Vanessa Montoro is a needlewoman from Brazil who has taken her handmade knitted dress to a whole new level. Her products are filled with a vintage spirit - the dresses seemed to be taken out of a grandmother's chest, but at the same time they look new and correspond to modern trends.
Product Features
Vanessa Montoro's dresses are made of silk threads, because only thanks to them it is possible to achieve the effect of light and flowing multi-tiered lace. The color scheme of Vanessa's products is mostly soft, calm, somewhat reminiscent of the color scheme of the 30-40s.
The master works only with that yarn that is dyed with natural dyes - the threads are dyed according to old recipes. This feature gives dresses a separate value, especially in conditions of mass industrial production of identical models.
The master takes about a month to develop one model, each dress comes in just a few colors. Having a Montoro dress in your wardrobe is a real success.
However, not every fashionista can buy such an outfit for herself - the line for them is lined up for months ahead. Crocheting such a dress is an ideal solution for someone who wants to have an unusual model in his wardrobe!
Schemes for dresses
Montoro uses simple patterns to knit dresses . However, due to the repetition of simple motifs and lines, the products get an unusual light silhouette.
At first glance, it seems that it is almost impossible to tie such a dress without an exact scheme from the master. However, if you consider the work closer, it becomes clear that even novice craftsmen can repeat the work of the needlewoman.
The length of Vanessa Montoro's dress depends on the number of repeating rows. By linking several repetitions, you can get a product up to the knee, and if you repeat more than 10 rows, you can create a magnificent evening outfit.
The main patterns used in Montoro's work are repetitions of motifs put together. You can knit them continuously or assemble from finished parts. In any of the options, the basic rules of knitting will be the same.
Using the Montoro technique, you can knit unusual things, not only of a classic silhouette, but also of a more athletic, modern one - with an open back, shoulders, asymmetric, with pleats or fluffy skirts.
Rules for knitting motifs
Having chosen a motive, first of all, it is necessary to do a number of actions:
- to tie a trial motif with the chosen hook and yarn;
- wash the sample and dry;
- to steam;
- measure what size the sample has after heat treatment;
- measure the density of knitting - measure how many rows are obtained in 10 cm;
- dissolve the thread and measure the length of the segment.
These manipulations are necessary so that it is clear how much yarn is spent on the sample, how many such motifs are needed for knitting.
Taking measurements
Crocheting a dress from motifs is easy. First you need to make a pattern. The result is worth the effort and time.
To build a dress pattern, it is necessary to take standard measurements that are taken for sewing a dress on a sewing machine: chest girth, girth under the chest, the height of the back of the product to the waist, the height of the back of the product below the waist, the height of the front to the waist, the height of the front below the waist (product length) , the width of the shoulder from the base of the neck to the end of the shoulder, the height from the armhole to the waist.
Based on these measurements, a simplified pattern is built - a schematic image of the dress is drawn on paper according to the measurements taken.
You can do it easier and use a ready-made dress to build a pattern. It is necessary to iron it, and then circle it with pencil on paper and use the resulting silhouette as a pattern.
Having the dimensions of the sample available, it is possible to calculate how many motives need to be connected to make it possible to lay out the front and back of the dress.
For example, if the motif is 5 x 5 cm and the waist is 65 cm, then 13 motives need to be put in a row to get a full waist circumference. Since the two motifs will be used as side motifs, the blanks are laid out so that there is 1 motive on the back more on the left and on the front - on the right.
The same calculations are done for all other sizes.
Depending on whether it turns out to knit all the motives with a crochet of the same size, choose a tool. It is possible that in the process of work it is necessary to tie several elements with a smaller crochet in order to achieve the required ratio of quantity and girth in centimeters.
Knitting dresses
Vanessa Montoro's dresses are filled with lightness and grace. All models fit in tiers. For knitting, you can use simple patterns, knitting them on the basis of a fabric made with double crochets, or weaving them together using a hook.
Using the openwork scheme, it is easy to get not only a dress. Thus, even a skirt can be connected. Vanessa Montoro often makes her products from alternating stripes made of different patterns. Such austerity combined with lightness gives her works an extraordinary charm and sophistication.
The schemes use standard images that are understandable to needlewomen around the world:
- + - single crochet;
- empty circle - air loop;
- a vertical line with several oblique lines - a column with crochets (the number of crochets depends on the number of oblique lines);
- the dark dot is the connecting column.
Dress of the Leonora model
Each needlewoman dress has its own individual name. This helps fans navigate the models. Experienced craftsmen copy the work of Montoro and become owners of exquisite things.
In the Leonora dress, Vanessa Montoro again uses several types of patterns. Each pattern fits in a separate section of the dress. Due to this, the model has an openwork coquette that emphasizes the chest, a spectacular hem that gives the hips a smooth bend.
The finished dress does not get any extra. But many needlewomen repeat the master’s experience and knit products from complex yarn - with the addition of beads, lurex, and finest silk.
Vanessa Montoro's dresses are interesting just because they do not contain unnecessary jewelry - the subtlety of work is their main advantage.