesome!

You just need an idea.  Look at Etsy.com, or on YouTube.  Take lots of different elements that you like and put them together.  You might fail a couple times - I failed a lot - and I ripped out a lot of stitches.  Without the failures, you can't learn.  The important thing is that you don't give up. 

It's like learning how to read, or ride a bicycle, one day it just clicks. 

Something that holds a lot of people back is the desire to make it perfect.  Or the desire to have every stitch and row match up perfectly. None of my dresses are perfect (they have lots of mistakes), but I still think they are pretty.  No one has ever inspected my dresses and said, "Did you know your row is crooked right there?"

The only thing people say is "Wow, you made that? That's amazing!"  So, don't be afraid to mess up, and be less than perfect.  It's fun to try.


                                   ***********************

I was encouraged by my first success, so I started to make up even more dresses for my daughter to wear.  I tried learning new techniques and styles from YouTube tutorials.

It is so fun to dress your daughter, or grand daughter in a one of a kind creation.  So go ahead and try something new.  And please share your success projects with us.  Successes can inspire others to try!

Reading and Writing Crochet Patterns


Lots of people have been asking me where I get my ideas for my crochet dresses.  When I started this (and even a still!) I couldn't read crochet patterns very well.  So I had to make things up, or not make them at all. 

My mom gets a flyer in the mail for Annie's Attic.  They sell lots of cute crochet, and craft items.  She would save the flyers for me, and I would search through the pages.  I also started looking at Etsy.com for ideas.  I wanted to try everything!

I never copied a dress, but I got lots of great ideas.  Sometimes I would like a specific stitch that they used, or I would like the way they did the bodice.  I still like to look at other people's work for inspiration. 

My first dress I made was so simple, yet people thought it was amazing!  I was so encouraged to try more.  The next dress I made her looked even better.  I had learned how to crochet a  flower, and that added a lot.

Now that my daughters are too old to wear the dresses (12 and 7), I find neighbors and friends to give my dresses to.

 My favorite was the mauve, pink, and white striped newborn dress.  It is so full and just looks amazing - yet it is so simple.  (I kept that one - maybe for a grandbaby!)

                        *******************************

Whenever I really wanted to read a crochet pattern (there are lots of free, un-copyrighted ones out there) I had to go to my mom's house.  She would sit beside me and tell me how to do each row.  I knew what all the abbreviations meant, and I knew how to do all the stitches, but my end product never turned out like the picture.

I have been working on how to read and write a crochet pattern for many years now.  I bought several patterns to try and learn from.  Most were written so poorly, they may have been written in a foreign language.

I thought, there must be a better way to write a crochet pattern - that's not so confusing!  I worked a long time writing a pattern for my new dress.  I wrote it so simply, that I think any beginner could understand. 

So don't give up, keep trying to expand your talent : )

                               ******************************************

I started this blog as a way to share my crochet dresses.  Trying to make a dress just from the video is difficult, because you have to keep stopping it and rewinding it.  I have received so many requests for the written patterns for my dresses.  So I hope all my wonderful subscribers like these patterns.


Not all my patterns cost money, I will post free ones, too.  They will be located on my "Free Patterns" page.

 Go to Etsy, and search for my store "BlankeyDresses" or click on the link
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BlankeyDresses?ref=search_shop_redirect
 
They are available as instant downloads for only $2.99.





___________________________________________________________________
All content on this blog is copyrighted and belongs to Anna's Blankey Dresses.  No Copying, selling, or distributing any of this content is allowed.