Cretan Butterfly Coin Purse: new design

I have been thinking of a coin purse design for quite a long time. I wanted to create a small purse with metal frame and probably mandala medallion. In overlay crochet, of course. I started designing a few times but then put work aside, because finished medallions did speak to me at all. Something you need to be patient and keep your idea for a while. Before it get independent enough to finally be born.

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 This summer we made a trip to Crete with the whole family: my husband and our son. It was my first vacation by the warm sea in probably… 20 years. And it was my first visit to Greece as well. We spent long lazy hours on the beach…

 
But suddenly I felt like start crocheting. I was inspired by wonderful Creatan flowers. And decided to make a butterfly medallion with colorful wings. And then when it was finished I thought it might be a nice idea to frame it and make a coin purse. So let me introduce a new design in overlay crochet to you: Cretan Butterfly Coin Purse.

Add this pattern to your Ravelry Queue

The pattern is available HERE on Ravelry.

I like small and colorful crochet projects because they are relatively quick to make and help to use up your stash. I used such a small amount of each shade for my Cretan Butterfly Coin Purses, and my leftovers worked very well for this.

I used 100% cotton Sport weight yarn Catona by Scheepjes*, and 2.5mm (C) Clover Soft touch crochet hook. In my opinion Catona is one of the best yarns for projects in overlay crochet in general. Please, check my review about this yarn HERE. I have used it for a number of my design, for example African Mandala Necklace or Northern Lights Potholder (both pattern are free), and for Oceanic Rose 12” square (available on Ravelry, Etsy and Loveknitting).

 Advantage of Catona yarn is that it comes in balls of 50g and 25g! So with a very good price you can order just the right amount of yarn you need. Catona is available for purchase on Deramores HERE*, Wool Warehouse HERE*, Paradise Fibers (US) HERE* or in your local Scheepjes shop. You will need around 10-12g of yarn for one medallion in total! So it’s around 25g for one coin purse. A really tiny amount.

At first I wanted to choose 3 shades for my butterfly, but it looked a bit unhappy and boring. So I decided to “color” the edges of her large wings with 4th shade. To add a watercolor effect to the whole design. And I am very pleased with how it worked. You can make both medallions for your coin purse just the same. Or you can change the order of the colors on each side to make it look unique!

I would recommend to fist finish your butterfly medallion, measure it and then order a coin purse metal frame. Half circles curved frames work best for this pattern. And if you have several sizes to choose from – try bigger frame than small. Just insert your medallion into it and check if it lies flat or curls a little bit. And it you are satisfied with the shape or not.

The pattern has been thoroughly tested by 8 crafters and after some changes and editing it was approved! The difficulty level is Intermediate. And if you are already familiar with overlay crochet and my other patterns – there will be no problems for you to handle this one. If it’s your first time when you hear about ovelay crochet and you think about yourself as an intermediate crocheter (or you are advanced beginner but happy to learn new things and techniques), please absolutely try this pattern. I would just warn you to be very careful with placement of every stitch and counting. If you like to count – this pattern is right for you!!

 It may take a bit longer to make the very first medallion. But once you finish it and are familiar with the pattern, next butterflies will be made quickly and smoothly. You will not even notice how you suddenly have lots of nice and colorful Christmas gifts for your friends and relatives!

Each butterfly medallion is 10cm (4") large across. I wonder if this butterfly medallion can also work as a coaster… What do you think?

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