Free Pattern: Winter Brooch



Poinsettia Flower Brooch


It's amazing how beautiful a plastic bag can become! 


 There is more time spent in prep work than actually working the pattern for this pretty flower. You could make it with crochet thread instead of plarn, but it may require fabric stiffener. Finished "flower" is 3" wide.






 Did you know the red "petals" of the poinsettia are not the flower? Those are only different colored leaves, which in fact can be many other colors than red. The yellow flowers of poinsettia are called cyathia, and are found grouped in the middle of the colored bracts. 


Skill level:








Materials:
Red, green, and yellow plastic bags (1 each)
Drop spindle (optional)
Small steel crochet hook, about a 7/1.65MM (hook size will depend on how accurate the width of your plarn is)
tapestry needle
Beads and thread (optional)
Pin back or safety pin


Gauge:

It's not too important, but make sure it's close unless you want a 6 inch wide brooch.
1 dc = 3/4" high
1 finished bract= 3/4" wide
Instructions for plarn:




See how to make plarn if you are unfamiliar with it. It is highly recommended that you spin your plarn for this project. if you don't have a drop spindle, you can make one from a small round object (radish) and a pencil, or just twist the plarn with your fingers. This allows the plarn to be cut thinner without compromising its strength.







Cut your bags about 3/4" wide. Be careful not to pull the material, it is very weak being this thin. Gently spin it on a drop spindle or with your fingers to twist it; pay close attention to not over spin it. Basically, you will be turning "tape" into "thread", it doesn't have to be perfect. The plastic holds its shape well after being spun.








Pattern:


Leave 6" tails or more at beginning and end, for joining pieces.


Red Bracts:

(Make two)
With red: ch 5, join into a ring with a sl st.

Round 1:

*Ch 5, join with a sl st insde beg ring.* Repeat from * to * 5 more times (six ch-5 sps).

Round 2:

*In next ch-5 sp make (sl st, ch 1, sc, ch 1, dc, ch 2, dc, ch 1, sc, ch 1, sl st).* repeat from * to * 5 more times.

Round 3:

*Sl st into beg sl st of "petal". Ch 4. In ch-2 sp make (sc, ch 2, sc), sl st into each of 5 sts on opposite side of "petal".* Repeat from * to * 5 more times. Bind off, weave ends toward center ring.

Green Bracts:
(Make one)
With green, ch 5, join into a ring with a sl st.

Round 1:

*Ch 8, sl st into ring.* Repeat from * to * 5 more times.

Round 2:

*In next ch-8 sp make (sl st, ch 1, sc, ch 1, dc, ch 1, tr, ch 3, tr, ch 1, dc, ch 1, sc, ch 1, sl st).* Repeat from * to * 5 more times.

Round 3:

*Sl st into ch-sp between sl st and sc, ch 4. Sl st into tr before ch-3 sp, ch 1. In ch-3 sp make (sc, ch 2, sc), ch 1, sl st into tr after ch-3 sp. Ch 4, sl st into last sl st of "petal". * Repeat from * to * 5 more times. Bind off, weave ends toward outer edge.

Finishing:

With right sides facing you, use tails from one red motif to attach to center of green motif. Using tails from green motif, sew ch-4 sps of green to the ch-5 sps of red. Use tails to attach wrong side of last motif to right side of the red and green motif centers.
With yellow, attach with a sl st in center ring of top motif, between ch-5 sps. Ch 2 (counts as sc, ch 1), sc in same sp, ch 1. *In next ch-5 sp make (sc, ch 1, sc), ch 1.* repeat from * to * 4 more times. Join with a sl st to beg ch-1. Weave in ends.






*optional*

My bract "petals" wouldn't stay exactly where I wanted them, probably because plarn has a slight bit of stretch to it. I fixed this while making it even prettier by sewing around  the petals with some thread, using beads to hide the stitches. 

Attach pin back or safety pin using thread or plarn. You could even be a little lazy and just hot glue it on if you're using a real pin back (that's the cool thing about plarn). I would recommend using a low- temp glue gun if you do; I've used it on plarn with no problem, but perhaps high-temp glue would melt it.

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