Free preview · full pattern in the Vintage Crochet Hats, Bags & Accessories
Beaded Card-Purse (1850): vintage crochet pattern
A small bead-crochet purse in fine cerise and blue crochet-silk with gold and silver beads and gold twist: a beaded star base, a blue body with a bead pattern written out stitch by stitch, and a beaded cerise top on a gilt frame.
By the crochetpatterns.io editorial team · Updated · Editorial policy · pattern testing in progress
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Skill level | Advanced |
| Yarn weight | Lace (#0) |
| Yardage | As printed: 1 skein each of cerise, blue and gold twist; 1 hank each of gold and silver beads. |
| Hook | 1.15 mm |
| Gauge | Not printed. Work to the size of the article. |
| Finished size | Not printed (64 sts round the body). |
| Time | about 10 hours |
Materials
- Fine silk thread about the thickness of size 20–30 crochet cotton (period: fine crochet-silk): 1 skein cerise, 1 skein blue
- 1 skein metallic gold thread (period: gold twist)
- 1 hank gold and 1 hank silver seed beads that pass over the silk (period: No. 6 beads; no exact modern size)
- A gilt purse top (frame) and a tassel
- Beading needle for threading the beads
- Hook: Start with a 1.15 mm (US steel 10) hook and adjust to suit your silk; no gauge is printed.
Yarn Kit & Substitution Options
This pattern calls for 350 yards of weight #0 yarn. Select a suggested yarn to see required skeins and estimated cost:
Caron Simply Soft · 100% Acrylic
315 yds per skein · High-yield yardage, silky no-scratch texture
2 skeins required
approx. $$10.98 total
Abbreviations (US terms)
- chain
- single crochet
- stitch
- stitches
- round
- row
- repeat
- skip
Notes before you start
- Source: "Card-Purse", The Lady's Album of Fancy Work for 1850, Not printed (the Address names only “the Publishers of the Lady's Album of Fancy-Work”), 1850. Public domain in the USA.
- As printed — materials: One skein of cerise, one of blue fine crochet-silk, one skein of gold twist; one hank of gold beads No. 6, one ditto of silver; a gilt top and tassel will also be required. Gauge: Not given.
- Modernisation note: Stitch names converted to modern US terms strictly by the book's own “Explanation of the Various Terms used in Crochet”, not by modern UK usage: “double crochet” / “close double crochet” / “d c” = sc; “single crochet” / “single” / “s c” = sl st; “long stitch” / “long” / “l s” = dc; “double long stitch” / “d l s” = tr; “treble long stitch” / “t l s” = dtr; “chain” / “c s” = ch; “single open crochet” = dc, ch 1, sk 1; “chain-stitch open crochet” = ch loops (5 or another odd number) joined into every 3rd st, then into the centre of each loop below; “three chain crochet” = the same with ch-3 loops; “miss” = sk; “unite” = join (the joining stitch is not named). Note that the book's “double crochet” is a modern sc and its “single crochet” a modern sl st.
- Modernisation note: Period wording modernised: “needle” / “tambour-needle” written as “hook”; “commence” as “begin”; “cotton” / “thread” as “thread”; “receipt” as “directions”. Round and row numbers are kept as printed.
- Modernisation note: Printed paragraphs split into one step per row, round or instruction; no stitches, counts or rows added, removed or reordered. Words in square brackets or marked “Check:” are ours.
- Modernisation note: Period “fine crochet-silk” has no exact modern equivalent; a silk thread about the thickness of size 20–30 crochet cotton is suggested. “Gold twist” was a metallic gold thread.
- Modernisation note: No hook size and no gauge is printed. The modern starting hook is an approximate suggestion only.
- Modernisation note: No yardage is printed and none is estimated.
- Modernisation note: Colour swatches are approximate modern readings of the period colour names; they are not in the book. “Drab” is a dull greyish brown; “puce” a dark purplish brown; “cerise” a deep cherry pink; “geranium” a bright scarlet-pink.
- Modernisation note: Period “No. 6” beads have no exact modern size; choose seed beads that slide easily over the silk.
- Modernisation note: Round numbers are kept as printed: “2d round” appears twice and there is no 16th round. Each body round of the pattern is 16 sts, repeated 4 times round the 64 sts.
- Modernisation note: Check: Rnd 7 adds up to 15 sts, not 16, as printed (2 + 2 + 2 + 5 + 3 + 1); one count has probably dropped out. Compare the engraving.
- Modernisation note: Check: Rnd 8 has no “repeat” printed; it adds up to 16 sts and is presumably repeated.
- Modernisation note: Check: the star directions give no counts for the number of divisions or increases (“increasing in each stitch until there are 42 bead-stitches”); follow the engraving.
Row progress: 0 of 2 done (0%)
Stitches
0 of 2 done- Double crochet (book's definition): “having made a chain, pass the needle through the first loop on the chain, draw the cotton through the loop, there will now be two loops on the needle, through these draw the cotton.” = single crochet (sc). “Close double crochet” = sc worked in every st with no chain between.Mark row complete
- “Plain” and “bead” stitches are not defined in the book. Here a “plain” st is the ordinary unbeaded st and a “bead” st is the same st with a bead slid down against the work (“passing down a bead”). The ground stitch is not named; it is written as sc, as the book's Silk Mitten works bead stitches in “close double crochet”. Check: compare the engraving.Mark row complete
Working on:
Double crochet (book's definition): “having made a chain, pass the needle through the first loop on the chain, draw the cotton through the loop, there will now be two loops on the needle, through these draw the cotton.” = single crochet (sc). “Close double crochet” = sc worked in every st with no chain between.
Continue this pattern
The rest of the Beaded Card-Purse (1850) pattern is in the Vintage Crochet Hats, Bags & Accessories
Still to come in the full pattern:
- Star (cerise)
- Body (blue, silver beads)
- Top
- Finishing
Included with 202 patterns for $12 — $0.06 per pattern.
Errata
No corrections have been published for this pattern. Found a mistake? Tell us and we will log the fix here with a date.
Your notes on this pattern
Keep track of the yarn, hook and changes you used. Saved in this browser only — nobody else can see it.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Card-Purse pattern from?
It was published as "Card-Purse" in The Lady's Album of Fancy Work for 1850 by Not printed (the Address names only “the Publishers of the Lady's Album of Fancy-Work”) in 1850. The publication is in the public domain in the United States; this version is transcribed and modernised by crochetpatterns.io.
What yarn or thread do I need for the Card-Purse?
Silk thread comparable to size 20–30 crochet cotton (period: fine crochet-silk). As printed: 1 skein each of cerise, blue and gold twist; 1 hank each of gold and silver beads.
What hook should I use?
Start with a 1.15 mm (US steel 10) hook and adjust to suit your silk; no gauge is printed. Gauge: Not printed. Work to the size of the article.
