Vintage Crochet: A Motif from My Mother

I inherited my mother’s stash of crochet thread several years ago. The stash filled two large plastic bins with lids and I simply placed the bins in with the rest of my stash. From time to time, I have pulled a ball of thread from one of the bins, but I never really inventoried the contents.

Recently, my MIL asked me to help a woman who had contacted her looking for help in locating off-white crochet thread that might match what she had. The woman was trying to finish up a crochet project that had been started by her mother, but not finished. So, I went to the stash and pulled out all of the off-white crochet thread (about 10 balls). I gave the woman all of thread and it looked like there were several balls that closely matched her project.

While I was doing pulling the balls from the stash, I picked up a ball of green crochet thread and noticed that there was something tucked inside the ball…

I pulled it out and found this:

Pretty, isn’t it? Now why my mother tucked this little doily into that ball of crochet, I have no idea — but it was a pleasant surprise. I am guessing about how old this bit of crochet is — the ball of crochet thread it was tucked into is at least 20 years old, so it’s at least that old and I suspect that the pattern it was made from is even older.

So, I set about trying to recreate this motif. Mom’s is on the left and mine is on the right. It’s pretty close, but I am redoing it a couple of times more to make certain I have the stitches correct. I will be publishing the pattern when I’m finished, so check back here in a week or two.

Related Post

Progress on Re-creating the Vintage Crochet EdgingProgress on Re-creating the Vintage Crochet Edging

CrochetEdging1_Rd1
I have made progress on re-creating the Vintage Crochet Edging from my mother’s dresser scarf. I have determined that the edging is made using double crochet stitches in a filet crochet type pattern. It is only three rounds.

For this project, I am using muslin fabric that I have cut into a rectangle that is approximately 20 inches by 15 inches. I have done the hemstitching around the edge and made a single crochet foundation around the fabric by single crocheting through each hole in the hemstitching. The foundation was crocheted using white crochet thread, size 10.

CrochetEdging_Rd1_2
The first round of the crochet edging consists of a mix of 2 double crochet, chain 5 and 3 double crochet stitches around the edge. For this edging I am using an aqua size 10 crochet thread. It is progressing nicely as you can see from the photos

Re-created Vintage Crochet Edging PatternRe-created Vintage Crochet Edging Pattern

I have finished the first re-creation of vintage crochet edging. This really is a simple 3 row edging, which makes a lovely lace edge on a dresser scarf or other table linen pieces. The pictures in this post are of a placemat that I made using muslin fabric, measuring 16 inches by 21 inches. I did a very narrow hem and then hemstitched along the inside edge of the hem.

Once hemstitched, I then crocheted a foundation of single crochet using white thread around the placement edges – going through the holes created by the hemstitching. To crochet the edging, I used an aqua crochet thread. The result is a decent replication of the original edging.

Re-created Vintage Crochet Edging

Re-created Vintage Crochet Edging

Original Vintage Crochet Edging

Original Vintage Crochet Edging

I have written up instructions for hemstitching, along with the instructions for the crochet edging. The pattern is available for free. Vintage Crochet Edging #1 Pattern

You may electronically copy and print to hard copy portions of this pattern for the sole purpose of using materials it contains for informational and non-commercial, personal use only. Any other use of this pattern — including any commercial use, reproduction for purposes other than described above, modification, distribution, republication, display, or performance — without the prior written permission of Lindy’s Knits & Laces is strictly prohibited

Works in ProgressWorks in Progress

I have decided that I have too many projects in progress and absolutely cannot start anything else until I get at least three of them done: Not only do I have 5 knitting projects and 1 crochet project “in the works”, but have 3 more planned, plus a sewing project that must be completed in the next two weeks. I have always had the tendency to have several things going at once – but really, this is ridiculous!

Here are the knitting projects I must complete BEFORE starting anything else:

Knitted Bunny – ready for assembly.

Knitted Bunny

Knitted Bunny

Lace Scarf – this is a Christmas gift:

Lace Scarf WIP

Lace Scarf WIP

Cable Ribbon Socks – Guild Meet Up project.

Cable Rib Socks - knitting magic loop method

Cable Rib Socks - knitting magic loop method

Vintage Crochet Edging – just need to finish the write up on the pattern:

Vintage Crochet Edging -- WIP

Vintage Crochet Edging -- WIP

I plan to do the sewing project over the Labor Day Weekend and will post pictures when finished.