Free preview · full pattern in the Vintage Crochet Hats, Bags & Accessories
Beaded Bag with Five Points (1847): vintage crochet pattern
A Victorian bag begun from a small ring with treble increases on every other stitch for 28 rows, forming a centre point and four more points, then worked in rounds; best in steel or gold beads with a pine motif, a scattered bead pattern and a beaded top border.
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. Work to the size of the article; the book sizes by counted stitches or measurement. |
| Finished size | Not printed. |
| Time | about 4 hours |
Materials
- Silk or silk-blend thread about the thickness of size 3 crochet thread, approximating crochet silk (the book's hints recommend crochet silk for bags with beads)
- Small metal-finish seed beads (steel-grey and/or gold), strung on the silk before working
- Tapestry needle for weaving in (“running”) the ends
- Hook: Start with a 2 mm (US steel 4) hook and adjust to suit your thread; no hook size or gauge is printed (original: steel needle).
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
- stitch
- stitches
- increase
- round
- row
Notes before you start
- Source: "A Bag with Five Points", My Crochet Sampler (Miss Lambert), D. M. Peyser, 1847. Public domain in the USA.
- As printed — materials: steel or gold beads. Gauge: Not given.
- Modernisation note: Victorian stitch names converted to modern US terms strictly by the book's own definitions (pp. 15–21, 57), not by modern UK equivalents: “plain double crochet”, “plain crochet”, “plain stitch” and “plain stitch double crochet” = sc; “plain single crochet” = sl st; “chain” = ch; “open crochet” = dc with ch 1 over a skipped st; the “double stitches” / “long stitches” of open crochet = dc; “double open crochet” = pairs of dc with an open space; “treble open crochet” = groups of 3 dc alternating with open spaces; “plain stitch open crochet” = ch-5 loops joined by sc to the centre of the loops below; “dividing”, “seam” or “raised” stitch = 2 sc in one st under both loops, stacked; “treble increased stitch” = 3 sc in one st; “double stitch crochet” = sc under both loops; “raised” or “ribbed” crochet and “plain stitch elastic crochet” = sc in back loop only, turning each row; “to increase” = 2 sc in one st; “to decrease” = sc2tog or sk 1; “to make a stitch” = ch 1 at each end of the row; “fasten off” = draw the yarn through the last st; “fasten on” = lay the new end along the work and crochet over both; “run the ends” = weave in ends. Note that the book's “double crochet” is a modern sc, and its “treble” never means a modern tr.
- Modernisation note: Period wording modernised: “needle” / “crochet needle” written as “hook”; “commence” as “begin”; “unite the ends” / “join both ends together” as “join into a ring” (the book does not name the joining stitch); “a chain and first row” as “ch, then Row 1”; “cheques” as “checks”. The book says “row” even when working round and round; “row” is kept as printed.
- Modernisation note: Printed paragraphs split into one step per row or instruction; no colours, counts or rows added, removed or reordered. Colour-sequence rows are written as “Row 4 (sc): 1 light green, 1 black, 5 red brown …”, meaning that many sc in each colour, in order.
- Modernisation note: Period silks have no exact modern equivalent. The book's hints (p. 22) rank them: crochet silk is “the coarsest” and best for bags; second-sized netting silk is “prettiest for purses”; fine netting silk and reel silk are finer. The modern silk or crochet-thread sizes given are approximations.
- Modernisation note: “Steel” and “gold” beads were small metal beads; use small metal-finish seed beads (no size printed). The book says beads “should be strung on the silk with a needle” before working, and that “when beads are introduced, the wrong side of the work becomes the right.”
- Modernisation note: No hook (needle) size and no gauge is printed — the book names only “steel” or “ivory” needles. The modern starting hook is an approximate suggestion only.
- Modernisation note: No yardage is printed and none is estimated.
- Modernisation note: Check: no silk is named; crochet silk is suggested from the book's hints for beaded bags.
- Modernisation note: Check: 8 ch with a treble increase on every other st gives 4 increase lines; with the centre, the “five points” are presumably the centre point plus the 4 points at the ends of the lines.
- Modernisation note: Check: the bead patterns are shown only in engravings Nos. 43–46.
- Modernisation note: “Semé” (French, “sown”) means scattered.
Row progress: 0 of 6 done (0%)
Points
0 of 6 done- Stitch (book's definition): “Plain double crochet,—where two loops are kept on the needle, and the wool drawn through both before the stitch is finished” = single crochet (sc). The book adds that “unless any other stitch be mentioned, the plain, or double crochet stitch, is always to be employed”, so every stitch in these directions is sc unless another stitch is named. A “plain row” is a row of sc in one colour.Mark row complete
- Treble increased stitch (book): “crocheting three stitches in one loop” = 3 sc in one st.Mark row complete
- Ch 8; join the ends.Mark row complete
- Make every other st a treble increased stitch (3 sc in one st).Mark row complete
- Continue to increase in the same way until 28 rows are worked, keeping the increasing sts exactly over each other. A point forms in the centre, and a point at the end of each line of dividing stitches.Mark row complete
- Work the rest of the bag in rounds until it is high enough.Mark row complete
Working on:
Stitch (book's definition): “Plain double crochet,—where two loops are kept on the needle, and the wool drawn through both before the stitch is finished” = single crochet (sc). The book adds that “unless any other stitch be mentioned, the plain, or double crochet stitch, is always to be employed”, so every stitch in these directions is sc unless another stitch is named. A “plain row” is a row of sc in one colour.
Continue this pattern
The rest of the Beaded Bag with Five Points (1847) pattern is in the Vintage Crochet Hats, Bags & Accessories
Still to come in the full pattern:
- Beaded patterns
- Finishing
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Errata
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Frequently asked questions
Where is the A Bag with Five Points pattern from?
It was published as "A Bag with Five Points" in My Crochet Sampler (Miss Lambert) by D. M. Peyser in 1847. 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 A Bag with Five Points?
Silk thread comparable to size 3 crochet thread (period: crochet silk). Not printed.
What hook should I use?
Start with a 2 mm (US steel 4) hook and adjust to suit your thread; no hook size or gauge is printed (original: steel needle). Gauge: Not printed. Work to the size of the article; the book sizes by counted stitches or measurement.
