Crochet: The Ultimate Summer Trend

A bohemian material par excellence, crochet is a summer hit that comes back every summer. But this year it’s a particularly strong trend, and the crochet wave is sweeping away everything in its path. Among the styling options available with crochet, I’ve chosen to go for a rather minimalist look, to be worn on the beach as well as in the city.

Inspirations

The crochet knit fabric by Maison Fauve

I’ve fallen completely in love with this striped knit: black on an ecru background, I think it’s incredibly chic! Made from 100% cotton, it’s supple, quite soft and falls beautifully. When I saw it, I fell in love with it, and when I saw the flood of crochet garments in the summer ready-to-wear collections, I knew I’d made the right choice.

Graphic and simple, our fabric plays on the codes of the sailor, a classic icon in women’s clothing.

How do I sew the crochet fabric?

Our crochet fabric is 100% cotton, so it won’t stretch or deform like a knitted fabric with elasticity. It cuts easily and will not roll up.

For this type of fabric, I recommend using:

• Sharp scissors to cut your fabric without easily

• You can secure your pattern pieces to your fabric using weights, or pin the pattern directly onto the fabric (this is how we did it).

• We used our superfine pins to pin our fabric pieces, but small fabric clips will also be useful for securing your pieces together before sewing, as the openings in the knit fabric can make it difficult to use conventional pins.

We also offer sewing thread in black or off white and a range of matching buttons, made in France, for impeccable sewing down to the smallest detail:

• Wink glossy buttons with a shiny, delicate finish - available in black or off white

• Wink matte buttons with a satin surface and gold centre - dispo in off white

• The very elegant Bijoux buttons in light gold - available in 10 or 15 mm

To sew the crochet fabric

• We have assembled everything using the classic straight stitch, not the elastic stitch. The fabric is easily fed through the machine, using medium pressure on the presser foot.

• Special jersey needles, with round points, gauge 70 or 80, are recommended to avoid pulling the threads or damaging the fibres.

How do I finish my seams?

Our crochet stitch will inevitably have a tendency to fray a little (but much less than some jacquards or knitted tweed, as it still has quite a bit of stability).

To finish your seams neatly, I recommend overlocking your seam allowances.

You can also edge your pieces with a bias:

• Either with a saddle-stitch, in which case it will be visible, but it’s an aesthetic choice that can be very cool to accentuate the graphic side

• Or a folded bias, which will be hidden on the back of the garment.

Similarly, the bottom hem of pieces can be made by overcasting the bottom of the garment, then hemming it when ironing and fixing it with an invisible hand stitch or a machine straight stitch. You can also place a wide bias strip at the bottom of your garment, and fold it over before hemming.

How do I care for my crochet garments?

We recommend that you wash your fabric at 30° on a delicate cycle and in a laundry net. You can also wash it by hand, but wring it out by rolling it in a clean towel. Do not twist your garment or you will damage the threads. It is essential to dry your garment flat to avoid deforming it.

Crochet fabric irons very well on the cotton setting on your iron.

Choosing your work

Making buttonholes on this type of fabric can be tricky, and even a special knit fusible interfacing may not be suitable, as the knit is airy and it could show through. And fitting a zip will be tricky.

I wouldn’t recommend patterns with lots of cut-outs and elaborate assembly, but that doesn’t mean you need to use a pattern for knitwear or jersey/fleece. I’ve used 3 different patterns to sew the crochet knit, and they’re all warp and weft patterns:

• Granite jumper

• Malibu polo shirt

• Songe shorts

• Spritz tank top

Granite jumper

Granite jumper

Malibu and Songe duo

For the Malibu polo shirt, I made the button placket and collar in black cotton voile: the result is very elegant, and assembly was no problem at all.

For the Songe shorts, which start out as pyjama-style shorts that are partly elasticated at the waist, I chose the pocketless option to avoid layers and to avoid the risk of the pocket bag showing through. This pair is super pretty, and fresh for summer. And it’s just as cute worn ‘sporty’ as it is dressed up with the right accessories (pretty leather sandals, trench coat Tigris).

The Spritz crocheted dress

I have also shown you an ultra-cute version of the Spritz tank top extended into a dress during the fashion show stories (they are always available in the permanent story tab Fauve Nights on our Instagram profile). For this version, I lengthened the pattern by 50 cm and kept the bottom open with 2 slits. The pattern has a comfortable ease on the hip line, check the booklet with the finished garment measurements just in case but I didn’t need to flare out the side line. Finishing the armholes and neckline is very easy as the Spritz pattern includes bias pieces to be cut from a light fabric such as cotton voile.

For this version I chose the bottom tank top from this tank top duo pattern: it’s quick to sew, perfect for this project. But I can already see a future version with the polo placket, even more elegant, and this time with the black bias visible.

I’m wearing my crochet dress either plain or with a nice wide belt and my Mimosa blazer jacket in black woollen suiting (so very beautiful!).