Finishing your fringe on overlay mosaic crochet in rows

A way of giving it an extra humpf with slip stitches and some strands of yarn

I’ve been working on a project for a workshop I’ll be giving. The workshop is the first of an introductory series of three on the basics of the Overlay Mosaic Crochet technique. Since it will cover the absolute basics, I designed a simple coaster in rows, cutting the yarn at the end of each row. So, you guessed it: it has fringes.

The booklet for this first workshop includes 4 models of the coasters. We’ll be doing just one, but people can take 3 more to practice at home, and end up with a set to their liking. Or at least, that’s the idea! What do you think?

I confess I wasn’t entirely happy with the finished piece, and felt like I needed to do something to the fringe itself.

The fact that we work only on the front of the fabric enhances crochet’s tendency to slant to one side, and what is supposed to be a rectangle, ends up not so “rectangular-y”, or like a rectangle that really wants to become some other type of parallelogram.

Also, because we cut the yarn at the end of each row, and the first row has 2 tails on the left side and none on the right side, it makes the fringe itself less symmetrical than I’d like, besides being a little too sparse…

I just had to try and come up with a way of giving the coaster a more finished and put together look, with a fuller fringe. I mean… it’s only my second crochet workshop, and I do want to overdeliver and go that extra mile to offer the best experience that I can to the people that sign up!

I tried a few ways, and will probably keep experimenting with it, but for the time being, the one I like the most is the one I’m sharing here. Will keep you posted on how other eventual iterations pan out.

This method ends up doing double-duty:

1. It makes the fringe look better, because we add strands of yarn to the tails the fabric already has.

2. And it also helps to even out the height of both right and left sides of the fabric, giving it that more “rectangular-y” look I was looking for.

(Anyhoo, we have to keep in mind, come to terms with and learn to embrace and appreciate the fact that “handmade” is not perfect. It’s perfectly imperfect!)

So, let’s get to it.

It’s very simple and straightforward, and it’s done in only 2 steps:

Step 1 | Slip stitch border

Make slip stitches all across the sides, putting your needle inbetween rows.

1. Once you’re finished, make sure to secure both ends of the yarn to the fabric, taking the opportunity to even out even more the fabric at the corners.

2. You can (and I recommend you do) integrate those ends into the fringe, so you don’t have to worry about hiding the tails, and risk have them show up later to the party to where they were not invited. :P

Step 2 | Making the fringe fuller

Add to the fringe by:

1. Cutting pieces of yarn in the colour or colours you prefer:

   1. I tend to go for the main colour of the project, but it’s a personal choice;

   2. Cut each piece with a little over 2 times the length of the fringe you want to make.

2. Then, fold in half each piece of yarn, and using a tapestry needle, put one by one through the space in between each row, at the outter side of the slip stitches you’ve made previously.

   1. What worked best for me was to add this yarn only next to the tails/rows of one of the colours of the project, i.e., every other row, and not to every single tail/row. This will probably depend on your tension and yarn choice, too, but, in my case, when I added to every tail/row, it ended up stretching the fabric and getting the opposite result I intended.

I hope I’m able to improve these videos sooner than later, but let me know if I missed any detail or if something isn’t clear!

I’d love to know what other ways you know of adding fringes to projects, be they in crochet or other textile craft.

Until then, happy stitchin’!

Ana

PS: Share with a friend who might find this useful or has something to say about fringes. :)