Elegant Violet Purse in Silk and Gold (1847): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Fine silk thread about the thickness of size 20–30 crochet thread, approximating fine netting silk, in white and bright violet (or ponceau, blue or green)
• Metallic gold thread or cord of similar thickness to the silk
• Tapestry needle for weaving in (“running”) the ends
• Hook: Start with a 1.3 mm (US steel 10) hook and adjust to suit your thread; no hook size or gauge is printed.

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

st

stitch

sts

stitches

row

row

rep

repeat

sk

skip

Notes before you start

• Source: "An Elegant Purse in Silk and Gold", My Crochet Sampler (Miss Lambert), D. M. Peyser, 1847. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: fine white netting silk; gold; bright violet silk; Ponceau, blue, or green, may be substituted for the violet silk. 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 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: “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: “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: Rows 4–14 numbered by us to fit the printed “Fifteenth row”.
• Modernisation note: Check: the book begins “Commence with a chain … in fine white netting silk. Second row—gold”, so Row 1 is presumably the chain and first row in white.
• Modernisation note: Check: the book gives colours but no stitch-by-stitch directions for this chart; the design cannot be followed without the original engraving.
• Modernisation note: “Weave in ends” added.