Slöjd E-Book

Kerstin Neumüller

• Herausgeber: Batsford
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 113

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

A book for anyone who craves making something with their hands. Slöjd is Swedish for handicrafts. But it's so much more than making things with your hands. In Sweden, slöjd is a compulsory subject taught to all schoolchildren. From a young age, they work with textiles and wood not only to develop their creativity, but also to learn fine motor skills and problem solving – often leading to a lifelong love and appreciation of crafts. In her new book, Kerstin Neumüller introduces the concept of slöjd through 18 wood and textile projects. Here's everything from learning how to sew a cap, dye yarn with birch leaves, carve a peg rail, sew a patchwork quilt and mend your jeans. The projects rarely require any big purchases or unusual tools, and you will be guided with clear step-by-step instructions, pictures and illustrations. With the attitude 'if you think it's good, it's good', Kerstin leaves a lot of room for your own creativity to flourish, while she also helps you avoid the worst pitfalls. This book is suitable both for beginners itching to get started and for those who already know that handicrafts are the most enjoyable hobby you can have!

Leseprobe

Foreword

Crochet a potholder

Sewing machines

Sew a pillowcase

Sew a cushion cover

Sew a tote bag

Sew a cap

Sew a patchwork quilt

Mend jeans on a sewing machine

Dye wool yarn with birch leaves

Darn a sock

Mend knitwear with embroidery

Himmeli

Embroider a fabric patch

Spin yarn from wool

Make thread from nettles

Carving

Carve a wall hook

Carve a peg rail

Flax seed pod hanging mobile

Make a festive crown

Afterword

Glossary

Foreword

The Swedish word slöjd derives from slög, an old expression used to describe a person who is clever, practical and skilled in handicrafts

Today, if you say the word to a Swedish person, slöjd will usually bring back memories of taking craft lessons at primary school, although the term means much more than that. To me, the concept is about using what you have to hand to make the things you want. In a wider sense, slöjd is a mentality that offers you the option to solve a problem without paying someone else to do it. I believe that by learning how to make the things you want you can build your confidence, increase your resilience, and create a mindset where you can start seeing solutions to any problem you might encounter in life.

This is a book for people who say, ‘oh, I wish I could…’. It contains a range of craft projects that are suitable to make at home. Many of the projects take a ‘use what you have’ attitude to reusing materials, which I think makes crafting a bit more accessible for those trying something out for the first time.

My best tip for anyone who wants to learn a new craft is to prepare to fail a few times before you get the hang of it. I have implemented this tip so many times that I now get surprised if I succeed at something the first time I try it! It will certainly take longer for you to finish if you fail a few times along the way, and you may need more supplies, but if you allow yourself to let go of your inner perfectionist for a while, you will master the technique much better than if you didn’t dare to make a ‘mistake’.

Before you start, I would like to point out that it’s only you who can judge whether something turned out well or not. If you think it’s pretty, then it’s pretty. Do these colours go well together? You decide. How something ‘should’ be isn’t really that important! The only thing you really need to keep in mind is whether the object is fit for purpose: a potholder that is so thin you burn your fingers is not a good potholder, objectively speaking, but perhaps it could make a good dishcloth.

PS: I have written from a right-handed perspective – apologies to all left-handed readers.

Crochet a potholder

Crocheting a potholder is a good introductory project for those who are curious about crochet. I made mine from a thick weaving yarn and jute twine from a garden centre!

YOU WILL NEED

– Crochet hook

– Yarn

– Scissors

– Wool needle

Choosing your crochet hook and yarn

Crochet hooks come in many different sizes, and you usually choose the size according to the thickness of the yarn you’re crocheting with.

There probably isn’t any type of yarn that you can’t use for crocheting. Anything from sewing thread and single-ply linen yarn to rags and rope can be crocheted, as long as you have a crochet hook that is up to the job!

I like to visit flea markets to look for yarns with nice colours. If it feels too thin when I start crocheting, I use two strands of the same yarn to crochet with to achieve the necessary thickness. A word of warning, however: when crocheting potholders, it can be best to stick to yarns made from plant fibres, such as linen, cotton, hemp or jute. Wool shrinks in the wash, while synthetic fibres such as polyester and acrylic run a risk of melting when they come into contact with heat.

How do I know if my crochet hook is too big?

The size of the stitches depends to a certain extent on how large the tip of the crochet hook is: if the tip is large, the stitches will also be large. If you think your crochet stitches are too loose, try using a smaller crochet hook.

How do I know if my crochet hook is too small?

What usually makes me swap to a larger crochet hook is if I can’t pick up the whole yarn when picking up a new stitch. Sometimes, you only manage to catch half the yarn, which can be frustrating.

As with all tools, it’s easy to have favourites. To be honest, I only have one metal crochet hook that I use regularly. It works for almost all yarns. When I was crocheting the potholders made from jute twine, I needed a larger hook, however, so I took out my knife and carved myself one. If you live close to a craft shop or flea market, it may of course be more convenient to run out and buy one.

Start crocheting

The most basic version of crocheting consists of two types of stitches: chain stitches and double crochet stitches (note that ‘double crochet’ is the UK term; the US term is ‘single crochet’). Double crochet stitches are worked on top of a previous row of stitches, while chain stitches are stitches that are not fixed onto other stitches: they hang freely in a chain. To start your project, you first need to work a foundation chain of chain stitches that will become your starting point for the rest of the work.

Crochet chain stitches

Hold the yarn in your left hand and the crochet hook in your right hand. You will hold the work with your left-hand thumb and middle finger, while the index finger controls the tension of the yarn.

Twist the yarn around the crochet hook a few times, with the tail end hanging freely downwards. Try to hold the yarn as I do above. (1)

Catch the yarn with the crochet hook and pull a loop downwards, so that the yarn that was around the crochet hook’s shaft slides over its tip. The yarn you have just hooked onto will follow through downwards and will form a new loop on the crochet hook’s shaft. (2, 3) The new loop is your first chain stitch.

Now you can crochet a chain of chain stitches by repeating what you just did: catch the yarn with the crochet hook and pull it down through the loop on the crochet hook’s shaft. When you make this movement, the loop that was around the crochet hook’s shaft will slide over the crochet hook’s tip, and the yarn you pulled down with you forms a new loop around the crochet hook’s shaft. Wrapping the yarn around the tip of the crochet hook, ready to be pulled through one or several loops, is called making a yarn over. (4) Decide how wide you want the potholder to be and make your foundation chain that size. You may want to add a couple of extra stitches because the work may pull together a bit as you work. Add one more chain: this is called the turning chain and accommodates the height of the next row. Now we will start the second row of our crochet work; for this, we will work in double crochet. This is similar to a chain stitch, but involves a few extra steps.

Row number 2: Double crochet

The first stitch of the next row is worked into the second chain from the hook. Look at the chain of chain stitches. On one of the sides the yarn sits in pairs: underneath them is where you insert the tip of your crochet hook. If you have done this correctly, you should end up in the middle of the chain, so you have two bars of yarn over the crochet hook and one under it. (5)

Make a yarn over and then pull the crochet hook out of the foundation chain. Now you have two loops on the crochet hook. (6)

Make another yarn over, and pull the crochet hook through both new loops. (7) Now you have only one loop on the hook again, and you have just made a double crochet stitch. Continue working double crochet stitches along the full length of the foundation chain. When you come to the end, make a chain stitch (turning chain) before you turn the work. What was the back of the work becomes the front of the work, and then you work another row of double crochet. Work your way back and forth along the potholder, from one side to the other and back again – always making one chain stitch before you start a new row.

Crochet doesn’t have to be any more complicated than this. It’s also super easy to unravel the work. Perhaps you accidentally skipped a few stitches, or want to start over to make the potholder a bit wider? Just take out the crochet hook and pull the yarn, and the stitches will start to unravel. When you think your potholder is the right size you can make a final chain stitch, cut the yarn 10–15cm (4–6in) away from the work and pull the end through the final stitch. When you pull the end of the yarn, the final stitch will close around it; this way the end is locked into place so the stitch can’t unravel.

If you want to crochet a small loop to hang up the potholder, you can make a length of chain stitches secured into place with a double crochet stitch, then cut the yarn and pull the end through the last stitch.

Changing colour

You can change colour when a row is completed by cutting the yarn and pulling it through the last chain stitch, then just start crocheting with a new colour. You can also change colour in the middle of a row if you want. Just cut the old end, leave it hanging at the back of the work, and start crocheting with the new colour. Leave the tail end hanging at the back of the work as well. When you have finished your potholder, you can secure all threads with a darning needle by sewing them into the back of the work with a few stitches.

Crochet in the round

To crochet a circular shape I start with a chain of five chain stitches, then I join them with a double crochet stitch. Then I crochet around the little ring I’ve made. Instead of inserting the crochet hook into the chain stitches, I insert it in the hole at the centre of the ring; this way, a little round hole is formed in the middle of the potholder, which I like.

Here, I crocheted eight stitches into this first round.

For the second round you will work in double crochet, but you will need to increase the number of stitches for each round to make sure the potholder remains flat rather than becoming bowl-shaped. You increase the number of stitches by making two stitches in the same stitch.

ROUND TWO Increase in every stitch.

ROUND THREE Increase in every other stitch, with a standard stitch in between.

ROUND FOUR Increase in every third stitch, with two standard stitches in between.

ROUND FIVE Increase in every fourth stitch, with three standard stitches in between.

Then I changed colour and continued working around and around. Every time I started a new round, I increased the number of standard double crochet stitches in between the increases by one. After a while it’s difficult to see where the new round begins and the old one ends, so it’s a good idea to mark the last stitch in a round with a safety pin or similar stitch marker. Insert the pin through the yarn of the stitch when you have worked it, then you know you have made one round when you come to it the next time.

Sewing machines

Sewing machines can look a bit different depending on the model, but most work in a similar way.

1. A SPOOL of sewing thread is fitted at the top of the sewing machine. The thread runs from here down to the needle. This thread is called the TOP THREAD.

2. The presser foot is lifted up and down with a LEVER that is usually positioned at the back of the sewing machine.

3. The PRESSER FOOT keeps the fabric in place while you’re sewing. It can be changed and comes in many different varieties, but I use the same one for almost everything I make.

4. The sewing machine’s NEEDLE is held in place with a small screw that you need to loosen to be able to change it. Needles come in different thicknesses. As a general rule, the thicker your fabric, the thicker the needle required.

5. The THROAT PLATE on my sewing machine is made from metal, but some are made from plastic. This stops the needle from pushing the fabric down to the bottom thread bobbin.

6.