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Eyelet Flower Anti-Macassar (1854): vintage crochet pattern
An anti-macassar made of strips of small six-petal crochet flowers joined by open hems of treble mesh, with a border of eyelet holes and a pointed (vandyke) edge. Worked in No. 12 cotton, or with the eyelets and edge in scarlet, green or cerise wool.
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 | 2 mm |
| Gauge | Not printed. |
| Finished size | Size as required; not printed. |
| Time | about 9 hours |
Materials
- Cotton crochet thread about size 10 (period: cotton No. 12; approximate), white
- Optional: fingering-weight wool in scarlet, green or cerise for the eyelet holes and edge; or pink and drab cottons
- Fine sewing needle for running in the ends
- Hook: Start with a 2 mm (US steel 4) hook and adjust to suit your thread (original: crochet hook No. 14, eagle card-board gauge; approximate conversion). 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
- treble crochet
- stitch
- stitches
- row
- round
- skip
- repeat
- loop
Notes before you start
- Source: "Anti-Macassar", 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. 12. Crochet hook, No. 14. Eagle card-board gauge.. 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: Crochet hook numbers belong to the book's “eagle card-board gauge”, a period bell-type gauge in which higher numbers are finer. The metric and US sizes given are approximate conversions only, and no gauge is printed.
- 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: Check: “Close in the 3rd for a round, leaving 2 chain” is read as joining into the 3rd ch from the start, so that 2 ch are left free; the book does not say what the 2 ch are for.
- Modernisation note: Check: “dc. under each side of the centre stitch of the second loop” (open hem) is not explained further; the three free loops of each flower sit along the edge of the strip.
- Modernisation note: Check: the eyelet-hole border directions (“Work the 2nd side of the eyelet-holes at each corner, make a chain all round connecting it with the eyelet-holes in every fifth stitch”) do not say how the second side of the eyelet holes is worked away from the corners; compare with the insertion on p. 69 of the book, where the second side is 7 dc in each eyelet hole.
- Modernisation note: “Drab” is a dull greyish brown; “cerise” a cherry red.
- Modernisation note: “Run in the ends” added as finishing.
Row progress: 0 of 6 done (0%)
Stitches
0 of 6 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
- Slip stitch (book's definition, “sl.”): “Insert the hook in the stitch next to that already on the needle (unless the directions particularly say, miss so many,) and draw the thread at once through both stitches.” = sl st. The book says it serves “to carry the thread from one part to another, without either breaking it off or widening the work.”Mark row complete
- Single crochet (book's definition, “sc.”): “Insert the hook in the chain, and draw the thread through it; this forms a second loop on the hook. Draw the thread through these two by a single movement and the stitch will be completed.” = modern US sc.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
- Treble crochet (book's definition, “tc.”): as dc, “but as the thread is passed twice round the hook before the insertion of the latter in the chain, there will be four loops on … Bring the thread three times through two loops to finish the stitch.” = modern US tr.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 Eyelet Flower Anti-Macassar (1854) pattern is in the Heirloom Doilies & Tablecloths
Still to come in the full pattern:
- Strip of flowers
- Open hem
- Body
- Border
- Finishing
Included with 236 patterns for $19 — $0.08 per pattern.
Errata
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Frequently asked questions
Where is the Anti-Macassar pattern from?
It was published as "Anti-Macassar" 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 Anti-Macassar?
Size 10 crochet cotton (approximate). Not printed.
What hook should I use?
Start with a 2 mm (US steel 4) hook and adjust to suit your thread (original: crochet hook No. 14, eagle card-board gauge; approximate conversion). No gauge is printed. Gauge: Not printed.
