Made It By Monday Summer Series: Sea Dreams Pt. 1

This tutorial is largely inspired by Lauren's handmade dreamcatcher at Calico Skies.



This project is inspired by the design of dreamcatchers, but this is not meant to be a replication of an authentic dreamcatcher. Dreamcatchers are an amazing part of Native American culture, and you can read more about their traditional use here. I also recommend this as something for personal use, not as something you should make a bunch of and sell.

Instead, this project is about creating something that connects you to your home or someplace you love. I grew up on Cape Cod and I always miss it when I'm away. I thought it would be nice to bring something from home back to school with me this fall. I've been working a lot lately and haven't been taking the time to get outside and enjoy what home has to offer, so today I took a walk, took some pictures, and collected some things for my own inspired dreamcatcher.

Materials:
-Floral Stem Wire (found at Michael's for about $2)
-Scrap yarn
-Glue gun
-Scissors

The rest is up to you. You can use a ready-made doily for the inside, you can crochet your own like I did, or you can thread to loop in the traditional dreamcatcher-fashion. A helpful link for how to do that can be found here

I dug out my old seashell collection, some beads from a bracelet a little girl at the day camp I work at made me, and went for a walk to see what else I could find.

STEP 1: COLLECT YOUR SUPPLIES

I've been working a lot, so this project was a great motivator for taking some time out of my day to just go for a walk and appreciate the scenery and the place I live. I was also able to take some photos with my new camera and test out some of its features.

STEP 2: CREATE THE CENTER

I used most of SmootFox's doily pattern, which can be found on Ravelry for free here. You can use really anything you want for the inside. I chose to crochet my own because it represents my love for knitting and crocheting. I also used only yarn I bought from local yarn stores. The purpose, for me, is to evoke memories when I look at my dreamcatcher.

I also threaded a bead into my doily.

STEP 3: CREATE RING

Take 2 pieces of the wire and twist them together. I then took two more, shortened them a bit, twisted them, and attached the two halves of the circle together. If you make a smaller doily than I did, you may only have to use two rather than four.

STEP 4: ATTACH INSERT TO RING

Thread needle with scrap yarn and tie each point of doily to the loop.

STEP 5: WRAP THE WIRE RING WITH YARN

Don't worry about bumps and the ties from when you attached the doily, they  can be hidden under the wrap. I made a small bobbin of my yarn so I could fit it under the ring and back out. A full ball of yarn will be tough to fit through the spaces between the ring and the doily.

I chose Kudo because the gray variation looked a lot like birch bark.

When you get to the top, tie off any remaining strings and make a loop. I chose to do a small braid before my loop.

You should end up with the greater portion completed:

Next week we'll finish it up!