1940s Mesh Crochet Collar

After having a browse through this lovely blog by Lady Jardin and some of her amazing crochet creations, I saw a link for free vintage crochet patterns and thought I'd have a go at making this crochet mesh net collar. Considering collars are back in fashion - especially the Peter Pan style - I quite like how this one is different to most I have seen and also has a very vintage glamour feel to it.

The pattern recommended using fine crochet cotton and a 1.5mm crochet hook, but I dislike working with fine yarn as I find it very fiddly and less enjoyable than working with a normal to chunkier yarn. A while ago I bought a big ball of James Brett Top Value DK in white that was a lot thinner than I realised and have been dying to find a use for it since, so with a 3mm hook I figured it would be perfect for this pattern.

After doing 3 rows of DC I started the first row which stated to chain 4 then sc in each stitch but I didn't like how much this caused an overlap so I unraveled it and did the first row of netting again.

Skipping out a chain in between each sc makes the collar look a bit less cluttered, although it does reduce the unique volume of the original collar and make it a bit too flat.

Getting progressively bigger...

The desired length! I just continued it until it reached my shoulders when I tried it on.

I added a couple of pearl buttons and corresponding button-loops, although I would recommend adding a block of crochet with two slits in for buttons instead of just making 2 chain loops as they seem too delicate to withstand much wearing.

And voila! I'm not hugely happy with how this turned out as the original photo of the collar shows a more visible graduation of spacing between the size of the netting from the top of the collar to the bottom, and it is also slightly longer than mine. I think it would have looked better if I had actually stuck to the original pattern and used thread weight cotton, or if I'd have used a chunkier yarn and turned it into more of a shawl, as seen in Lady Jardin's blogpost. Although the collar in the original photo doesn't sit as flat on the chest I do think this is quite a unique design and would be a great addition to a glamorous vintage outfit!

You can find the link to the original pattern here.

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