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Small Fan Crochet Edging Worked the Short Way (1854): vintage crochet pattern
The book's last design: a narrow edging worked across its width, with a small fan of double crochet in a large chain loop on every second row. Worked in No. 20 cotton. Originally published as "Crochet Edging, Worked the Short Way" in The Ladies' Complete Guide to Crochet, Fancy Knitting, and Needlework (Mrs. Ann S. Stephens) by Dick.
By the crochetpatterns.io editorial team · Updated · Editorial policy · pattern testing in progress
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Skill level | Easy |
| Yarn weight | Lace (#0) |
| Yardage | Not printed. (as printed; yardage not given) |
| Hook | 1.1 mm |
| Gauge | Not printed. |
| Finished size | Length as required; width not printed. |
| Time | about 3 hours |
Materials
- Cotton crochet thread about size 20 (period: cotton No. 20; approximate), white
- Fine sewing needle for running in the ends
- Hook: No hook size is printed. Start with a 1.1 mm (US steel 11) hook for size 20 thread and adjust; 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
- double crochet
- stitch
- row
- skip
- repeat
Notes before you start
- Source: "Crochet Edging, Worked the Short Way", The Ladies' Complete Guide to Crochet, Fancy Knitting, and Needlework (Mrs. Ann S. Stephens), Dick & Fitzgerald, 1854. Public domain in the USA.
- As printed — materials: Cotton, No. 20.. Gauge: Not given.
- Modernisation note: Stitch names checked against the book's own definitions (pp. 22–23), which describe the same stitches as modern US terms, so they are kept: “ch.” = ch; “sl.” / “slip” = sl st; “sc.” = sc; “dc.” = dc (US, not UK); “tc.” (treble crochet) = tr; “l tc.” / “long tc.” (long treble crochet) = dtr; “miss” = sk. Note that the book's “tc.” is a modern US tr, not a UK treble (US dc).
- Modernisation note: Period wording modernised: “needle” (meaning the hook) → hook; “commence” → begin; “close for a loop”, “close in a round” and “form it into a round” → join into a ring (the book does not name the joining stitch unless it says “slip”); “under” a chain → in the ch-sp; “fasten off” → FO; “alternative” → alternate. Repeat marks (✕, +, *, †, ¶, (a)) are written as parentheses with the book's total count.
- Modernisation note: Printed paragraphs split into one step per row, round or instruction; no stitches, counts, rows or rounds added, removed or reordered.
- Modernisation note: Period cotton numbers (Evans's crochet cotton and “boar's-head” cotton) do not match modern thread sizes exactly; the modern thread size is a starting approximation. Choose the thread that suits the hook and gives lace of the right fineness.
- Modernisation note: No yardage or weight of thread is printed for this design, and none is estimated.
- Modernisation note: The engraving for this design is not among the surviving illustrations of the book, so it is transcribed from the text alone.
- Modernisation note: No hook size is printed for this design; the suggestion is based on the thread only.
- Modernisation note: Check: the book says to “form into a loop” the ch 20 and then work row 1 along it; it does not say where the chain is joined, or whether to turn between rows 1, 2 and 3 (it says “Turn the work” only before the repeat).
- Modernisation note: “Run in the ends” added as finishing.
Row progress: 0 of 3 done (0%)
Stitches
0 of 3 done- Chain (book's definition, “ch.”): “A loop of thread made on the hook, and through this the thread is drawn, forming the first chain stitch; draw the thread through this one, and a second is formed.” = ch.Mark row complete
- Double crochet (book's definition, “dc.”): “Raise the thread over the hook, so as to pass it round, before inserting the latter in the chain; draw the thread through, and you will find three loops on the hook; bring the cotton through two … finish the stitch by drawing the thread through these.” = modern US dc (not the UK dc).Mark row complete
- Repeat marks (book's definition): stitches between two similar marks (✕, +, *, †) “are to be done as many times as directed; thus, ✕ 3 dc. 2 ch. ✕ three times, means 3 dc. 2 ch., 3 dc. 2 ch., 3 dc. 2 ch.” So “twice” or “3 times” is the total number of times the group is worked. Written here as (…) twice, (…) 3 times.Mark row complete
Working on:
Chain (book's definition, “ch.”): “A loop of thread made on the hook, and through this the thread is drawn, forming the first chain stitch; draw the thread through this one, and a second is formed.” = ch.
Continue this pattern
The rest of the Small Fan Crochet Edging Worked the Short Way (1854) pattern is in the Vintage Crochet Edgings & Trims
Still to come in the full pattern:
- Edging
- Finishing
Included with 618 patterns for $9 — $0.01 per pattern.
Errata
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Frequently asked questions
Where is the Crochet Edging, Worked the Short Way pattern from?
It was published as "Crochet Edging, Worked the Short Way" in The Ladies' Complete Guide to Crochet, Fancy Knitting, and Needlework (Mrs. Ann S. Stephens) by Dick & Fitzgerald in 1854. 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 Crochet Edging, Worked the Short Way?
Size 20 crochet cotton (approximate). Not printed.
What hook should I use?
No hook size is printed. Start with a 1.1 mm (US steel 11) hook for size 20 thread and adjust; no gauge is printed. Gauge: Not printed.
