This strand curtain uses deep purple and soft cream throughout. Each hanging strand repeats the same short sequence: a six-petal flower, a striped bead, a pointed leaf with a purple spine, and another bead. When several strands hang side by side, you get a light, airy screen that lets the daylight through.
The flowers have a cream center, rounded purple double-crochet petals, and a crisp cream outline. The leaves are cream with a purple surface-stitched center line. The small stuffed beads pick up both colors in stripes and sit between the motifs like spacers.
The pattern uses US crochet terms. Each strand is 77 in (195.6 cm) long from the top of the rod loop to the tip of the tassel. One panel has 7 strands spaced 4.5 in (11.4 cm) apart, for a panel width of 31.5 in (80.0 cm). The pattern makes a matching pair, as shown.
Construction is simple. You crochet every flower, leaf and bead separately. Next you add a one-round cream edging to the flowers and leaves. Then you sew the pieces into strands, pole to tip, and finish each strand with a loop tab at the top and a tassel at the bottom.
Finished Size and Construction
- Strand length: 77 in (195.6 cm), including the loop and tassel
- Panel width: 31.5 in (80.0 cm), with 7 strands at 4.5 in (11.4 cm) centers
- Skill level: Intermediate (basic stitches, lots of repetition and assembly)
- Terminology: US
- Yarn weight: Worsted (#4) cotton or cotton blend
- Hook: US H-8 (5.0 mm)
- Number of pieces per strand: 8 flowers, 7 leaves, 16 beads, 1 loop tab, 1 tassel
- Layout: 7 strands per panel, 2 panels (14 strands in total)
- Piece sizes: flower 3.75 in (9.5 cm); leaf 3.5 × 1.75 in (8.9 × 4.4 cm); bead 1 in (2.5 cm)
- Size before edging: flower 3.25 in (8.3 cm); leaf 3 × 1.25 in (7.6 × 3.2 cm)
- Edging depth: 1 round of sc, about 0.25 in (0.6 cm) on every side
Materials
Choose a smooth, mercerized or combed worsted cotton. Cotton holds the petal shapes, does not stretch much when hanging, and keeps the stitches crisp. Avoid fuzzy or very stretchy acrylics: long strands will grow under their own weight.
The amounts below assume a yarn of about 170 m per 100 g.
- Purple: 550 g (935 m) — flower petals, bead stripes, leaf spines, tassels
- Cream: 750 g (1,275 m) — flower centers, edgings, leaves, beads, tabs, sewing
These quantities make the pair of panels (14 strands) and include a margin of about 15% for gauge swatches, tails and sewing.
Tools:
– US H-8 (5.0 mm) crochet hook
– Tapestry needle
– Small amount of polyester fiberfill, or cream yarn scraps, for stuffing the beads
– Stitch markers
– Scissors
– Tape measure
– Blocking mat and rust-proof pins
– A 4 in (10.2 cm) piece of card for the tassels
Abbreviations (US Terms)
- ch – chain
- sl st – slip stitch
- sc – single crochet
- hdc – half double crochet
- dc – double crochet
- sc2tog – single crochet 2 together
- MR – magic ring
- st(s) – stitch(es)
- sp – space
- rep – repeat
Special stitch – surface slip stitch: Hold the working yarn behind the piece. Insert the hook from front to back, yarn over, and pull a loop through to the front and through the loop on your hook. Repeat along the line you are following. This gives a neat chain-like line on the front.
Gauge and Checkpoints
Gauge: 16 sc and 18 rows = 4 in (10.2 cm) in rows of sc with a 5.0 mm hook.
Make one flower, one leaf and one bead before anything else. Check them against these measurements:
- Flower after Round 1: 1 in (2.5 cm) across
- Flower after Round 2: 2 in (5.1 cm) across
- Flower after Round 3: 3.25 in (8.3 cm) from petal tip to petal tip
- Flower after edging: 3.75 in (9.5 cm)
- Leaf after Round 1: 3 × 1.25 in (7.6 × 3.2 cm)
- Leaf after edging: 3.5 × 1.75 in (8.9 × 4.4 cm)
- Bead: 1 in (2.5 cm) across when stuffed
If your pieces are too big, go down to a 4.5 mm hook. If they are too small, go up to a 5.5 mm hook. A flower that is off by 0.25 in (0.6 cm) changes each strand by 2 in (5.1 cm) across 8 flowers, so gauge matters more here than it seems.
Flower (make 8 per strand)
Round 1 (cream): Make a MR, ch 1, and work 12 sc into the ring. Pull the ring closed and sl st to the first sc. Fasten off. (12 sc)
Round 2 (purple): Join purple in any sc. Ch 3 (counts as dc) and work 1 dc in the same st. Work 2 dc in each of the remaining 11 sts, then sl st to the top of the beginning ch-3. (24 dc)
Round 3 (purple – petals): Ch 1. Sc in the next st, 3 dc in the next st, 3 dc in the next st, sc in the next st. Rep from * to * 5 more times, starting the first sc in the same st as the sl st. Sl st to the first sc and fasten off. (48 sts: 12 sc and 36 dc, making 6 petals of 8 sts each)
Each petal is sc, 6 dc, sc. Where two petals meet, the two sc sit side by side and form a clear valley. Weave in the ends on the back before you add the edging.
Leaf (make 7 per strand)
Foundation (cream): Ch 13.
Round 1: Sc in the 2nd ch from the hook, hdc in the next ch, dc in each of the next 8 ch, hdc in the next ch, and 3 sc in the last ch. Rotate the work and continue along the opposite side of the foundation chain: hdc in the next ch, dc in each of the next 8 ch, hdc in the next ch, and 2 sc in the last ch (the same ch as the first sc). Sl st to the first sc. (26 sts)
The sts break down like this:
– Tip A: 3 sc (the first sc plus the 2 sc at the end of the round)
– Side 1: hdc, 8 dc, hdc = 10 sts
– Tip B: 3 sc
– Side 2: hdc, 8 dc, hdc = 10 sts
Check: 3 + 10 + 3 + 10 = 26. Don’t fasten off. The leaf edging below continues from here in cream.
Bead (make 16 per strand)
Work in continuous rounds. Mark the first st of each round. To change color, finish the last st of the old color with the new color and carry the unused yarn inside the bead.
Round 1 (cream): Work 6 sc in a MR. (6)
Round 2 (cream): 2 sc in each st. (12)
Round 3 (purple): Sc in each st. (12)
Round 4 (cream): Sc in each st. (12)
Round 5 (purple): Sc in each st. (12)
Stuff the bead firmly with fiberfill or yarn scraps.
Round 6 (cream): Sc2tog 6 times. (6)
Fasten off, leaving a 10 in (25.4 cm) tail. Weave the tail through the front loops of the last 6 sts and pull it closed. Keep this tail for sewing. The magic-ring center and the closed end are the bead’s two poles.
Loop Tab (make 1 per strand)
Row 1 (cream): Ch 5. Sc in the 2nd ch from the hook and in each remaining ch. (4 sc)
Rows 2–22: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st. (4 sc)
Fasten off, leaving a 12 in (30.5 cm) tail. The strip measures about 1 × 5 in (2.5 × 12.7 cm). Folded in half, it makes a loop that hangs 2.5 in (6.4 cm) and fits a rod up to 1.25 in (3.2 cm) across.
Make All Pieces
Per strand: 8 flowers, 7 leaves, 16 beads, 1 tab, 1 tassel
Per panel (7 strands): 56 flowers, 49 leaves, 112 beads, 7 tabs, 7 tassels
Pair (14 strands): 112 flowers, 98 leaves, 224 beads, 14 tabs, 14 tassels
How the colors divide up:
– Purple: flower Rounds 2–3, bead Rounds 3 and 5, leaf spines, tassels
– Cream: flower Round 1 and edging, all leaf rounds, bead Rounds 1, 2, 4 and 6, tabs
Strand layout (top to bottom):
[ TAB ] 2.5 in drop (6.4 cm)
( o ) bead 1 in (2.5 cm)
* FLOWER 3.75 in (9.5 cm)
( o ) bead
< LEAF > 3.5 in (8.9 cm)
( o ) bead * repeat 7 times = 64.75 in (164.5 cm)
FLOWER 3.75 in (9.5 cm)
( o ) bead 1 in (2.5 cm)
TASSEL 4 in (10.2 cm)
Panel layout (from the front, at the rod):
| S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | S7 | 4.5 in (11.4 cm) centers
Border: Flower and Leaf Edging
Edging gauge: Same as the main gauge, 16 sc = 4 in (10.2 cm). The edging is one round deep and adds 0.25 in (0.6 cm) on every side.
Flower edging (Round 4, cream): Join cream with a sl st in the first sc of any petal.
For each petal: sl st in that sc, sc in each of the next 2 dc, 2 sc in each of the next 2 dc, sc in each of the next 2 dc, sl st in the next sc.
Work this for all 6 petals, then join to the first sl st and fasten off.
- Per petal: 2 sl st + 8 sc = 10 sts
- Round total: 6 × 10 = 60 sts (48 sc + 12 sl st)
Leaf edging (Round 2, cream): Ch 1. Sc in the same st as the join, and sc in each of the next 11 sts. Work (sc, ch 2, sc) in the center sc of Tip B. Sc in each of the next 12 sts. Work (sc, ch 2, sc) in the last st, which is the center of Tip A. Sl st to the first sc.
- Per side: 14 sc, counting from one ch-2 tip to the other and including the sc on each side of each tip
- Round total: 2 × 14 = 28 sc + 2 ch-2 sps
Leaf spine (purple): On the front of the leaf, start at the Tip A ch-2 sp. Work 12 surface sl sts along the foundation chain, one in each ch, to the Tip B ch-2 sp. Fasten off and weave the ends in on the back.
Why the math works: Each petal arc has 6 dc. Working 8 sc into them, with the 2 increases at the peak, gives the curve just enough extra length to stay round without ruffling. Working sl sts into the valley sc keeps the gaps between petals sharp and adds almost no height, so the flower grows by exactly one sc round: 3.25 + 0.5 = 3.75 in (9.5 cm). On the leaf, each side gets 1 sc per Round 1 st. The extra st on each side and the ch-2 at each tip let the point turn without curling. The leaf grows from 3 × 1.25 in to 3.5 × 1.75 in (8.9 × 4.4 cm).
Assembly: Joining the Strands
Joining points:
– Flowers: Use the tips of two opposite petals, Petal 1 and Petal 4. The tip is the 4th and 5th sc of that petal’s edging, between the two increases.
– Leaves: Use the two ch-2 tips.
– Beads: Use the two poles.
Method: Use the bead’s tail (or cream yarn) and a tapestry needle. Whipstitch the bead pole to the joining point 3 times, going through both loops of the 2 tip sts each time. Then pass the needle through the bead and out the other pole. Sew that pole to the next piece. Fasten off and bury the ends inside the bead.
Tension: Pull each join snug so that the bead touches both neighbors with no visible gap, but don’t pull so hard that the petal tip puckers. The repeat lengths assume zero gap.
Order: Sew the pieces together top to bottom, following the strand layout. Fold the tab in half, sew the two short ends together, and sew them to the pole of the top bead.
Tassel: Wrap purple yarn 10 times around the 4 in (10.2 cm) card. Tie the loops at the top with a purple strand, cut them at the bottom, and wrap 0.5 in (1.3 cm) below the top. Trim to 4 in (10.2 cm). Sew the tie to the bottom pole of the last bead.
Size checkpoint: After the first repeat, the strand from the top of the flower to the bottom of the second bead should measure 9.25 in (23.5 cm). A finished strand, hung up, should measure 77 in (195.6 cm): 2.5 + 1 + 64.75 + 3.75 + 1 + 4.
Final Blocking
- Spray each flower and leaf lightly with water, or dip them and press out the extra water in a towel.
- Pin the flowers to 3.75 in (9.5 cm), with each petal tip pinned so the six petals are even.
- Pin the leaves to 3.5 × 1.75 in (8.9 × 4.4 cm), with a pin at each tip to sharpen the point.
- Let them dry completely before assembly. Don’t block the beads.
- After assembly, hang each strand for 24 hours so it settles. Then remeasure it and gently ease any twisted motifs flat.
Final Quality-Control Checklist
- Every flower has 6 even petals and a 60-st edging
- Every leaf has a straight purple spine and two sharp tips
- All beads are firmly stuffed and show the same stripe order
- Each strand has 8 flowers, 7 leaves and 16 beads in the correct order
- All 14 strands are within 0.5 in (1.3 cm) of 77 in (195.6 cm)
- All motifs face front, and all ends are woven in
- Tassels are trimmed to the same 4 in (10.2 cm)
Troubleshooting
- Petals ruffle: Your edging is too loose. Go down one hook size for Round 4 only.
- Petals cup: Round 3 is too tight. Work the dc a little taller, or go up one hook size.
- Leaf twists: Block it flat and check that both sides have 14 edging sc.
- Strand twists when hung: One motif was sewn back to front. Check that all spines and flower fronts face the same way.
- Strands are uneven in length: Measure each repeat. A loose join adds length, so re-sew it snugly.
- Beads are lumpy: Pull the stuffing apart into small wisps before you add it.
Care
Hand wash in cool water with a mild detergent, roll in a towel, and dry the strands flat. Don’t hang them while wet, or they will stretch. Dust between washes with a gentle shake.
Final Notes
The whole curtain comes from one measurement chain. Getting the 16 sc gauge gives you 3.25 in (8.3 cm) flower bodies. The cream edging takes them to 3.75 in (9.5 cm) and the leaves to 3.5 in (8.9 cm). With 1 in (2.5 cm) beads, each repeat is 9.25 in (23.5 cm). Seven repeats plus the tab, top bead, last flower, last bead and tassel make a 77 in (195.6 cm) strand, and 7 strands at 4.5 in (11.4 cm) centers make a 31.5 in (80.0 cm) panel. If you check your pieces at each step, your pair of panels will hang straight and even.
Happy crocheting!