motif | Squirrel Picnic

It’s hard to believe that it’s October already. Halloween and Day of the Dead will be here before we know it, so I wanted to get this larger skull pattern ready for you to use. Well, that’s not entirely true… I designed it for my own use too. You see I’m using them on some of the items I’ll be selling at the Pirate Gallery’s Celebration of Dia de los Muertos. Pirate has been hosting this vibrant festival for the last 30 years! This will be my second year to attend and I’m so excited that I get to be a part of it. This year I’m selling hoodies with small crochet skulls on the elbows, like elbow patches. I’m calling them Skullbows. You may have seen photos of them in the small skull pattern post. I’ll also embroider and embellish larger skulls, like the one featured here, with beads and sew them to the backs of other hoodies. The festival will be held on November 1, so I better get to work!

Right now, my bed/craft room is buried in boxes of hoodies and yarn and beads. I’d show you a picture, but I’ve lost my camera somewhere under there. In fact, if you don’t hear from me for a week or two, don’t despair. It just means I’m buried amongst the piles and I’ll be working my way out shortly.

I’ll be sure to share photos of all my preparations for Muertos Mart as we get a little closer. In the meantime, enjoy crocheting some large and small sugar candy skulls! Continue reading →

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Sugar skulls and many other forms of calavera are a popular feature of Day of the Dead celebrations throughout the world. Traditionally, these skulls are made of cane sugar that is molded in one piece and then decorated with line art, flowers, and often the name of a deceased loved one as a way of honoring them.

I drew inspiration from these designs to crochet my own version of the sugar skull. The pattern starts out with a fan to create the forehead, then you work on the opposite side to create the eyes, nose, cheeks and teeth. Within the PDF pattern, I’ve included a very detailed step-by-step photo tutorial to guide you along. It’s a lot of fun to embellish these motifs with beads, embroidery, and crochet flowers to really make them look like sugar candy skulls.

Embellished or just plain, I’ve found so many uses for these skulls. I’ve worked them into scarves, using floral motifs in between each skull. I made a small coin purse (pictured above) by sewing the bottom half of two skulls together and adding a lining and metal clasp. They also make fantastic appliques. They look great on just about anything! Sew them to pillows, bags, scarves, hats, mittens, and jeans. Sew them to your pockets for an original and fun look. But by far my favorite use for them has been as elbow patches on hoodies. It’s so easy to do, and it creates a garment that will definitely get people’s attention.

Check out photos of all these projects at the end of this post. And download the free pattern below to give yourself a great head start on your Halloween and Dia de los Muertos preparations.