Free preview · full pattern in the Vintage Crochet Baby & Kids' Patterns
Baby's Button Shoes in Crochet (1918): vintage crochet pattern
Firm, shaped baby shoes worked in fine crochet cotton from an oval sole in sc with dc eyelet rounds, decreased over the vamp, with a side flap and two buttonholes worked into the upper, fastened with crochet-covered buttons. Originally published as "Baby's Shoes in Crochet" in Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet by Needlecraft Publishing Company, Augusta, Maine.
By the crochetpatterns.io editorial team · Updated · Editorial policy · pattern testing in progress
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Skill level | Advanced |
| Yarn weight | Lace (#0) |
| Yardage | the book gives no quantity for this design. (as printed; yardage not given) |
| Hook | 1.25 mm |
| Gauge | No stitch gauge printed. Check the sole against the baby's foot after Rnd 4. |
| Finished size | Baby size, not stated. The book notes that finer or coarser material makes a smaller or larger shoe from the same directions; the sole begins on 33 chains. |
| Time | about 13 hours |
Materials
- Size 15 crochet cotton (as the sample pair), white or a delicate color; silk or fine wool may be used instead
- Steel crochet hook
- Small pearl or porcelain buttons (to be covered)
- Sewing needle
- Hook: Start with a 1.25 mm steel hook (US steel numbering varies by maker) — approximate; change size to fit the baby's foot (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
- double crochet
- skip
- stitch
- stitches
- space
- repeat
- row
- round
- increase
- decrease
- slip stitch
Notes before you start
- Source: "Baby's Shoes in Crochet", Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet, Needlecraft Publishing Company, Augusta, Maine, 1918. Public domain in the USA.
- As printed — materials: These little shoes may be made of crochet-cotton, or silk, white or delicate color, or of wool.; The sample pair was made of No. 15 crochet-cotton. Gauge: Not given.
- Modernisation note: Stitches converted by the book's own definitions ("A Lesson in Crochet"), not by name. The book uses the older names it calls "in general use", which are one step taller in name than modern US terms: its single crochet ("insert hook in work, take up the thread and draw it through the work and the stitch on the needle at the same time") = modern US sl st; its double (draw through, "giving you two stitches on the needle; take up thread and draw through the two") = sc; half-treble or short-treble = hdc; treble (thread over, insert, draw through, then through two loops twice) = dc; double-treble (thread over twice) = tr; triple-treble (thread over three times) = dtr. Its slip-stitch (drop the loop, insert the hook where you wish to join, pull the dropped loop through) is a joining stitch and is written as "join" or sl st. So every "double" in the original is written here as sc and every "treble" as dc.
- Modernisation note: The book's turning rule ("one chain-stitch corresponds to a double, two chain-stitches to a half or short treble, three chain to a treble") means ch 1 = sc height and ch 3 = dc height in modern terms. Turning chains are kept exactly as printed, even where they do not follow that rule.
- Modernisation note: Period wording modernised: "miss" written as sk; "widen" as inc; "narrow" as dec; "vein" of a stitch as loop ("back vein" = back loop only, "both veins" = both loops); "take up thread/wool" and "over" as yo; "needle" (the crochet hook) as hook; "wool"/"thread" as yarn; "fasten in" as join yarn; "break and fasten wool" as fasten off; "fasten"/"catch" (to a stitch) as sl st; "armscye" as armhole; "repeat" as rep; numbered rows written as Row/Rnd n.
- Modernisation note: Long printed paragraphs split into one row, round or step per line; stitch order and counts unchanged. Section headings added for navigation.
- Modernisation note: No stitch gauge is printed for any crocheted design in the book; work a swatch and match any printed lengths (given in the modern gauge line) before starting.
- Modernisation note: Hook: the book names no hook; a steel hook suited to size 15 cotton is suggested. US steel hook numbers differ between makers, so go by the mm size.
- Modernisation note: Row 21 is printed as one long paragraph; it is split into steps under its own heading. "Catch in" written as "join to"; "a single in next double" written as "sl st in next sc" by the book's definition (single crochet = modern sl st).
- Modernisation note: "Make the second shoe the same" added; the book gives directions for one shoe of "the sample pair".
- Modernisation note: Check: Rnd 3 ends with "2 in middle stitch of heel" where Rnd 2 has 3. Left as printed.
- Modernisation note: Check: Rnd 10 says "narrow 11 stitches from middle of toe" without saying whether this is on each side; since the vamp rows dec "at the middle and at the end", one dec 11 sts each side of the toe center plus one at the center is likely. Left as printed.
- Modernisation note: Check: the rows "widening 1 stitch at end of every other row" and the later "within 14 stitches of top of vamp" depend on your stitch count; match the flap to the other side of the shoe.
Row progress: 0 of 5 done (0%)
Sole
0 of 5 done- Foundation: Ch 33.Mark row complete
- Rnd 1: Sk first ch, sc in each of 31 ch, 3 sc in end ch, sc in each of 31 ch down the other side and 3 sc in last, join.Mark row complete
- Rnd 2: Sc in first st, 2 sc in next, sc in each sc down the side to within 2 sts of the middle of the toe, 2 sc in next, sc in next, 3 sc in middle st, sc in next, 2 sc in next, sc in each down the side, ending with 2 sc in 3rd st from the middle of the heel, sc in next, and 3 sc in next, join.Mark row complete
- Rnd 3: Ch 1, sc in each of 2 sts, 2 sc in next, sc in each down the side to within 4 of the end, 2 sc in next, sc in each of 3, 3 sc in middle st, sc in each of 3, 2 sc in next, sc in each down the side, 2 sc in 4th st from the end, sc in each of 3, 2 sc in middle st of heel, join.Mark row complete
- Rnd 4: Same as Rnd 3, making an extra st between incs.Mark row complete
Working on:
Foundation: Ch 33.
Continue this pattern
The rest of the Baby's Button Shoes in Crochet (1918) pattern is in the Vintage Crochet Baby & Kids' Patterns
Still to come in the full pattern:
- Sides
- Vamp
- Upper and Flap (Row 21)
- Buttons
- Finishing
Included with 133 patterns for $12 — $0.09 per pattern.
Errata
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Frequently asked questions
Where is the Baby's Shoes in Crochet pattern from?
It was published as "Baby's Shoes in Crochet" in Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet by Needlecraft Publishing Company, Augusta, Maine in 1918. 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 Baby's Shoes in Crochet?
Size 15 crochet cotton. Not printed — the book gives no quantity for this design.
What hook should I use?
Start with a 1.25 mm steel hook (US steel numbering varies by maker) — approximate; change size to fit the baby's foot (no gauge is printed) Gauge: No stitch gauge printed. Check the sole against the baby's foot after Rnd 4.
