Tape measures are one of the handiest things to have in your project bag. Measurements are an important part of creating crochet projects, especially if you are making garments. Personally I use them a lot when working out designs.

Of course, like all the tools of my trade, I seem to be constantly searching for my tape measure.  So I am always on the hunt for inexpensive tape measures when I’m out shopping. My brilliant idea being if I have one in every project bag, I’ll have one whenever I need it.

I’ve seen a number of lovely “covered” measuring tapes. Some of them even have crocheted covers, and though I’ve admired them, few have instilled in me the desire to purchase one. 

Friday I was at the local hardware store (McGuckins in Boulder, CO), it is one of the best stores for finding amazing and fun stuff to use in creative pursuits.  I discovered some nifty round retracting measuring tapes for the very reasonable price of $1.60.  So I tossed a couple of them in my basket and decided it was time for some experimenting with covering them in crochet.

This gorgeous Aunt Lydia’s Classic 10 thread was in a range of colors that I love, plus it would make it easy to spot my tape in the bottom of most all of my project bags.

I didn’t have a pattern for this. Instead I did my favorite type of crocheting, “Seat of the Pants”.  

I began with the plain side of the tape measure. I started a simple single crochet spiral round and kept holding it up to the tape casing to see if it was big enough.  My spiral tended to “dome” a little in the center, so I wanted to have the final circle be small enough that it would fit tightly around the casing.

Once I reached the size needed, I worked a row of single crochet off the wrong side of the final round. I left a gap between the beginning and ending of the row for where the tape would feed out. I worked a couple more rows to cover the flat edge of the tape casing, then fastened off with a very long tail. The tail would be used to sew the 2 pieces of the cover together.

Next I chained a ring to just fit around the button of the tape, and crocheted 18 single crochet in that ring. The circle on the opposite side was 12 rounds, so I counted the first round on this side as round 3 and worked out from there. Once I had 10 rounds I fastened off and wove in the center tails for both sides as well as the ending tail for the 2nd circle.

I then placed the 2 pieces around the tape measure, lining up the opening on the edge with the tab for the tape. I used the long tail from the first side to whip stitch the edging to the “button” circle, stretching and positioning the circles to fit well on the casing.

The little tab cover was just a chain long enough to wrap around the tab, then rows of single crochet to the length I needed to cover the tab. I folded it in half and used a couple more rows of sc to join the top edges and make a shaped point. Slipped it over the tab and sewed thru the opening of the tab and along the open side.

I now have my own little covered tape measure. Hopefully this one won’t get lost for awhile.