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Chenille Bag with Double Open Crochet Bands (1847): vintage crochet pattern
A Victorian round bag in chenille: a bottom increased to 136 stitches with a claret star pattern on blue, then bands of gold and claret, plain stripes of gold, black and white, and rows of double open crochet in blue, white and claret.
By the crochetpatterns.io editorial team · Updated · Editorial policy · pattern testing in progress
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Skill level | Intermediate |
| Yarn weight | Fine (#2) |
| Yardage | Not printed. (as printed; yardage not given) |
| Hook | 3.5 mm |
| Gauge | Not printed. Work to the size of the article; the book sizes by counted stitches or measurement. |
| Finished size | Not printed; 136 sts around at full size. |
| Time | about 9 hours |
Materials
- Fine chenille yarn (about sport weight, CYC #2), in blue, claret, black and white
- Metallic gold thread or cord (period: gold)
- Tapestry needle for weaving in (“running”) the ends
- Hook: Start with 3.5 mm (US E-4) and adjust to suit your chenille; no hook size or gauge is printed.
Yarn Kit & Substitution Options
This pattern calls for 350 yards of weight #2 yarn. Select a suggested yarn to see required skeins and estimated cost:
Lion Brand Coboo · 50% Cotton, 50% Bamboo
232 yds per skein · Silky breathable drape, lovely stitch shine
2 skeins required
approx. $$12.98 total
Abbreviations (US terms)
- chain
- single crochet
- double crochet
- stitch
- stitches
- increase
- row
- repeat
- alternate
- skip
Notes before you start
- Source: "A Chenille Bag", My Crochet Sampler (Miss Lambert), D. M. Peyser, 1847. Public domain in the USA.
- As printed — materials: Not given. 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: The book implies that ordinary plain crochet picks up only one loop of the stitch below (the seam stitch is made “under both loops instead of one”, and “double stitch crochet” takes “both meshes”), but it never says which loop. Instructions say sc. Check: for the period texture, try working through one loop as the book implies.
- 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 chenille (fine or coarse) is approximated by modern chenille yarn. The book advises introducing colours “in short lengths” when working chenille and not using seam stitches with it.
- Modernisation note: “Gold”, “gold cord”, “gold thread” and “gold passing” were metallic threads; use a modern metallic thread or cord of about the same thickness as the silk or wool.
- 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: Colour swatches are approximate modern readings of the period colour names; they are not in the book. “Gold colour” is a golden-yellow yarn, whereas “gold” on its own in the silk designs means metallic gold thread or cord. “Ponceau” is poppy red, “drab” a dull greyish brown, “stone colour” a pale greyish beige, “claret” a deep wine red. By the book's own definitions (p. 24), “chiné” yarn is dyed in two or more colours at intervals along one thread, and “ombré” yarn shades gradually from light to dark in one colour.
- Modernisation note: Check: the book names no weight of chenille for this bag; fine chenille is assumed.
- Modernisation note: Check: “increasing on every thirty-third” stitch to reach 136 sts is kept as printed; the count before Row 19 is not printed.
- Modernisation note: Check: in Rows 14–15 the repeat is printed as “repeat from the first five (three) stitches of blue”, so the opening claret st is worked once; the claret count in Row 14 (5 + 4) differs from Row 15 (7 + 7) as printed.
- Modernisation note: “Weave in ends” added.
Row progress: 0 of 3 done (0%)
Stitches
0 of 3 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
- Increase and decrease (book's definitions): to increase is “to make two stitches in the same loop” (= 2 sc in the same st); to decrease is “to take two stitches together, or to miss one stitch” (= sc2tog, or sk 1 st).Mark row complete
- Stitch (book's definition, “Double open crochet”): “similar to the open crochet stitch, but varied by making the two long stitches together; this is done by omitting the single stitch, and passing the needle through the next loop of the chain, instead of missing one stitch; thus producing two stitches together, and then an open space.” = pairs of dc worked in consecutive sts, each pair followed by an open space. Check: the book does not say how wide the open space is; by analogy with open crochet it is ch 1, sk 1 — compare engraving No. 3, where the pairs of dc sit over the spaces of the row below.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 Chenille Bag with Double Open Crochet Bands (1847) pattern is in the Vintage Crochet Hats, Bags & Accessories
Still to come in the full pattern:
- Bottom
- Sides
- Finishing
Included with 202 patterns for $12 — $0.06 per pattern.
Errata
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Frequently asked questions
Where is the A Chenille Bag pattern from?
It was published as "A Chenille Bag" 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 Chenille Bag?
fine (#2) yarn. Not printed.
What hook should I use?
Start with 3.5 mm (US E-4) and adjust to suit your chenille; no hook size or gauge is printed. Gauge: Not printed. Work to the size of the article; the book sizes by counted stitches or measurement.
