Granny Square Sweater Without a Pattern

If you want to make a special garment for a little one who is special and don't have a pattern, don't give up. It takes a little figuring out but you can make it! If you have granny squares lying around which you started for a project but got sidetracked and never finished enough of them for the project to be completed, you can make some cute sweaters with them. Let me tell you how. This is not a pattern, but more like guidelines which you can follow every time and not only for children's garments, but for any garment at all. When I was a teen, I wanted to make myself a crocheted dress. I had never made one before and had not pattern. Only mercerized crochet thread in a color I liked. My mom, who had been sewing for years, made me a pattern with brown paper. Took my measurements and transfered them to the general outlines of a dress in brown paper, and left me to fill in the space with the stitch of my choice and I did make the dress in a week! I later on unraveled it and made a cardigan with the same thread and wore it. And I also made it without a pattern. I love to work out of a pattern, but let's face it, we don't always have one for the garment we want to make, so, make one yourself! Here are the ways you can make the garment without a pattern. Method 1. If you sew or know how to make your own schematic, take the measurements of the child you want to make the garment for, transfer them to your drawing and then, enlarge them into a brown paper life size pattern and follow that. Method 2. You can take a sweater which belongs to the child, which fits him or her well and place it on top or a large sheet of brown paper and trace the shape. Then add the measurements you need to follow. Method 3. If you do not have a garment that belongs to the person you are making the sweater for, and do not have ready access to them to take measurements, or would like it to be a surprise to them, you can purchase a sewing pattern for a top for a child of the age and size of the one who will receive your gift, cut out the pattern, and trace the pieces in brown paper. Then use the brown paper pattern to make the sweater. Method 4. If you are going to make the garment in motifs, you can go to sewing chart sites online and copy the measurement for the size you are making it for. If it is a woman, size medium, for example, you can jot down the measurments, then, draw an outline in brown paper for the measurements you have copied and make the motifs to fill in the outline, pinning them to the brown paper and joining them with Irish Crochet filler stitches or just by sewing them together, much in a freeform style. There are many variations of these methods. Let's say you already have your pattern in brown paper lying on top of a clean table. Okay, decide how you will be using your granny squares, and using pins, attach them to the brown paper. Then, using dc, sc or hdc, crochet to fill in the space that is leftover. Follow the shape of the pattern for the sleeves, and join everything into a garment! That is all you need. You can do the same with skirts, jumpers, dresses, tops, cardigans, you name it. I will not tell you that this style of crocheting will take patterns out of your life, remember, I do love a good pattern myself, but it will free you like you wouldn't believe to be creative on your own and to MAKE your own patterns. I made a sweater similar to the one I am showing here, with a circular granny square in the middle of the back and it turned out gorgeous,and I gave it to Warming Families. You will be surprised at what you can accomplish. try it! It is safer than working out of your head, because you will be following the general guidelines of a design. If you have access to a garment, I have used that too, and it is nice. But you can improvise and use these tips the way that is more practical for you.

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