This blog has been neglected for nearly a decade, and I have decided to resurrect it. I hope you enjoy my grand re-opening post about making Thing 1 and Thing 2 outfits for twin babes.
This project involves a beginner amount of crochet knowledge, and I will detail how to make a crochet hat in any ol' size using *gasp* math and basic stitches. If you want to make onesies in this fashion you'll need a cutting machine and heat press. If you'd like to jump to where I actually talk project details, click here for hat dimension tips, click here for the hat pattern, or click here for the onesies. If you want to take the scenic route with me, buckle up.
My other-brother has been bffs with my biological brother since they were in 2nd grade, so since I was 10 years old he's been like another, well, other-brother to me. So obviously, I was delighted to hear that his wife is pregnant, and their four-year-old is going to have TWIN siblings.
I love making things for people's babies. And when I've been tardy in the past for life reasons, their toddlers. There's something that makes me feel really good about making things to celebrate the people I love making good humans for the next generation. And then I get cute pictures of said children in what I've made. So gratifying.
So what does one make for twins?
For me, it was obvious. I loved The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss as a wee sprout, and the parents have a sense of humor, which is probably important for this project as well. Read it here for nostalgia or if you have made it this far in your reading journey without this gem in your formative years.
I made the hats first. I can bust out a hat in double crochet without braining too hard anymore, but it does involve Maths to figure out how to size your hat. I usually don't fancy maths, but crochet math is practical therefore not bad in my humble opinion.
First determine the circumference you want the finished beanie to be. There are many handy charts on the interwebs to help you figure out average dome sizes, should you not have the recipient handy to measure. If you do, you want the circumference and length of their head for a beanie. Measure around the head in question with a flexible measuring tape (if you don't have one handy, wrap a piece of string or yarn around and measure that with a ruler) about an inch above the eyebrows and right above the ear. This is the circumference. Then measure the distance from the crown of the head to the earlobe, which will be the length of the hat. I always subtract about an inch from the circumference of the recipient's head to get the finished circumference of the hat to account for negative ease; in other words you're accounting for how much the hat will stretch when it's being worn. If it's exactly the same size as one's head or bigger, it's just going to fall off.
These babies are still baking, so I used a hat size chart. In fact, I used a few of them because there is variance depending on whom you ask, so I took a stab at an average. Hopes and prayers. Anyway, I'm shooting for these hats to fit an average 3-6 month-old, so I decided to make them 14 inches in circumference and 6 inches in length.
When you're making a hat from the top down, as the simple pattern that follows does, you increase the number of stitches in each round to keep the top of the hat *mostly* flat (my hats never turn out perfectly flat on top, but that's just fine because I've never met anyone with a flat head either) until it's wide enough to fit, then you keep the number of stitches consistent for subsequent rounds to make the "tube" part of the hat. How do you figure out when to stop increasing? Here's where the math comes in. Don't worry, I promise it's not hard.
Do you remember geometry? Maybe a little bit of algebra? If so, C = πd should be familiar. If not, no problem! "C" is the circumference, that magic number you're shooting for (in my case 14 inches), "d" is the unknown diameter or width across your flat-ish circle, and π is the symbol for pi, which is about 3.14.
I just plug the final circumference I want into the equation and get how wide the crown has to be before I stop increasing.
In a nutshell, simply divide the desired circumference of your hat by 3.14, and that will tell you about how wide to make the crown. Sometimes there is a little guess-and-check involved, at least if you're me. For example, after 5 rounds at 50st, the crown wasn't quite wide enough so I went for row 6, increasing at the same rate of 10 stitches. These 60 stitches made the crown too wide, so I frogged that last row and increased by half as many stitches, which made it perfect. Yeah yeah, the pattern, I'm getting there.
The best, simplest way to make a beanie I've found is as follows.
Supplies:
Abbreviations:
Notes:
Gauge is not important but measuring is. Using the size hook recommended on your yarn label is a safe bet.
I recommend starting with a magic ring so there's not a hole at the top of the hat. If you don't know this game-changing technique, June Gilbank has a fab tutorial here, and even works it out for the lefties among us. If you'd rather not or are new to crocheting in the round, you may also chain 3, joining to the first chain to form a circle.
I do not count the ch 2 as a dc throughout. I find that this helps avoid gaps around the seam that happen when you count that initial ch 2 as a stitch. It may be helpful for you to insert a stitch marker or safety pin into the first dc of each round so you don't accidentally dc into the chain.
I end with a round of single crochet because those are usually slightly tighter than double crochet stitches, at least for me, and it makes a sort of band that I find helps the fit.
If you increase solely at the beginning of each pattern repeat, in other words in the same spot each round, then your hat starts to have points at each of the increases. To avoid this, stagger your increases. I built that into this pattern for your convenience, but as long as you're increasing, evenly, by 10 st/round in this pattern, you'll be fine.
I'm including standard increases up through Row 8, but stop after you hit your desired diameter or alternatively, to keep expanding, add 10 more dcs per row spaced evenly. If one row is too small and the next is too big, I'll tell you how to split the difference after the pattern.
- Ch 2. Crochet 10dc in your magic ring or chain circle. Sl st to join to first dc, skipping the chain 2. (10 dc)
- Ch 2, dc inc in SAME st as ch 2 and in each st around. Sl st to join to first dc. (20 dc)
- Ch 2, dc in the same st as ch 2, dc inc in next st, *dc in next st, dc inc in next st. Rep from * around. Sl st to join to first dc. (30 dc)
- Ch 2, dc in the same st as ch 2, dc inc in next st, dc in next st, *dc in next st, dc inc in next st, dc in next st. Rep from * around. Sl st to join to first dc. (40 dc)
- Ch 2, dc in same st as ch 2 and in the next 2 st, dc inc, *dc in next 3 st, dc inc in next st. Rep from * around. Sl st to join to first dc. (50 dc)
- Ch 2, dc in same st as ch 2, dc in next st, dc inc, dc in next 2 st, *dc in next 2 st, dc inc, dc in next 2 st. Rep from * around. Sl st to join to first dc. (60 dc)
- Ch 2, dc inc in same st as ch 2, dc in next 5 st, *dc inc, dc in next 5 st. Rep from * around. Sl st to join to first dc. (70 st)
- Ch 2, dc in same st as ch 2, dc in next 2 st, dc inc, dc in next 3 st, *dc in next 3 st, dc inc, dc in next 3 st. Rep from * around. Sl st to join to first dc. (80 st)
- Ch 2, dc in same st as ch 2 and in each st around. Sl st to join to first dc. (80 st)
- Rep Row 9 (or wherever you stopped increasing) until the hat is very nearly long enough, or within about a half of the height of one of your dcs. Sl st to join to first dc. (80 st)
- Ch 1, sc in same st as ch and each st around. Sl st to join to first sc. Cut yarn, leaving a 6 inch tail, finish off and weave in the end. I highly recommend June Gilbank's invisible finish technique so there isn't an obnoxious bump where you've ended your hat.
Voila! You have a hat! Now make another one.
Moving right along. Now we've got hats, next come the onesies. These would make a great beginner project for someone with a cutting machine and a heat press--I used my Cricut Maker with its Design Space software and my Cricut Easypress Mini, because the onesies are quite... mini.
Supplies:
Weeding tool, scissors
I purchased two 100% cotton, 3-6 month sized, red onesies with long sleeves. 100% cotton is great for HTV, although I used Siser Easyweed HTV, which applies to cotton, polyester, cotton/poly blends, and leather. Make sure to check your HTV's specs to ensure you're applying it to the correct material. I love Siser vinyl, especially their Easyweed HTV for its versatility, two-second tack, and because it weeds like butter. No, they're not paying me to say that, but I'd love it if they did. 😉
I purchased SVG files, which are the type of files predominantly used in layered HTV, for under $2 on Etsy for this project. The Thing 1 & 2 font and circles are very specific, and I didn't feel like fussing with them. It was worth $2 to not have to worry about fonts and getting the circles nice and Seuss-y, not to mention for the layers to be right.
I then imported the SVG files into my Cricut Design Space software, resized them to fit the onesies, and cut them with my machine in two layers for the white and black. Be sure to mirror all images for htv application before cutting. Pro-tip: I usually will do a test cut with an unfamiliar material with one word, then weed it, so that I can see if the machine cuts it properly with the settings I chose. I have, in the past, cut out a larger design only to find that my machine didn't cut into it far enough or sliced through the carrier sheet.
After you cut your material, cut around the designs with your scissors and "weed" out the excess with your pointy guy. I have a habit of weeding on top of parchment paper, because it's easy to see, your materials won't stick, and your mess is pretty well contained if you have a lot of small bits to weed out.
The next step is easy to overlook but super important. You want to preheat your garment for a few seconds to remove any moisture that might be lurking in there, and plus, it gives it a more professional look if you give it a good once-over with your heat press. Make sure you have a pressing mat or a towel underneath your project to protect your work surface.
After you've preheated your garment, position the bottom, white layer of the image. Then measure, measure, measure to make sure you place it in the center. You can fold your garment in half lengthwise and press it to get a crease to know where the center of your onesie is, or you can just measure it like I did to avoid having to try to get the crease out afterwards. After positioning the bottom layer, I held the top layer above it to make sure it was oriented correctly, making sure not to set the actual sticky part of the carrier sheet on top of the first layer. Then tape down your first layer. I don't always do this with HTV because the carrier sheet is usually sticky, but with the Easypress Mini, you move it around the design instead of keeping it stationary like a heat press or larger Cricut Easypress. It's worth noting that if you have a larger Cricut Easypress, you can avoid pressing over seams by using a towel to elevate the space you're pressing so the seams don't obstruct the press.
Then I tacked that bottom layer. Tacking is when you apply heat for a couple of seconds just to adhere the first layer enough to get the carrier sheet off to add another layer. When you press, there is some shrinkage that occurs, so the longer you press, the more shrinkage and the more your layers may look skewed. Plus, you don't want to overcook parts of your design while undercooking the other parts. As far as temperature goes, you'll want to check the manufacturer's instructions, or for Cricut materials, consult the Cricut heat guide. For the temperature indicated for my Easypress Mini (~335 degrees F), I turned it up to the second of three settings, which is the best one for HTV. I applied a Teflon sheet over everything to protect my press, though you can use parchment paper. Once my Easypress Mini was preheated, I used light to medium pressure while moving it around the design for a few seconds. Siser Easyweed's carrier sheets can be peeled off hot or cold, which is also nice. Peel slowly; I find a side-to-side rocking motion helpful, and if the design is coming up with the carrier sheet, re-cover and press again for a couple-few more seconds and attempt the peel again.
Next, I positioned the black top layer and then used lots of tape to make sure it didn't go anywhere. Notice the tape doesn't overlap the design, just the carrier sheet. This is important so you don't get lines on your finished garment.
Then--you guessed it--I pressed it again! Just like before except for longer. Siser recommends pressing Easyweed for 10-15 seconds, but I did a little longer, perhaps by 5 seconds, because I was moving that Easypress Mini around. I don't know if that's necessary; it just felt right. Peel off the carrier sheet and admire your work!
Dang those are some cool things. I hope you think so too.
Jax
