Hello Crafters!

Welcome to my first ever Beginner Belly Dance Hip Scarf Crochet Tutorial!

If I had to choose my favourite person to craft for it would have to be my mum! For one, she always really appreciates anything I make her because she is pretty knowledgeable about crafting so she knows how much effort goes into a project. Secondly, everybody knows that moms love it when their kids make them stuff because every mom thinks their child is a genius. Heehee 🙂

My mum is very inspiring to me! She is always trying new things and really sticks with them even if they are difficult. I wish I could be more like her! One of these new things that she started in the past couple of years is belly dance!

This got me really excited because the colourful costumes and awesome accessories open the door for a million awesome crafting projects! Can you say sequins, beads, colourful yarn, and glitter?!

This month is my mum’s birthday and as part of her gift I decided to make her a belly dance hip scarf. I came up with this pattern to create more of a mesh type scarf (aka full of holes).  This pattern could also make a great shawl!

For this project I used :

Hook: 3.75mm

Yarn: Loops & Threads Pizzazz “Natural Multi”

Stitches: Chain Stitch, Single Crochet (SC), Double Crochet (DC), and Triple Crochet (TC)

Let’s begin the Beginner Belly Dance Hip Scarf!

To begin, chain as many stitches as you would like. This chain that you are creating is both the top of the scarf and the strings that dangle off the ends of the scarf, so keep that in mind when you are choosing how long to make it.

I like the look of the strings hanging down so I chained 260 stitches.

DC into 3rd chain from hook. Continue to DC across in each chain stitch until you reach the end.

Turn your work and chain 1. SC into each stitch across until you get to the part of the chain where you want your scarf to begin. (End of string and beginning of the triangle)

Now I wanted the triangle to go all the way around the waist but maybe you just want the triangle to be on one hip or halfway around the waist. It’s totally up to you! Just measure it against your own body as you go to make sure it’s the size you want.

Just for your information I did 80 SC stitches before I started the triangle.

**If this is confusing think of it this way: I started with 260 stitches, the first string is 80 stitches, the second string will be the same length (80 stitches)

Out of the 260 stitches that I started with 160 of those stitches will make up the strings on the side so the triangle part of the scarf will be 100 stitches across at the top.

Once you are ready to start the triangle chain 3. This will count as a triple crochet stitch.

Skip 3 stitches and 2TC into the next stitch.

(Ch 2, skip 3 stitches and 2TC into next stitch) Continue this pattern across until only 82 stitches remain. (Or whatever number of stitches your string length is plus 2)

Skip 2 stitches and work 1TC into the next stitch.

SC into each of the remaining stitches until you reach the end of your work. SS to secure yarn and tie off.

SS into the space between the bar and the ‘V’ created by the 2TC stitches. (Your SS should be in the space where the blue dot is in the photo.

Chain 5. (Counts as 1TC and 2 Chain stitches)

2TC in between the 2 ‘V’s formed by the TC stitches from the previous row.

Chain 2. 2TC in next space.

**Remember** When you reach the last space in the row work 1 TC into the last space. Turn the work. Chain 5. And continue along with your (2TC, 2Chain) pattern.

Continue this pattern until you have reached the end of the triangle.

Finishing Off the Triangle

WOW! That took a while. Now that your triangle is almost complete it should look something like this at the point:Now it is totally up to you if you want to leave it at this and add tassels / cool accessories.

Or if you would prefer you can continue working along with this pattern until your triangle reaches a point! I thought that at this stage my scarf was long enough so I left it at this and added yarn tassels and braids to finish it off.

Blocking

This is the perfect time to block your work! It sounds to me like a lot of people don’t bother to block their work when it’s done but to be honest it really improves the appearance of your finished project!

Blocking is especially important on a project like this one. After I completed the triangle, the edges were all rolled underneath the scarf. Blocking fixes this by straightening out the shape of the scarf.

I just use a foam mat (like the ones you are supposed to put on a gym floor), or use a yoga mat or carpet, anything pokable! I use regular round head pins to fasten the scarf to the mat. Typically if I’m blocking something square I would measure out the desired shape on the foam with a pencil so that I can have a  guideline of where to stretch the square to. But in this case the shape is kind of irregular so I just eyeballed it 🙂

To block I simply soak the scarf in lukewarm water and gently squeeze it out so it doesn’t drip, then I pin it to the mat and leave it out to dry! It would probably be best if you left it out for 24 hours to dry fully (or at least overnight!).

I would suggest stretching your wrists and making some tea before continuing!

Now this is the part where you get to be creative! You can do your favourite border stitch to finish the edge or use beads and sequins to decorate. I personally used leftover yarn to make tassels. I added some braids and some seed beads for extra sparkle!

Get creative with this project! Hip scarves are so fun because they really have endless options for how you want to personalize them!

I would love to hear your hip scarf decorating ideas in the comments section below! Also feel free to comment if you have any questions with this tutorial!

Happy Crafting!