White filet crochet skirt
Posted by: Edward in: Projects (Sampling)This is such a soft skirt that my caregiver made to wear for her auntie’s formal birthday dinner dance last month. It is so soft and I can imagine how lovely it must be if she made a whole dress! 
I like soft stuff you know, being a soft stuff doggie myself! 
Incidentally, my caregiver said I might need to get washed soon since I am not as soft as before. What has been keeping her is just the rainy season. So most probably I won’t get washed till next summer!
Anyway, below is my caregiver’s account of the making of her white filet crochet skirt. It’s rather sketchy, so it could be difficult to follow if you’re a beginner. However, this also depends on what kind of “beginner” you are.
I overheard my caregiver and her partner discussing this the other day. They were talking about the process of learning. My caregiver said that she sees two ways of writing the pattern instructions for the crocheted skirt. One way was to enumerate precisely the order of stitches to be made in each round and to indicate where repetitions are to be made. The other way was to describe the patterns intended to be created by several rounds of stitches.
So, the former way is more instructive with every step of the process detailed to be followed by the student, whereas the latter way was more abstract, describing the finished object in terms of the relationships between the rounds and stitches.
This implies that there are probably two types of students or learners. One responds better to intsructions whereas the other responds more to descriptions.
My caregiver said that she liked the latter way a lot because it gave her more freedom by being able to see the big picture. However, she said that she also liked very much the nitpicky challenge of the former way, as she feels that she is challenged to follow the instructions up to the very last letter.
Personally, I prefer the latter way, the descriptive method, because it lets me imagine the finished piece in terms of the broader process of making it, and not bother with actually making it! I’m too lazy, you know!
In the meantime, enjoy!
White filet crochet skirt
(A sample of filet crochet, adopting a Crocheted Corset-Cover Yoke design)
by Fatima Lasay
White Monaco raylon crochet thread 8-3 ply 200 grams
Crochet hook no. 6
Blue crystal/glass beads
Sewing needle and thread of suitable color
Blue ribbon 1/4″ wide
This skirt consists of a hem design of large and small wheels/medallions linked together, followed by two bands of beading (”beading” means a row of alternating stitches and spaces wide enough to accommodate a string or a ribbon). The two rounds of beading are different: one is composed of cross trebles whereas the other is composed of alternating crossed trebles and a group of five treble stitches. The instructions for the wheels and beading are further below. (The skirt is composed of 13 large wheels/medallions linked together. You may wish to add or subtract this number depending on the size of skirt you wish to make).
This is followed by several rounds of filet crochet depicting diamond, cross and diagonal line patterns. Filet crochet consists of open and closed meshes made by a treble stitch (for the closed mesh) and a chain stitch (for the open mesh, skipping one stitch below).
In the middle of the skirt is one round of beading where a baby blue ribbon is inserted loosely, then two rounds of closed meshes (in filet crochet), then one round of open meshes. It is after this round that the opening of the skirt (for the buttons) begins. This means the next rounds are no loner made all around but rather the work is turned to proceed to the succeeding rounds. This part begins with ten rounds of closed meshes, followed by seven rounds of filet crochet depicting a long diamond design.
Four rounds of closed meshes follow, then four rounds of open meshes separated vertically with three closed meshes to designate the waist-band of the skirt (or the hip-band in the case of the skirt just made), and finally, two rounds of narrow beading/edging where a slip cord is inserted serving as a kind of belt.
Then, the hemline of the skirt is crocheted with a simple chain scallop edging where small blue glass beads are inserted. Three glass beads are also slipped into both ends of the cord/belt. A few rounds of slip stitches are made along the opening of the skirt to create the strip where the buttonholes are made and the buttons are attached. This strip is also decorated with the simple scallop as in the hems.
Below are the Instructions for the wheels/medallions and the beading (from Crocheted Corset- Cover Yoke design). The instructions below have been edited for the skirt. If you wish the get the context of the corset-cover yoke, you can download the instructions here. The explanation of stitches may be downloaded here.
WHEEL -
Rnd 0: Chain 10, join.
Rnd 1: Chain 3, 23 t in ring.
Rnd 2: t in every t, with 1 ch between t. Join.
Rnd 3: Ch 14, t in 3rd t, *ch 11, t in 5th t; continue from * around, making 12 sp of 11 ch each. Join.
Rnd 4: sl st to middle of 1st sp (this row is made of cross trebles forming 12 scallops). *Thread over hook 3 times, draw thread through 3rd st, work off 2 st as for t, thread over hook once, draw thread through 3rd st of second sp,, work off all sts on hook by twos. Ch 5, t in middle st of cross treble, ch 2, 1 d in middle st of second sp (this finishes one scallop), ch 2; repeat from * for every scallop.
Make every wheel like the one described, joining them at point of scallop, when making the 5 ch of cross trebles. Join wheels together at opposite sides.
SMALL PICOT RINGS -
Chain 8, join, make 16 d in ring, with a 4-ch p between every 2 d, giving 8 p. Join these rings between every wheel, as you work the picots as shown in the photo below.
BEADING -
Rnd 1: Fasten thread in middle picot of ring. Chain 7, 1 t in scallop, ch 7, l t in 2nd scallop. * ch 9, sl st in 2nd picot of ring, ch 7, sl st in 4th picot of same ring, ch 9, l t in scallop, ch 7, l t in 2nd scallop; repeat from * around.
Rnd 2: 1 t in every other st, with 1 ch between.
Rnd 3: This row is made of cross trebles as explained for wheels, but work straight on with 2 ch between t, and 2 ch between sp, missing 2 corresponding sts of previous row.
Rnd 4: Like rnd 2.
HEM EDGING WITH BLUE GLASS BEADS -
The edging consists of 3-ch scallops sl st into every other chain along the hem of the skirt. The suitable number of blue glass beads are first strung into the thread before work begins. Each glass bead is then taken into the stitch as work progresses. A glass bead is inserted to take the place of the middle chain in the 3-ch scallop. You can do this for every scallop if you wish to have more glass beads or for every other scallop for fewer beads.
Weave in all ends properly and securely.
