Marie Antoinette Bag in Coronation Cord (1912): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Coronation cord — a novelty cord with alternating thick "bodies" and narrow "necks"; the original was 3 pieces of Coronation cord No. 15. There is no everyday modern equivalent, and the design cannot be worked without it.
• Size 30 six-cord mercerized cotton crochet thread — approximate; the original was 1 ball of Cordonnet special No. 30
• Steel crochet hook (original: Star crochet hook No. 4 1/2)
• A bag frame to sew the finished work to, and lining fabric
• Cotton wadding to stuff the balls
• Hook: Start with 1.75 mm (US steel 5) — approximate; change size so the thread holds the cord loops firmly

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sl st

slip stitch

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

tr

treble crochet

dtr

double treble crochet

st

stitch

sts

stitches

row

row

rep

repeat

sp

space

lp

loop

Notes before you start

• Source: "Marie Antoinette Bag", The Glossilla Book of Crochet Novelties, Bernhard Ulmann & Co., New York City, 1912. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: 3 pieces Coronation cord, No. 15; 1 ball Cordonnet special, No. 30; 1 Star crochet hook, No. 4 1/2. Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: Stitches are converted by this book's own key ("DESCRIPTION OF STITCHES — TERMS USED", book pages 3-6; the designs themselves cite it as "see page 3", "see page 4", "see page 5"), not by name. The printed table is: "ch. … chain stitch; s. c. … single crochet; d. c. … double crochet; t. c. … treble crochet; * a sign of a repetition to begin at that point." The worked definitions show that this 1912 book already uses modern US heights: its single crochet ("frequently known as half stitch") is worked by inserting the hook in the second chain from the hook, drawing the thread through, then thread over and through the 2 loops on the hook — the modern US single crochet; its double crochet ("known by many as 'plains'") is thread over, hook into the fourth chain from the hook, draw a loop through (3 loops on the hook), then thread over and through 2 loops twice — the modern US double crochet; its treble crochet is the same "only winding the thread on the needle twice instead of once", worked off two at a time three times — the modern US treble; and its "long treble crochet" wraps the thread three or four times — the modern US double treble or triple treble. So throughout this transcription the book's s. c. = sc, d. c. = dc, t. c./tr. c. = tr, and long treble = dtr. No stitch changes height.
• Modernisation note: The asterisk is the book's own: "a sign of a repetition to begin at that point" (stitch key, book page 3). Repeat counts are kept exactly as printed — "repeat from * 4 times" is transcribed as printed and not re-counted.
• Modernisation note: Period wording modernised: "needle" (used for the crochet hook) written as hook; "thread over (the needle)" as yo; "pick up a loop"/"draw up a loop" kept; "catch" (with a slip stitch) as join or sl st as the sense requires; "skip" as sk; "taking up the back thread only" as "in the back loop only"; "taking up both threads" as "under both loops"; "widen"/"narrow" as increase/decrease; "fasten off" kept; spaced abbreviations s. c., d. c., t. c./tr. c., sl. st., ch. written sc, dc, tr, sl st, ch. Ordinal row and round names ("Second row", "Eleventh round") written Row 2, Rnd 11.
• Modernisation note: Long printed paragraphs are split into one row, round or step per line; stitch order and counts are unchanged. Section headings added for navigation where the printed text runs on.
• Modernisation note: The materials are Bernhard Ulmann trade names of 1912 and have no exact modern equivalent; every modern substitution given here is an approximation. The book's own materials page describes them: "Glossilla Crochet" — "used where the highest lustre is required, even superior to silk"; "Solitaire Yarn" — "the most lustrous ball cotton yarn … in a large assortment of colors"; "Klondyke Thread" — "a soft metal thread for crocheting … in a rich, bright, gold color; furthermore, in aluminum, antique gold and antique silver"; "Handicraft Macrame" and "Bear Macrame" cords; "D. M. C. Cordonnet, in numbers 3 to 30" and "D. M. C. Perle, numbers 3 and 5". Bear Brand wools (Shetland floss, Zephyr Shetland, Saxony 3-fold, 4-fold Germantown) are the publisher's knitting yarns; their weights are not printed, and the CYC weights suggested here are read from how they are used, not from the book.
• Modernisation note: Hooks are printed only as "Star crochet hook No. …" (the steel hooks) or "bone"/"amber" hook numbers, with no diameters anywhere in the book, so no exact metric size can be read from it. The millimetre and US sizes suggested here are approximate starting points; the bone- and amber-hook numbers were never standardised, so those suggestions are ours. Work a swatch and change size until the work lies flat and matches the photograph.
• Modernisation note: No gauge is printed for this design, and none is printed anywhere in the book.
• Modernisation note: The book's "long treble (wrapping the thread 4 times around the needle)" is the modern double treble worked with an extra wrap; it is written here as printed, with the wrap count kept, rather than converted to a single abbreviation.
• Modernisation note: Check: the printed directions use "body" and "neck" for the thick and narrow sections of Coronation cord; those names are kept because the design depends on the cord's shape.
• Modernisation note: Check: no colour is printed for this design beyond the thread named in the materials.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added where a measurement is printed; the printed inches are unchanged.