Week 1 – Real crochet items found on Matches Fashion

ZIMMERMANN
Chintz fringed cotton-crochet skirt

Crochet or not?

It is completely crocheted. The body and finish of the skirt are crocheted.

Made of?

It does look like cotton and the description matches the look as well.

The yarn used for this top is not very twisted, and generally, it has the benefit of being soft. But there is as well a negative attached to it – it can get old and look faster than expected. The last is not guaranteed, but very probable.

As the yarn is not twisted, it does not have any mercerized finishing, I am worried about the fringe. It can lose the nice look very fast.

Care?

It is extremely positive to find a crochet garment in RTW that you can wash by hand at home. I think it is way better than dry cleaning.

Take a lot of care of washing these fringes, the yarn can lose the nice look fast and the yarn is not finished.

But also remember that there are many crocheters out there who make garments that are washable in the washing machine… When you make a crochet garment you need to calculate for that.

Expensive?

Crochet is costly. I always suggest looking at the thickness of the yarn and the complexity of the complete garment.

This skirt is made with thick yarn, which points to less time to make it. I would suggest that maybe it was crocheted with at least a crochet hook size of 3mm.

I also want to point out that although the skirt has a pretty simple design (I refer to crochet knitting techniques!) I like very much how the skirt is finished. The design is cohesive around the waistband and it has a lining (according to the images, however, there is no information about it in the description).

However, I am worried about:
1- the fringe losing its look very fast,
2- no information if it is sold with lining,
3- if it is sold with lining the lining material might be poly, so your skin will be touching poly mostly instead of 100% cotton of the crocheted skirt,
4- no information about the waistband- does the skirt come with a zipper? elastic waistband? (usually, the zippers in crochet garments are not sewn well and they start puckering weirdly)

How much you are ready to pay for it is only up to you.

Bottega Veneta
Cassette crocheted faux raffia shoulder bag

Crochet or not?

It is crocheted and combined with leather details. The faux raffia part of the bag is completely crocheted and very well combined and finished with leather details like the strap and inner pocket.

Made of?

According to the description, it is faux raffia.

There are different faux raffia materials out there, made out of different source materials. I would share that I had experience with viscose raffia made in Japan which was very costly, and it held very well. It was amazing until I visited a very humid climate during traveling. And that amazing viscose raffia lost all its pretty looks. Just be careful and observant.
Lining such kind of garments can help hold its shape.

Care?

No information.

Expensive?

Crochet is costly. I always suggest looking at the thickness of the yarn and the complexity of the complete garment.

These top cups are made with relatively thick yarn, and the crocheted size is not big (I mean the bag is small, you do not spend much time with this amount of cm3) which points to less time to make it.

How much you are ready to pay for it is only up to you.