Being an avid reading and a lover of crochet, I am going to talk to you today about filet crochet bookmarks. This post includes a free filet crochet bookmark pattern that I found online for us to learn from. Also see below for my own attempt at making it! 🙂
What is filet Crochet?
Filet crochet is a beautiful form of crochet. It looks pretty complicated, but it is actually quite easy. Filet crochet is not a stitch, it’s a type of crochet. Filet crochet is actually done with 2 of the most basic crochet stitches, the double crochet and the chain stitch. The patterns are created with a series of blocks and spaces and are either a regular written pattern or simply a grid.
The photo below is a filet crochet bookmark my aunt made. She gave it to me, and I don’t dare use it! For me, it is a treasure, so I am going to make some bookmarks for my personal use. I figured I would share my bookmark journey with you and share a filet crochet bookmark pattern.
Filet crochet can be done using yarn or thread. I prefer to use thread because I love the look of it. Back in the “old days” filet crochet was used to make all kind of things such as doilies, chair coverings, and lace.
I have a filet crochet book, pictured below on left, at home that I used to make a filet crochet wall hanging. It was actually a curtain, but I just made one part of it to hang on the wall. Following a filet pattern can be a little tricky until you get the hang of it!
Learn Filet Crochet
It is not difficult to learn filet crochet. It is done by creating a series of filled in blocks and empty blocks. Each block is created by a series of dc and chain stitches. I have seen projects where one block was 3 dc and I have seen projects where one block is 4 dc. So, best I can tell it may vary by project, but the concept is the same.
The design is created by “coloring” in certain blocks revealing the design. The fun part about filet crochet is that you can create essentially any design you want by drawing it out on some graph paper. This is how I create my name doilies. See below: (More on this later)
Free Filet crochet bookmark pattern
Ok, now that we have discussed how to filet crochet, let’s talk about this filet crochet bookmark pattern. I have looked around online and found a couple for us to learn with. We have to start with the basics and then move up from there. With that in mind, I have chosen the “Delightfully Mesh Bookmark” filet crochet bookmark pattern below as our first bookmark.
Delightfully Mesh Bookmark – Free Original Patterns – Crochetville
I chose this pattern to learn how to filet crochet from for 2 reasons. First, it is a written pattern, not a grid. The grid can be a little tricky when you are first starting out, so hopefully once you understand the process, we can move on to the grid patterns.
The second reason for choosing this pattern to learn how to filet crochet is that it is simple and has the true essence of what filet crochet is, blocks and spaces. Hopefully this will assist in understanding the concept and moving on to more intricate filet crochet designs.
Below is the photo of my attempt at the pattern. It came out good. Not perfect by any means, but good! I used a variegated pink and white cotton thread.
I did struggle for a second on the border. I did not fully understand the placement of the stitch. After the first the rounded border sections, I could tell that mine did not look right. Upon further inspection I realized I had the stitch in the wrong place. I took it out and then did it correctly.
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This was also my first ever attempt at stiffening something I crocheted. I planned to simply use glue and water, but the only glue I had on hand was purple. It did say on the bottle that it would dry clear, but I did not know if it would stain the white in my thread. For the record, it did NOT stain my thread and worked just find. I was unsure on the mixture proportions, so I guessed. It did not come out quite as stiff as I wanted, but it was definitely stiffer than before being dipped in the glue mixture.
Filet Crochet Alphabet Patterns
Another staple of filet crochet is alphabet patterns. People love writing with filet crochet! Whether it is a bookmark with a name written on it, or simply a panel with a name to hang on the wall, filet crochet is easily personalized!
I recently purchased this booklet (below) online after my aunt showed me a copy of hers that she purchased decades ago. She said this was the book she used to learn how to do all the letters for her name panels, but she purchased the booklet for the frame insert on the cover. Ironically, this was the same thing that caught my attention on the booklet. She also said she has never actually made one of the frame inserts!
This booklet is available for purchase online at leisurearts.com. It does have the filet crochet alphabet patterns, but it is not free. I believe it is $2.99
graph patterns
The image below is a (not so great) photo of a filet crochet grid or graph pattern. The easy part of this is that you are simply recreating the squares with double crochet and chain stitches. The more difficult part of this is that you have to alternate directions in which you read the pattern. Yes, you read that right. Odd rows you read the grid right to left and even rows you read the grid left to right, all while crocheting right to left.
The easiest way to do this, well actually it’s the only way I know, the way my aunt taught me, is to attach your pattern to a board and use something to cover it except the line you are working on. Make lots of notes, which row goes which direction, etc, and muddle your way through it until you get the hang of it.
Basically, how this works is since you don’t turn you work, changing the direction you read the pattern is essentially like turning your work. It is very tricky until you do a few rows and learn to keep up. Speaking of keeping up, if you think counting stitches is hard to keep up with, wait until you try this!
***Crochet Tip – Make several copies of your grid and blow it up on a copier. You will have marks and notes all over it!
The photo below is the first thing I ever attempted to make with filet crochet. This is the curtain panel I mentioned above. I only crocheted this section instead of repeating until I had a valance. Let me tell you, when you don’t know what you are doing, and you start with this…. whew! I did finish it, but it is definitely a bit wonky. I framed it though, so you can’t really tell! I tend to bite off more than I can chew on crochet projects sometimes. (Feel free to give it a try if you like cats!)
Make Your Own Patters
Being that a filet crochet pattern is a series of blocks and spaces, you can create your own patterns pretty easily. All you really need is some graph paper and a pencil. Draw out your design by coloring your design with blocks and then use the finished drawing as your grid to crochet from.
In Closing
I really hope you enjoyed this post! Filet crochet is something that is not done nearly enough anymore. I so want to spread the word about it. It really isn’t as hard as it looks. I know I was super intimidated when I first started, but it is really fun. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please click below and let’s keep learning!
Free Printable Graph Paper
If you are ready to try all this out, get my free printable graph paper below!
