So you’ve picked up your hook and yarn and managed to crochet something. What do you do with it now? What about the ends of the yarn?
Well, luckily this post will tell you all there is to know about How to sew / weave in your crochet ends and even more importantly what happens when you don’t!
Why you must sew/ weave in your ends in crochet
I’ve been teaching crochet for almost 5 years now, and one of the most asked questions is “what do we do with the ends” just as the student is about to cut them off……….. STOP!
Do Not Cut the ends off!
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In the video I show you exactly what happens if you just cut the ends off, and it’s heartbreaking!
Imagine spending that long making something, only for normally a matter of minutes or hours, for it all to be gone!
If you have just cut the ends off – there is a little fix that might save the project – but this is only a “might”.
If you have “accidentally” cut your ends off. You can pull/ undo the crochet back probably about 20/ 30 stitches or so, then try and crochet with a slightly tighter tension to give you more yarn – but this is not ideal!
It’s super fiddly too, as before you had a long tail to help hold the yarn near to the end of the work, where as now you don’t so it makes it hard to hold the yarn, when you get to the end.
So even though it looks daunting – you need to make sure you sew/ weave them in.
How to sew/ weave your ends in
By sewing or weaving your ends in, you will have more yarn “hidden” in the crochet that will make it harder to undo. Scroll down for the video.
With a yarn needle – you will sew up and down the length/ height of the stitch – hiding the end.
The trick here is to not add too much “Bulk” to the stitch with the extra yarn.
So try and sew up and down one stitch, before moving over to another stitch, repeat.
Make sure you sew up and down at least 4 times for EVERY end.
Then and only then – can you cut the end off!
Some tips for sewing in your crochet ends
Number one, don’t leave all the sewing until the end! While it’s tempting to crochet and crochet and crochet….. suddenly the project in finished and you realise you have hours ahead of you sewing.
If you can – spread the sewing out. When I made my No Brainer Granny Square Blanket, I spaced out the sewing by weaving in the ends every 2 squares. This way I didn’t notice the time spent sewing in the 40 or so ends in.
If I’d have done this in one go, it would have taken about 3 hours – which I would have noticed hugely.
When not to sew in crochet ends immediately
If you are changing colour in the top of a stitch, it’s a good idea if you can to complete the next round of stitches, then go back and sew in previous rounds ends. This is because when you sew the end in – you can distort the stitch/ ch making it hard to see where you should be crocheting.
Other than this – I think it’s good practice to “Sew as you go”
Watch the Video here
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