Crochet Wedding Accessories: Arras Pouch & Bride Garter

I had the chance to do wedding accessories for my friends’ wedding, who I consider more of my “bebes.” They were just small pieces but I was just so happy. =)

So these were the items:

Drawstring / Purse for Wedding Coins / Arras

I wanted to embellish the drawstring for the wedding arras with 4-leaf clover as a good luck to the couple. I used MyPicot’s Crochet Shamrock stitch but I modified it to make it 4-leaf. You can find the pattern here >>.

This was made from Sugar Free Fiber Arts’ Mountain of Light Soft Diamond. I added green sewing thread to the “4-leaf clover” part to make them more visible.

Bride / Wedding Garter

At first, I wanted to make a lacy garter. But I was having a hard time finding a lacy but on the fierce side kind of design because I just cannot see Jean, the bride, as that “lacy girly” kind of girl. So I ditched the lacy idea, and made a “Wonder Woman” themed wedding garter. Any how, if it would not suit the bride’s taste, it would really not make a disaster of their wedding. =)

I used Monaco mercerized cotton thread for the wedding garter. For the pattern of this Super Woman wedding bridal garter, I based it from a Wonder Woman beanie / hat which I found from stellabella_crochet’s instagram.

Expectation:

Vlogger @keihlasmom (check out her videos here >>) trying the wedding garter. This is how it’s supposed to be worn.

Reality:

Somehow, they did not get the memo. =)

Doily

I originally made this doily as the arras purse. But I made another one, the one above, because it’s a bit hard to convert it to a drawstring. I just gave it to them; in case, they need something as backdrop for their wedding rings or whatnot.

I used the Sugar Free Fiber Arts’ Mountain of Light Soft Diamond for this too.

Yarn Shops & Shopping in Hanoi, Vietnam

I really did not get horrendous amount of yarns, but it was more than what I usually buy, and it filled up almost an entire duffel bag.

It’s hard to be asking for suggestions or directions from the local when the yarn stores because we just have not common language. So I was very happy when I stumbled upon a yarn store on our first day of just aimlessly walking around the Old Quarter of Hanoi. Old Quarter reminds me of Colon / downtown area of Cebu with a lot of foreigners milling around like Boracay.

I was really itching to get away from the crowd, when this happened:

LEN – KHAN. Though Vietnamese language is written similarly to our alphabets but I’m still having a hard time figuring out what it means. Any how, let’s just call this yarn store as LEN – KHAN. (According to a blog I read, “Len” means “yarn.”)

The most yarns they carry, that I could understand, are acrylic, cashmere, and milk cotton yarns. Prices were relatively way low. In this yarn shop, 2 milk cotton in a pack was 100,000 VND which is around P200+; so basically it’s around P100+ per 100g milk cotton. Their milk cotton is similar to the ones in Gantsilyo Guru.

Here are some other photos of yarns from that store.

This one is similar to the Indophil yarns, which I could usually get from Baguio.

More inside the store…

I was drawn to this yarn. It’s like 6-ply combed cotton but just way softer, and feels lighter.

I was not planning to buy any yarns on that day yet but I could not resist it. So on my first day of roaming around Hanoi, I went back to where we stay with this:

Not bad for Day 1 in Vietnam.

Along this road are stores that sell knitted / crocheted items, and they also has few yarns for sale but are pricier compared. There are also thread stores.

2. Dung Thao Len. I found this yarn store through this blog post, Hanoi Yarn Shops. I was glad that I did not buy a lot at the first store because their prices are way lower. For the 2 milk cotton in a packet, it was priced at 70,000VND instead.


For the 2 milk cotton in a packet, it was priced at 70,000VND instead.

They also has more yarn choices. I spotted some fancy yarns, and some yarns from Japan.

They also carry crochet hooks, and knitting needles (straight and circular).

This was where I get a bit crazy getting yarns. @.@ I wanted to get a lot of milk cotton yarns, but I was really drawn to the ones that I first bought at the other yarn store. I bought 2 cakes for each color. If ever I would add more to it, I thought that we no longer have a luggage space for it.

This was my receipt from this store. If ever you visit Hanoi, and want to check this yarn shop, I think you can use the address, 20 Dinh Liet, on this receipt to spot it on Google Maps.

Here’s my saved Google maps of the yarn stores / shops in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Until next time, Vietnam!

Gantsilyo Guru Yarn Studio, Pasig, Manila: Local Yarn Shop Eyeball

Last month, I had a chance to be in Pasig, Metro Manila. And, I was like, “seriously, what’s in Pasig?” Forgive this probinsyana who rarely gets to be in the big metro. Until, I realized that Gantsilyo Guru Yarn Studio is in our hood (hood to be millenial-sounding.) EXCITING! =)

My first set of big hooks, and cotton yarns were from their online store. I order a few items from them from time to time. So visiting their physical store would feel like meeting your online friend, like eyeball. =)

And, I think Gantsilyo Guru Yarn Studio is probably the most popular local yarn shop (LYS) in Philippines. So it’s like meeting a celebrity.

So here are very few photos I took during the “fan meeting” because I was feeling shy. I was really hoping to get a photo with Trey, but my shyness overwhelmed me on that day! ARGHHHH!!! Major regret!

It can be a bit tricky finding the shop because it’s inside a building so you will not find a facade from the street. The studio is located inside this building.

I just bought a few hooks and knitting needles because I just recently received a package from them before going to Pasig.

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So there… I’m really still kind of regretting why I did not have a photo with Trey.

Mga beshies, nakarating na ako sa Pasig!