Framed Bald Eagle Appliqué

Once in my teens, I counted the bald eagles in my grandparents’ home and there were over 300! (T-shirts, figurines, plates, mugs, rings, paintings, etc.) When preparing to visit my grandparents recently, I decided to bring a crocheted gift for my PopPop. I wanted to make a bald eagle appliqué and frame it, so I put in a yarn order before even picking a pattern. I also ordered a cheap set of Tunisian crochet hooks from Amazon so I could make a blue background with Tunisian simple stitch. With my supplies on the way, I searched for and found the perfect pattern!

Updated 12/1/2022 — On my next visit to my grandparents, I brought a “Crochet Shawl for Grandma.”

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NOTE: To be clear, I did NOT design this pattern. The pictured result is mine, but the info above links to the designer’s original pattern. Check it out!

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Ready, Set, Go!

I couldn’t wait for my yarn order to arrive, but I had to because it got lost in the mail. Fortunately, Crochet.com replaced the order for free and I still had time to finish the project. I launched my plan immediately:

1. Make the bald eagle appliqué.
2. Find a frame to fit the eagle.
3. Crochet a blue background to fit the frame.
4. Put the appliqué on the background into the frame.
5. Astonish my grandfather with my amazing gift.

“It’ll be quick and easy!” I wasn’t exactly wrong, but I underestimated how long this would take. While waiting for the yarn, I thought about adding an appliqué cloud or possibly using colorwork to make a mountain peak in the background, but I didn’t have time for all that. That’s okay, though, because I’m pleased with the simplicity of the finished product.

Crochet Bald Eagle Appliqué

There are two written versions of this pattern (US and UK), as well as a tutorial on YouTube. I worked from the US pattern and used the YouTube video to clarify a couple points that confused me. This was my first time making an appliqué that wasn’t a flower, so I learned a ton of new shaping techniques. Let’s dig in!

Head

To make the head, you start with a magic loop and work several rows that attach to the loop while it’s still open. You don’t close it until the very end, which I think is a cool technique because it gives the head a rounded shape.

One way this pattern creates the visual effect of feathers is by alternating rows of slip stitches with rows of single crochet. I had never done rows of slip stitches before, and I had certainly never worked into a row of them, either. These slip stitches were too tight, which made it hard to work into them. I ended up using a smaller hook (1.75mm) to help me dig into the slip stitch and pull up a loop to finish the stitch with the main hook I was working with (3.25mm). For the rest of the eagle, I made my slip stitches looser and used one hook.

The instructions for Row 2 say to work “2 joined sc over next 4 sts.” This makes logical sense, but I consulted the tutorial video since this terminology was new to me. What the designer calls “joined sc” throughout the pattern is what I would call “sc2tog.” Typically, I don’t like following patterns in videos, but I do like being able to watch key points. I appreciate designers who share their offerings in multiple formats so I can choose what works best for me.

Beak

The beak was quick work. When I made 4 scs into the side of the head, it seemed like the beak would be too wide for the head. I changed the pattern and began my beak with 3 sc instead of 4:

• Row 1: Ch 1, 3 sc. Turn.
• Row 2: Ch 1, sc2tog, sc. Turn.
• Row 3: Ch 1, sc2tog. Fasten off.
• (Omit fourth row.)

Okay, back to this bald eagle appliqué!

Body

The body is worked in alternating rows of front loop only and back loop only stitches, which is another way to make an awesome feather-like texture.

I used stitch markers to mark the first and last stitches of each row. I’m not used to looking for and working into slip stitches, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss any. Another new experience for me was using a pattern that doesn’t give the stitch count for each line of instruction. For example, the pattern says:

Row 1:  Miss 1^st ch, work 1 sc in each remaining ch. Turn.

I’m used to patterns telling me exactly how many stitches to make and how many I’ll end up with:

Row 1: Skip 1^st ch, work 14 sc. Turn. — (14 sts)

When the pattern told me to work in “each remaining” stitch, I worried that I wasn’t making the correct number of stitches. Maybe I was so uncertain because I hadn’t done these kinds of shaping techniques before. I started keeping track in my journal to reverse engineer the stitch count to make sure I was on the right path. Later on in the pattern, I became more comfortable with the idea of trusting the pattern and using the work in front of me to tell me what to do. Guess what: if you run out of stitches, you’ve worked in each one remaining!

1st & 2nd Legs

I wasn’t sure how the legs would turn out, because they look like little stumps. But, with talons attached, that’s what they’re supposed to look like! These little pieces were quick to crochet directly onto the body.

Claws

I don’t love how stubby the claws look, but I think the problem lies with the yellow yarn being thicker than the other colors. It just so happens that the smaller details (beak, claws) are the ones that use the thicker color. Phooey! I haven’t compared wraps per inch yet, but I will.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if one of the feet was clutching a fish?! Alas, I didn’t have time for such embellishments, and likely not enough skill either. At least, not enough skill to do it quickly!

Tail

Here’s how I kept track of stitch counts in my journal for the tail:

I finished the tail (and everything up to this point) in one sitting. I was at the kitchen table for most of this project to avoid working cat hair into the stitches (which is a guarantee when sitting on the couch). It was surprisingly comfortable to crochet at the table, and it helped me keep all the small pieces in order. And keep cat hair out of my gift!

Small Wing

The wings were wild! At first I was dreading them because I thought there would be a thousand slip stitches to work into. There almost were, but it wasn’t bad! I enjoyed seeing the feathery texture emerge.

The last row (#17) confused me, and I didn’t realize why until later. It says to work “1 dc in each st,” which I did and ended up with a visible hole by the corner. I thought that was strange, since the rest of the pattern seemed to align perfectly. Looking back at the tutorial video, I saw that the designer worked single crochets for row 17 and not double crochets, so I suspect the “dc” is a typo from converting the pattern from UK to US terminology (assuming it was in UK first). I pulled the hole closed when weaving in ends, so no harm done.

Large Wing

This is when, as mentioned before, I became more comfortable with not having the number of stitches to reference, so I stopped keeping track of stitch counts by row. It started to feel more like art and less like following step-by-step instructions (even though I was). After working like this, I have new tools in my arsenal that I can’t wait to sharpen.

I modified the feathers during the row 12-13 repeats. To keep them from being too crowded, I attached every other feather to two base stitches instead of just one. Toward the end, I made longer chains so the feathers closer to the body would be longer. I am so happy with how this wing turned out!

To Make Up

Eye

This is my first-ever embroidered eye! I’m pretty stoked, even though it’s only two stitches. The pattern says to use embroidery thread to embroider a black eye and then line it with yellow, but I didn’t feel the need to. I used black yarn and skipped the yellow part of the eye.

Assembly

I used a straight darning needle to sew the pieces together, making sure to use the color of yarn that would blend in with whichever piece was on top. The loose ends stayed loose as I figured I’d thread them through the background to save myself some trouble. I didn’t sew down the last feather of the large wing because I wanted it to overlap with the body and look more 3D.

By itself, this bald eagle appliqué took me 7.5 hours to complete, which is twice what I expected but well worth it.

I was about to run to Michael’s or the dollar store to find a frame for the eagle, but my boyfriend reminded me that we had a box of frames. There was a shadowbox left over from a gift I never finished (or started), and it fit perfectly. I used this 9×9″ black Belmont shadowbox.

Tunisian Crochet Background

The goal was to make a blue 9×9 inch square using the Tunisian simple stitch. I chose Tunisian crochet because I wanted a dense fabric that wouldn’t let the back of the frame peek through, and because I’ve had Tunisian crochet on the brain recently. Again, this took way longer than I expected and even made me worry about finishing in time. Maybe I would just give PopPop a free-floating bald eagle appliqué. Ha!

I had to look up Tunisian crochet to refresh my memory of how to start the first row and how to start the reverse pass. The booklet I referenced is actually the same booklet that taught me how to Tunisian crochet over 20 years ago. (I also saw the Tunisian crochet pattern I used to make a bag… Where the heck is that bag now?!)

The set of Tunisian crochet hooks I ordered for this project were terrible quality. (My sad mini review is on Instagram.) I returned them because the yarn caught on multiple points of the hook’s shaft no matter how much I tried to smooth it out with the included emery board. So if you see this listing by KnitPal on Amazon and you think 13 hooks for $20 is too good to be true, it is! I’ll save up for a better set in the future.

For now, I had to use a jerry-rigged Boye hook instead. I just tied a rubber band on the end to keep the stitches from falling off. It was irritating to run the loops back and forth over the thumb rest to keep the loops even. I’m just lucky all the loops fit!

1st Attempt

I used an F/5 (3.75mm) hook and made a 9″ chain, which was 40 stitches. About 17 rows in, I thought, “This doesn’t look right.” My 9″ had shrunk to 7.5″. I stretched it to see if I could force it to be 9″, but it would’ve been too tight. Time to start over. (I can hear people yelling the word “gauge” at me!)

That first attempt was also aggravating because I had trouble with the yarn splitting, which made my stitches look messy. To top it off, my hands were hurting. I blame the MacGyvered crochet hook and me holding it too tightly in frustration. (Which I’m sure didn’t help my shrinking measurements.)

2nd Attempt

A fresh start! In addition to making a longer chain, I decided to move up a hook size. This time I used a G/6 (4.25mm) Boye hook and chained 45 stitches. Pro Tip: Don’t work too many rows before checking the width of your work! After 5 rows, my fabric was still too narrow. Time to start over again.

I expected the larger hook to make a bigger difference in the stitch size than it did. However, it made a huge difference for my stitching and hands. I stopped having trouble with splitting the yarn, so my stitches were clean and beautiful, and my hands didn’t hurt much. Your hook can make all the difference.

For people like myself wondering about sizing Tunisian crochet, check out this post: How to Resize Tunisian Crochet Patterns. The author discusses what makes a “shrinking stitch” shrink and how to compensate for it. It’s very helpful.

3rd Attempt (The Charm)

I used the same hook as the second attempt, but chained 52 stitches this time. My math wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough. My finished fabric was 45 rows x 52 sts and measured 9″x8.5″. (That’s almost square.) I decided to stretch it out when blocking because there was no way I was making a fourth attempt. I pinned that sucker onto a bulletin board and breathed a sigh of relief.

When working the background, I realized that I dropped a stitch somewhere. (I know exactly how, too. Sometimes when I pull up a loop, I accidentally pull it through the previously-pulled-up loop.) So, of course, instead of ripping back to the mistake, I inserted an extra stitch in the next row, which pulled at the fabric to make a little hole. It’s actually noticeable, since the square is a solid color with no stitch variation. I hid the hole with the tip of the smaller wing, which meant I positioned the eagle slightly higher than I wanted. When I was finishing the framing, I noticed I dropped another stitch later on. Those lovable, handmade imperfections! I don’t mind those V’s as much as the hole.

The background used 1oz (29g) of yarn, which is more than twice as much as the bald eagle appliqué.

Final Assembly & Framing

I wove in a few of the eagle’s loose ends, but I used most of the ends to “tie” it onto the background after blocking. Once I positioned the bird where I wanted it (covering the hole), I pinned its wings down and threaded the loose ends through to the back. I tied and trimmed those ends, after which I removed the pins and sewed the wings and tail. Then I stitched along both edges of the small wing, but only the top edge of the large wing. I wanted the large wing to look more 3D, with feathers sticking out.

The bald eagle appliqué and its background weigh 1.5oz (43g) together.

My first idea for putting the work in the shadowbox was to staple it. My household stapler didn’t work, but then I had a better idea. I sewed the edges of the Tunisian square over the edges of the shadowbox backing using a whip stitch (I think).

For future Tunisian crochet projects, I want to polish the edge that’s created at the beginning of the return pass by figuring out which two loops to work the last stitch into. The edge created by the beginning of the forward pass is easy and beautiful, but I couldn’t seem to figure out the opposite edge. (Nor did I stop to look it up.)

The good thing is that the edges and sewing aren’t visible once framed. However, in the picture below, you can see that the bottom of the fabric has gaping holes in between the stitches of the last row I worked. That’s what I didn’t want!

See how you can still see the holes from that last row of Tunisian crochet after it’s framed? I’m thinking I should’ve crocheted an extra row and sewn that side further off the edge of the backing.

Oh well!

Despite the flaws, I am in love with this piece and can’t stop admiring my work—largely because it makes me think of PopPop!

Now I have all kinds of new ideas. Shaping appliqués, framing crochet, Tunisian crochet ideas… Makers never finish making!

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Take-aways for Tunisian Crochet

The bald eagle appliqué was the highlight of this project, hands down. It was so fun to make! But the simple Tunisian crochet background whet my appetite for more Tunisian crochet.

• Learn which two loops to work the last stitch of the forward pass into, and do so consistently.
• Buy a good set of corded Tunisian hooks.
• Learn how to crochet Tunisian in the round. (I’ve read a couple descriptions of it, but I can’t see how it would work. Time to look up pictures and videos!)
• What does a Tunisian crochet turtle look like? We should find out.

— Kelsey & Softy