Monday, November 23, 2015

Doily Dream Catchers - Wishing You Happy Thoughts and Sweet Dreams


Dream catchers are handmade objects hung near the bed or the place where one sleeps to protect a sleeping person from bad dreams. It is said that bad dreams will be caught in the web and only good dreams will pass through making the person nightmare free through the night. The bad dreams that were trapped will disappear when the sun rises. For its origin, you may want to seek the help of our dear friend Google as I only just looked it up and I must say that it's fascinating. The Native Americans from whose culture this craft originated have a beautiful and spiritual story to tell about dream catchers.

I've also read that nowadays, some people hang dream catchers by a window or a door to make it work like a filtering system so that only positive energy gets inside their homes. Well, wether we believe in it or not, we respect the culture where it came from. It is a fascinating tradition, a superstition if you will, and the thought of giving someone a dream catcher is like wishing them to always have a peace of mind and good dreams, plus, it is decorative.

This design using doily is a modern take on the traditional dream catcher, even the materials used are different. I also tried weaving but I only know the basic style and there are others that are so beautiful and intricate but look really complicated and I couldn't make out the pattern by just scrutinizing it on my own, I need a pattern or a tutorial. Anyway, I love crochet and making doilies for dream catchers would allow me to have various different designs for the web as there are hundreds of patterns available online.

First, you have to gather the materials needed. There are a lot of different materials that you can use to make a dream catcher, a hoop made from cardboard, an embroidery hoop, or a metal ring as a substitute for the wooden hoop, for wrapping the hoop, a leather cord or any ribbon will do, and you can go and have fun with the tails and other decorations, you can use lace, ribbons, charms, beads, or pearls. Well, these are for the modern ones, if you want to have the look of the authentic dream catchers by Native Americans, you may need different materials and do a little research.

Anyway, with my version, the following materials are needed:

Hoop (your choice of size)
Yarn or crochet thread
Lace, ribbon, feather, beads
Glue
Needle
Scissors
Crochet hook


Crochet a doily that would fit on your hoop. You can check out these sites for free patterns, FaveCraftsCrochet Pattern Central, and All Free Crochet. If the pattern would result to a doily bigger than the size of your hoop, you just have to end your work up to the the round that best fit the ring.



This pattern I used calls for several more rows but I stopped at the 5th row because I'm using a small hoop. As an added decoration, I put a bead at the center. Keep in mind that the doily would still stretch so it should be smaller than the inside of the ring to get a nice tension.


Position the doily and attach it to the hoop. I used a tapestry needle to wrap the crochet thread around the hoop and into the spaces in the doily. This thread is only temporary, just to keep the doily in place while I wrap and cover the hoop completely with a different color thread.



Carefully wrap the hoop with yarn or crochet thread, remove the temporary thread as you go along. A lengthy piece of thread is needed to cover the entire hoop and you might not want to thread the needle with the full length at once for it will be hard to work with, just put in about 3 feet each time or the length that you're comfortable with. Glue the start of the thread to the hoop make the rounds and also glue the end, do the same with the next lengths of thread until the hoop is entirely wrapped.

I find it nicer looking when the hoop is completely covered and no wood is showing as much as possible so make each round tight and close to each other. Apply a small dot of glue after every few rounds, this may not be necessary, just an additional trick to secure the thread and keep it in place.


I attached a crocheted chain and had it covered together with the hoop. With my other dream catchers, I attached the strings on top of the covered hoop, so it's your choice, it would look just as nice.


Then, it's time for the tails and decorations. I braided and crocheted a few ribbons, made a tassel, attached a feather to a crocheted chain, and added a little metal charm. But like what I've said, you can use whatever materials you want that you think would make your dream catcher look lovely. Attach your chosen pieces to the hoop


This is the first one I made. I used white and light shades of blue crochet thread. This is a bit small, the hoop is just about a little over 3 inches in diameter.



These are the ones I've finished so far. I'll be making more and probably play with some bold color combinations. I hope to finish about twenty pieces in time for the holidays, I think these will make good Christmas gifts.

These may not be the authentic and traditional dream catchers but my thoughts of giving them to my loved ones have the same purpose, wishing them sweet dreams.

Hope you enjoyed reading. Have a nice day!


41 comments:

  1. I love dream catchers! I think those are really nice christmas gifts!! How I wish I know how to crochet

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    1. If you want to skip crocheting, you can do the weaving method to make the web, there are tutorials online. This one from YouTube is a nice and clear tutorial, you might want to check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcY_60sg0w0. Hope this helps.

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  2. Ang pretty sis! Hindi pa ko nakakagawa ng ganyan and you gave me an idea. Pwede tong panregalo sa kids noh? Merong mga hoops dun sa craft store na binisita ko recently. Yay excited na ko another project!

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    1. Thank you. Ako naman, first time ko rin to, haha. Buti may mga hoops kang nakita, sa DMC sa Megamall lang ako nakakita nyan, pero tong akin sa Divi ko nabili, hihi. Enjoy sa new project.

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  3. thank you for sharing

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  4. Ang gaganda mommy! Pedeng pede ipang business :)

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  5. Ang ganda! If only I knew how to knit. Unfortunately, cross-stitch lang kaya ko. T_T This would have been a cool design sa room namin.

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    1. Thank you! You can try out weaving the web, it's a lot easier.

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  6. I don't believe in dream aatchees, but I love the story or the meaning. Full of fantasy. I've seen some people wear them as necklaces and earrings which are pretty cool to look at. :)

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    1. Nor do I, haha. I just love the story behind it and it's like when giving one, it goes to show that you're sending wishes of sweet dreams.

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  7. I love these, very creative and i love the design. Beautiful mommy pang design na din sa Christmas.

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    1. Thank you! Pwede rin no, that's a great idea, dream catchers in Christmas colors.

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  8. Love the blue and white one... you make it seem so easy :D

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    1. Thank you. It is, though time consuming, hihi.

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  9. My complete frustration of crocheting. I love your dream catchers!

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    1. Thank you! It's never too late to start, hihi.

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  10. Dream catcher always reminds me of that horror flick years ago. It's so weird that I've not even watched it but I'm freaked out about it. Talk about paranoia!

    Anyway, I admire people who can make pretty things crocheting. My mom was pretty awesome at it and used to make me dresses out of it.

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    1. Wow, crocheted dresses, that takes time, your mom's awesome at it indeed. Now I need to Google that movie, haha.

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    2. Gaganda! Grabee, I envy your patience in doing crochet! :)

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  11. Those are beautiful, especially the violet one, my favorite color. I love crochet but it pisses me when my hands started to sweat...

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    1. Thank you. I've read about some people wearing mittens when they crochet, it might be a bit uncomfortable but you'll get used to it, hihi.

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  12. That looks beautiful! I've heard of this before and might try it too for my little kids. :D ~Pearliza Paguio

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  13. Ang cute! You really are so talented. Those would make adorable Christmas gifts.

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    1. Thank you. Yes, I'm making more for Christmas gifts.

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  14. Aw.. That's really nice! My hat is always off to crafters like you! ;)

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  15. This will make a great Christmas gift! And cute and handmade with love pa! :) Love it!

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  16. This will make a great Christmas gift! And cute and handmade with love pa! :) Love it!

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  17. Love your creativity! Would want to try it but I'm a bit rusty with my crocheting skills.

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    1. Thank you. I just got back to crocheting with the help of video tutorials.

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  18. I'm curious how your house looks like. It must've been filled with beautifully homemade things :) Very nice :)

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  19. So nice. I think the last time I crocheted was still in high school. I should probably do something creative -- I spend so much time in front of the computer already!

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  20. Wow! You are so damn creative! Nakakainggit! Crocheting is one of my favorite lessons in gradeschool pero ayaw nia sa akin! Haha! =D

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  21. These will make great Christmas gifts indeed! There are so many things that you can do with crocheting noh?

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  22. I want one! The green one, I'll accept it with open arms :)

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