Crochet Brioche Cushion (1847): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Chunky-weight (CYC #5) soft wool, approximating eight-thread fleecy, in black, gold colour, and blue, brown, scarlet and stone colour (or chiné or ombré wool)
• Stuffing (down or fine combed wool); optional mill-board (stiff card) bottom 6–8 in (15–20 cm) across, covered with cloth or velvet
• A tuft of soft wool, or a cord and tassels
• Tapestry needle for weaving in (“running”) the ends
• Hook: Start with 6 mm (US J-10) and adjust to suit your yarn; no hook size or gauge is printed (original: steel or ivory needle).

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

st

stitch

sts

stitches

row

row

rep

repeat

Notes before you start

• Source: "A Brioche", My Crochet Sampler (Miss Lambert), D. M. Peyser, 1847. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: eight-thread zephyr fleecy—black; gold colour; any pretty colour; chiné or ombré wool. 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: “Fleecy” was a soft, lofty Victorian wool sold by thread (ply) count. Modern weights given are approximations only: four-thread fleecy ≈ DK (CYC #3), six-thread fleecy ≈ worsted (CYC #4), eight-thread fleecy ≈ chunky (CYC #5).
• 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: A brioche is a round cushion shaped like the French cake. “Omitting four stitches at the end” written as “leaving 4 sts unworked at the end” (modern short rows).
• Modernisation note: Check: “as also the four stitches at the top of the last row of black” is kept as printed; it presumably means the black row is worked along the full 70 sts. Whether rows are turned is not stated.
• Modernisation note: Check: how the first and last compartments are joined into a ring is not described.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.