Free Vintage Pattern #5

Vine-Leaf Card Purse

Original pattern from Treasuries in Needlework (c) 1870. Italics are my not-quite-so-helpful notes. Finished purse found here.

Materials: 3 skeins of fine crimson purse silk, 2 skeins of black ditto, and 4 skeins of gold thread, the same thickness. A handsome tassel of crimson and black, with gold balls, crimson cord, and two gold slides.


Yarn substitutions: Any very fine lace-weight yarns in rayon or silk or even embroidery floss--experiment with 4, 5, or all six threads. No hook size given. I used a size five steel crochet hook, but that could change with type of yarn used. Beads with holes large enough to accomodate cord could be used for the "slides." You could also use purchased drapery tassels instead of making them. Mine suck. I should have bought some, but nooooo, I had to be all chintzy.

Notes on colorwork crocheting: When changing colors, pick up the new color for the last two loops in the old color’s single crochet. If you don’t do this you’ll get a fuzzy, out-of-focus look instead of sharply defined shapes. Try it both ways in a sample in the round. (Colorwork can also be done in rows by starting at one end, working to the other end and breaking off the yarns. You work rows this way, right to left, without turning the work, and breaking off the yarns at the left end.) Unused colors are carried around the work by crocheting over them so there are no loose threads that show on the inside and making the work tighter, but more than three colors should be carried loosely across the inside of the bag. The crochet stitches were also worked by inserting the hook in both halves of the stitch instead of being inserted in the back half like a lot of crochet is worked today. More on colorwork and other vintage crochet can be found in Crochet: History & Technique, by Lis Palaudan.

Make a chain of 9 stitches with the crimson silk. Close it into a round, in which do 18 stitches (single crochet).

2nd row (begin black)- * 2 black on 1 crimson, 1 crimson on crimson, repeat from * 9 times.
3rd row- * 2 black on the 2 black, 2 crimson on the 1 crimson * 9 times.
4th row- * 2 black on the 2 black, 2 crimson on 1 crimson, 1 crimson on the next crimson * 9 times.
5th row- * 2 black on 2, 4 crimson on 3 * 9 times.
6th row- * 2 black on 2, 5 crimson on 4 * 9 times.
7th row- * 3 black on 2, 5 crimson on 5 * 9 times.
8th row- * 4 black on 3, 5 crimson on 5 * 9 times.
9th row- * 5 black on 4, 5 crimson on 5 * 9 times.
10th row- * 6 black, 3 crimson over the center of 5, 1 black * 9 times.
11th row- * Join on the gold instead of the crimson, * 1 black, 3 gold (on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of 6 black), 7 black, doing 2 in 1 over 1 crimson * 9 times.
12th row- * 5 gold, 6 black * 9 times.
13th row- * 1 gold, 3 black, 2 gold, 5 black over 4, 1 gold * 9 times.
14th row- * 5 black, 1 gold, 6 black over 5, 1 gold * 9 times.
15th row- * 5 black, 1 gold, 7 black over 6, 1 gold * 9 times.
16th row- All black. Fasten off black.
17th row- All gold.
18th row- All crimson.
19th row- *5 gold, 1 crimson * 21 times.
20th row- The same as row 19.
21st row- *1 crimson, 3 gold, 2 crimson * 21 times.
22nd row- The same as row 21.
23rd row- *2 crimson, 1 gold ( on the center one of 3 gold), 3 crimson * 21 times.
24th row- The same as row 23.

You should have 126 stitches. Start chart with crimson (ignoring the white border squares), repeat chart 3 times across.

Work rows 23, 24, 21, 22, 19, and 20. Then work 1 row crimson and 1 row gold.
Join on black, fastening off the others, and do 1 round.
2nd round- * 1 double crochet, 1 chain, miss 1 * repeat all round.
3rd round- * Dc under the chain, 1 Ch * repeat.
Do 5 more rounds like the last.
For the frill. Count 3 open rounds, and miss them; on the top of the 4th work with the crimson * 5 Dc over 1 Dc, 1 Ch, miss 2 Dc * repeat.
With the gold, do a Sc on every stitch of the last round.
3rd round- Crimson, * 5 Dc over the center of 5 Dc, 1 Ch * repeat.
4th round- Like 2nd.
Run cords in the two rounds above the frill, leaving one, at the top, vacant. Conceal the joins with the small slides; fasten on the tassel.