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Cotton Skirt with Butterfly-Scallop Flounce (1912): vintage crochet pattern
A crochet-cotton skirt (petticoat) worked from the hips down in open blocks and spaces with a placket, flaring into a pointed flounce of double crochet with butterfly scallops, the indents between the points filled with scallops, and a butterfly-scallop border.
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 of cotton. (as printed; yardage not given) |
| Hook | 1.5 mm |
| Gauge | No stitch gauge printed. Printed check: 323 ch = 106 spaces = 46 in (117 cm) hip measurement. |
| Finished size | Printed: for a 26 in (66 cm) waist and 46 in (117 cm) hip measure; the hip chain was 323 ch, making 106 spaces. Length not printed. |
| Time | about 7 hours |
Materials
- Size 8 crochet cotton — approximate; the original was No. 8 tidy cotton (quantity not printed)
- Steel crochet hook (hook not printed)
- Tapestry needle
- Hook: Start with 1.5 mm (US steel 7) — approximate; change size so a chain of 323 (106 spaces) goes around a 46 in (117 cm) hip, as 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
- double crochet
- stitch
- space
- chain space
- skip
- yarn over
- loop
- repeat
- row
Notes before you start
- Source: "Cotton Skirt", Priscilla Wool Crochet Book (ed. Lola Burks Hettich), The Priscilla Publishing Company, Boston, 1912. Public domain in the USA.
- As printed — materials: No. 8 tidy cotton. Gauge: Not given (“make a chain to go around the hips. In this skirt it was 323 chain which made 106 spaces”).
- Modernisation note: Stitches converted by the book's own “Explanation of Stitches”, not by name: chain stitch (ch st, “make a series of loops, drawing each loop through the preceding one”) = ch; slip stitch (sl st, “insert the hook into the stitch, draw the wool through that stitch and through the wool on hook at the same time”) = sl st; single crochet (s c, “insert the hook, draw wool through, pass wool around hook (wool over), and draw it through both loops on the hook”) = sc; double crochet (d c, wool around the hook, insert, draw through, then through 2 loops twice) = dc; half double crochet (h d c, wool around the hook, insert, draw through, then “through all 3 loops at once”) = hdc; treble crochet (t c or tr c, wool around the hook twice, insert, draw through, then through 2 loops three times) = tr. For these stitches the 1912 American names already match modern US usage, so no stitch changes height. The book's long crochet (l c: wool around the hook, insert, draw through, then through 1 loop, then through 2 loops twice) is the modern extended double crochet; where used it is written “long crochet” with that definition.
- Modernisation note: The book's abbreviations are written in modern US form: ch st = ch, s c = sc, d c = dc, h d c = hdc, t c / tr c = tr, st(s) = st(s), “wool over” / “thread over” / “pass the wool around the hook” = yo; “miss” = sk; loop = lp; “repeat” = rep; “beginning” = beg. “Widen” is written as increase and “narrow” as decrease, as defined in each design. Ordinal row names (“1st row”, “2d row”) are written Row 1, Row 2; where the book calls a circuit of a round piece a “row” the book's word is kept. “Plain” (a row or round with no increases or decreases) is kept as printed.
- Modernisation note: Long printed paragraphs are split into one row, round or step per line; stitch order and counts unchanged. Section headings added for navigation.
- Modernisation note: “Cotton over” is written as yo; “miss” as sk; “pass over” is kept. Where the skirt is worked in joined circuits after the placket, the book's “row” is written as Round in the flounce.
- Modernisation note: The butterfly scallop, defined inside the first flounce row, is also given on its own line first.
- Modernisation note: Hook sizes are not printed; the suggested modern steel hook is an approximate starting point for size 8 cotton, tied to the printed hip chain.
- Modernisation note: “No. 8 tidy cotton” was a firm cotton thread of that period; size 8 crochet cotton or perle cotton is an approximate modern match.
- Modernisation note: Check: Row 3 of the hip band begins “Three ch, 2 d c in 2 d c” — the ch 3 counts as the first dc of the block. The stitch count does not come out evenly on 106 spaces as printed; adjust the last repeat as needed.
- Modernisation note: Check: “Repeat this row 20 times” is read as 20 rows in all of Row 4.
- Modernisation note: Check: Flounce Round 1 is transcribed as printed; its counts (“9 d c in a row … three on the blocks and three on the space”) are hard to follow, and the book also says “begin from the beginning but without the 3 ch”. Follow the photograph to place the 13 butterfly scallops evenly around.
- Modernisation note: Check: no waistband or waist finish is described; the skirt is shaped only by being begun at the hips. Finish the top edge as you prefer.
- Modernisation note: Finishing line added.
- Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.
Row progress: 0 of 7 done (0%)
Hip Band and Placket
0 of 7 done- Make a chain to go around the hips. In this skirt it was 323 ch, which made 106 spaces.Mark row complete
- Row 1: 1 dc into the 6th ch from the hook, (ch 2, 1 dc in 3rd ch); rep until there are 106 spaces in the row.Mark row complete
- Row 2: Ch 3 to turn, then 3 dc in each space.Mark row complete
- Row 3: Ch 3, 2 dc in the next 2 dc (through both loops, to make it strong), ch 3, sk 3 dc, 3 dc in a row. Rep to the end.Mark row complete
- Row 4: 3 dc on 3 dc and ch 3 between. Rep this row 20 times, which makes it long enough for the placket.Mark row complete
- Pin the ends over each other 4 spaces for the placket, and in the next row work through both layers at once; this fastens them. Join on the beginning of the row.Mark row complete
- After making the placket, work 5 rows around the same as before, joining each time to the beginning of the row.Mark row complete
Working on:
Make a chain to go around the hips. In this skirt it was 323 ch, which made 106 spaces.
Continue this pattern
The rest of the Cotton Skirt with Butterfly-Scallop Flounce (1912) pattern is in the Vintage Crochet Fashion
Still to come in the full pattern:
- Flounce
- Scallops in the Indents between Points
- Butterfly-Scallop Border
- Finishing
Included with 71 patterns for $15 — $0.21 per pattern.
Errata
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Frequently asked questions
Where is the Cotton Skirt pattern from?
It was published as "Cotton Skirt" in Priscilla Wool Crochet Book (ed. Lola Burks Hettich) by The Priscilla Publishing Company, Boston in 1912. 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 Cotton Skirt?
Size 8 crochet cotton (approximate; original No. 8 tidy cotton). Not printed — the book gives no quantity of cotton.
What hook should I use?
Start with 1.5 mm (US steel 7) — approximate; change size so a chain of 323 (106 spaces) goes around a 46 in (117 cm) hip, as printed Gauge: No stitch gauge printed. Printed check: 323 ch = 106 spaces = 46 in (117 cm) hip measurement.
