Doll's Cushion Cover in Filet and Slipper Stitch (1914): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Cotton rug (carpet) warp in Arabian (light brown) — the original ½ lb (227 g) spool was more than enough
• Cushion form and backing (not described in the book)
• Tapestry needle
• Hook: Start with 1.5 mm (US steel 7) — approximate; the book gives No. 8. The finished cover should measure 12 in (30.5 cm) square

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sl st

slip stitch

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

BLO

back loop only

st

stitch

sts

stitches

rnd

round

rep

repeat

ch-sp

chain space

RS

right side

WS

wrong side

Notes before you start

• Source: "Doll's Cushion Cover" (No. 519), Priscilla Juniors' Crochet Book (Belle Robinson), The Priscilla Publishing Co., Boston, 1914. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: carpet warp, Arabian (one-half-pound spool will much more than make it); crochet-needle No. 8. Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: Stitches converted by the book's own definitions (pages 3–6), not by name: chain stitch (“ch”) = ch; slip stitch (“sl” — “made with the needle in the loop, a loop pulled through the work and through the loop on the needle”) = sl st; double crochet (“d” — “made with the needle in the loop, a loop drawn through the work and another loop drawn through both”) = modern US single crochet (sc); treble crochet (“t” — “another loop over the needle, a loop drawn through the work (making three loops on the needle), then a loop is drawn through two on the needle, leaving two loops on the needle; another loop drawn through these two finishes the treble”) = modern US double crochet (dc); double treble crochet (“d t” — “two loops over the needle, one loop drawn through the work, when there will be four loops on the needle”, then worked off two at a time three times) = modern US treble crochet (tr). The 1914 names are one step taller than modern US names (they match modern UK usage), so every printed “d” is written sc, every “t” dc and every “d t” tr.
• Modernisation note: The book's words and letters are written as modern US abbreviations: ch = ch, sl = sl st, d = sc, t = dc, d t = tr; “needle”, “crochet-needle” or “hook” = hook; “thread over needle (hook)” = yo; “draw thread through (the work)” = draw up a lp; “miss” = sk; “over ch” or “over each chain” = in the ch-sp; “fasten the thread” = fasten off; ordinal names (“1st row”, “2d round”) = Row 1, Rnd 2. Repeats between stars are written “*… ; rep from *” as printed; the book's own rule: “When you see the little stars before and after any directions, whether long or short, the work directed is to be repeated once, or more times.”
• Modernisation note: Slipper stitch is the book's name for its back-loop single crochet (“Double crochet back and forth, always taking up the back loop of the stitch whether on the right side or wrong side”; the back loop is “the loop farthest from you”) = modern sc in back loop only (sc blo). The book's word “rib” (two rows) is kept.
• Modernisation note: Filet crochet as the book defines it: open mesh = ch 2, 1 dc in the next dc (the book: “make 2 ch, 1 t … (always skip 2 ch)”); solid mesh = 3 dc, “2 t over the chain and 1 t over the t below”; “5 ch to turn” = ch 5, counting as the first dc and ch 2 of the first mesh. The book adds: “It is better to catch under both threads at the top of the treble than under a single thread.”
• Modernisation note: The book's running paragraphs are split into one row, round or step per line; stitch order and counts unchanged. Section headings added for navigation. Cross-references to other pages of the book are replaced by the stitch lesson itself, copied at the start of the design.
• Modernisation note: Hooks are printed as 1914 steel crochet-needle numbers (the book: “from No. 1 (a very large hook, almost as large as a medium-size bone hook) to No. 14, which is very fine”) or as bone, rubber and amber hooks of “small” or “medium” size, with no diameters. The modern hook given is an approximate starting point only, chosen for the thread or yarn and tied to any printed measurement.
• Modernisation note: No stitch gauge is printed anywhere in the book; work a swatch and match any printed finished measurement.
• Modernisation note: Period threads are 1914 trade descriptions with no exact modern equivalent; modern choices are approximate. Pearl cotton Nos. 3, 5 and 8 are the same numbering as modern perle cotton; Cordonnet Nos. 2, 30 and 50 are given as the nearest modern crochet-thread sizes; carpet warp is modern cotton rug warp; soft knitting cotton has no printed thickness and is suggested by the hook the book pairs with it.
• Modernisation note: The book calls this the Doll's Cushion-cover in its introduction and the “small Cushion-cover” in the directions; its printed size is 12 in square.
• Modernisation note: Check: Rnd 4 is printed “ch 8, 1 t in the corner stitch, 2 ch and 1 t all the way around”; how many sc to skip between the dc is not printed (skipping 2 sc gives even open meshes). Rnd 8 has 10 dc per side after the corner dc.
• Modernisation note: Round numbers 23–28 for the outer ribs are taken from the book's own later references (“the 23d, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th rounds”).
• Modernisation note: Check: “When 22 rounds are finished” — Rnds 8–22 are the 15 filet rounds.
• Modernisation note: Check: the border is printed only as “A foundation of chain and double is used in the model to make one round of the border. Over the first ch make * 1 d, 3 ch, 1 d *. Repeat from * to * over each ch.” The foundation round's stitch counts are not given; follow Fig. 20.
• Modernisation note: Check: whether rounds are turned after Rnd 7 is not stated; the filet rounds appear to be worked from the right side.
• Modernisation note: The book compares this border with the edge of Face Cloth No. 502 (“2 d over each ch and 3 ch between pairs of doubles”).
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.