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Cover for Easy-Chair (1850): vintage crochet pattern
A chair back cover in Raworth's crochet-thread No. 21 with drab and pink crochet-thread: drab zigzag stripes of double-crochet blocks alternate with white stripes of crocheted flowers set in pink open crochet. Originally published as "Cover for Easy-Chair" in The Lady's Album of Fancy Work for 1850 by Not printed (the Address names only “the Publishers of the.
By the crochetpatterns.io editorial team · Updated · Editorial policy · pattern testing in progress
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Skill level | Advanced |
| Yarn weight | Lace (#0) |
| Yardage | Not printed. (as printed; yardage not given) |
| Hook | 1.5 mm |
| Gauge | Not printed. Work to the size of the article. |
| Finished size | Width as required (foundation chain “the length required”); five drab and three pink stripes, as printed. |
| Time | about 8 hours |
Materials
- Cotton crochet thread about size 20 (period: Raworth's No. 21) in white, with pink and drab thread of the same thickness
- Two tassels in the colours of the cover
- Tapestry needle for weaving in ends
- Hook: Start with a 1.5 mm (US steel 7) hook and adjust to suit your thread; 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
- slip stitch
- single crochet
- double crochet
- stitch
- stitches
- row
- repeat
- skip
Notes before you start
- Source: "Cover for Easy-Chair", 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: Raworth's crochet-thread No. 21, and pink and drab crochet-thread of corresponding quality. 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: “Plain” is not defined in the book. It is written as sc throughout this design. Check: some period books meant a sl st by “plain stitch”; compare with the engraving.
- 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: Raworth's crochet-thread (and Manlove's) was a period English cotton sold by number; the numbers do not match modern crochet-thread sizes exactly. The modern size given is an approximate equivalent only.
- 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: The engraving (illustration) is referred to as a guide; the directions are complete enough to work from, but stitch counts per repeat are not always printed.
- Modernisation note: Check: Raworth's No. 21 is not given a colour; it is read as the white thread named from Row 13.
- Modernisation note: Check: Rows 5–12 form the zigzag shown in the engraving, but the book gives no counts for how many “edge-stitches” are decreased or increased in each row (read as one fewer, then one more, ch at the edge each row, so the blocks move sideways).
- Modernisation note: Check: no chain is printed between the 5-dc groups of Row 5 and Row 9; compare the engraving.
- Modernisation note: Check: in Row 15, the “loops” into which the petals are joined are read as the chain sts of the 9-ch circle; the book does not say so.
- Modernisation note: Check: “the second stitch of foundation” for the pink rows is not explained; it is read as the white sc/dc rows between the flowers. How many pink rows fill each space is not stated beyond the four described.
- Modernisation note: Check: “Recommence again at 2d row” does not say which Row 2 is meant (read as Row 2 of the drab stripe), nor how five drab stripes alternate with three pink stripes.
Row progress: 0 of 5 done (0%)
Stitches
0 of 5 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
- Single crochet (book's definition): “Insert the needle in the loops, and draw the cotton through this loop and that on the needle.” = slip stitch (sl st). The book's “single” on its own means this stitch.Mark row complete
- Long stitch (book's definition): “Twist the cotton round the needle, pass it through the loop, draw the cotton through the first two loops on the needle, then catch the cotton again and draw it through the next two loops; there will be one loop left on the needle.” = double crochet (dc).Mark row complete
- Single open crochet (book's definition): “a succession of long stitches, with a chain-stitch between each, missing one stitch of the foundation; in the succeeding rows the long stitch is worked between the two long stitches of the preceding rows.” = *1 dc, ch 1, sk 1; rep from *; on following rows each dc goes into the ch-1 space between the dc below.Mark row complete
- “Plain” (plain stitch, plain crochet) is not defined in the book; it is the stitch that joins the loops of chain-stitch open crochet, and elsewhere an ordinary short stitch. It is written here as sc. Check: a sl st may have been meant; 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 Cover for Easy-Chair (1850) pattern is in the Heirloom Doilies & Tablecloths
Still to come in the full pattern:
- Drab stripe
- White flower stripe
- Pink open crochet between the flowers
- Completing the cover
- Finishing
Included with 236 patterns for $19 — $0.08 per pattern.
Errata
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Frequently asked questions
Where is the Cover for Easy-Chair pattern from?
It was published as "Cover for Easy-Chair" 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 Cover for Easy-Chair?
Cotton crochet thread about size 20 (period: Raworth's No. 21). Not printed.
What hook should I use?
Start with a 1.5 mm (US steel 7) hook and adjust to suit your thread; no gauge is printed. Gauge: Not printed. Work to the size of the article.
