Golden Pearl Bells Door Curtain Crochet Pattern

This curtain hangs a cascade of small crocheted bells across a doorway. Each bell sits under an ivory pearl on a slim cream cord. It looks warm and festive, and it moves a little whenever someone walks past.

The palette is two colors. Half the bells are cream with a gold rim and the other half are solid gold. Every bell has a small gold ball clapper and a gold collar under its pearl. The style is classic holiday elegance: soft, light, and a little vintage.

The pattern uses US crochet terms. The finished curtain is 36 in (91.4 cm) wide. The longer cords drop 53.5 in (135.9 cm) from the loop join to the lowest bell rim, and the shorter cords drop 48.5 in (123.2 cm). Each bell is 2.25 in (5.7 cm) tall and 2.7 in (6.9 cm) across the rim.

Here is the construction in brief. You work each bell top-down in joined rounds of single crochet and finish it with a gold flared rim. You add a stuffed clapper on a chain stalk. Then you make 12 slip-stitch cords with pearls locked into set chains, sew the bells on at measured points, and loop the cords over a rod.

Finished Size and Construction

• Finished size: 36 in (91.4 cm) wide × 53.5 in (135.9 cm) drop at the longest point
• Skill level: Easy–Intermediate
• Terminology: US crochet terms
• Yarn weight: DK (#3) cotton
• Hook: 3.5 mm (E-4)
• Number of pieces: 60 bells (30 cream, 30 gold), 60 clappers, 12 cords
• Layout: 12 cords, 5 bells each, staggered in two height sets
• Piece size: each bell is 2.25 in (5.7 cm) tall × 2.7 in (6.9 cm) across the rim
• Size before border: each cord measures 50.25 in (127.6 cm) or 55.25 in (140.3 cm) from end to end
• Border depth: the top hanging edge is a 4 in (10.2 cm) folded loop on each cord

Materials

Use a smooth, mercerized DK cotton. It gives crisp stitches, holds the bell flare, and doesn’t fuzz around the beads.

• Cream: 200 g / 480 m (for the cream bell bodies and all 12 cords)
• Gold: 300 g / 720 m (for the gold bells, all rims, clappers and collars)

These quantities include a margin of about 15–20% for gauge swatches and tails.

Tools and notions:
– 3.5 mm (E-4) crochet hook
– 108 ivory pearl beads, 10 mm, with holes that fit DK yarn (2.5 mm or larger)
– A big-eye beading needle or dental-floss threader, for stringing the pearls
– Polyester fiberfill, a small handful
– Tapestry needle
– Stitch markers
– Measuring tape
– A curtain or tension rod at least 36 in (91.4 cm) long and about 0.75 in (1.9 cm) thick
– Optional: spray starch or a light fabric stiffener

Abbreviations (US Terms)

• ch – chain
• sl st – slip stitch
• sc – single crochet
• inc – 2 sc in the same stitch
• sc2tog – single crochet 2 together
• rev sc – reverse single crochet
• MR – magic ring
• st(s) – stitch(es)

Special stitch: reverse single crochet (rev sc). Work from left to right (right to left if you crochet left-handed). Insert the hook into the next stitch to the right, yarn over and pull up a loop, then yarn over and draw through both loops. This makes the rope-like twisted edge on the rim.

Locking a pearl: Slide one pre-strung pearl up against the hook, yarn over behind it, and draw through. The pearl is now held inside that chain.

Gauge and Checkpoints

Bell gauge: 5 sc and 5.5 rounds = 1 in (2.5 cm).
Cord gauge: 4 ch = 1 in (2.5 cm), measured after the slip-stitch pass.

Make one complete bell before anything else, and check it at each stage:

• After Round 3: the flat disc measures 1.1 in (2.8 cm) across.
• After Round 10: the bell is 2.3 in (5.8 cm) across the opening and 1.8 in (4.6 cm) tall.
• After Round 12: the bell is 2.25 in (5.7 cm) tall and 2.7 in (6.9 cm) across the rim.

For the cords, chain 40 and slip-stitch back along them. The result should measure 10 in (25.4 cm).

If the bell comes out too big, go down to a 3.25 mm hook. If it’s too small, go up to 3.75 mm. Don’t add or remove rounds, because the cord spacing is planned around a bell 2.25 in (5.7 cm) tall.

Bell Pattern

Work in joined rounds. Join each round with a sl st to the first sc. The ch 1 at the start of a round does not count as a stitch. Cream bells use cream for Rounds 1–10. Gold bells use gold for every round.

Round 1: MR. Leave a 6 in (15.2 cm) starting tail. Ch 1, 6 sc in the ring, join. (6)
Round 2: Ch 1, inc in each st around, join. (12)
Round 3: Ch 1, sc 1, inc; repeat 6 times, join. (18)
Round 4: Ch 1, sc in each st around, join. (18)

The sides now start to turn down and form the dome.

Round 5: Ch 1, sc 2, inc; repeat 6 times, join. (24)
Rounds 6–7: Ch 1, sc in each st around, join. (24)
Round 8: Ch 1, sc 3, inc; repeat 6 times, join. (30)
Round 9: Ch 1, sc in each st around, join. (30)
Round 10: Ch 1, sc 4, inc; repeat 6 times. For cream bells, work the joining sl st with gold. (36)

Round 11 (gold, flare): Ch 1, sc 5, inc; repeat 6 times, join. (42)
This is a growth round. With 42 stitches on a short round, the edge flares outward.

Round 12 (gold, trim): Ch 1, rev sc in each st around, join. (42 = 42 worked 1 per stitch + 0 added)
Fasten off and weave in the rim tail.

Rounds 1–10 give the cream body (222 sc in all), and Rounds 11–12 give the gold rim.

Clapper (gold, make 60)

Leave a 10 in (25.4 cm) starting tail.

Round 1: MR, ch 1, 6 sc in the ring, join. (6)
Round 2: Ch 1, inc in each st around, join. (12)
Round 3: Ch 1, sc in each st around, join. (12)

Stuff the ball firmly.

Round 4: Ch 1, sc2tog 6 times, join. (6)
Fasten off. Cinch the hole closed and hide the end inside the ball. The ball is 0.6 in (1.5 cm) across.

Stalk: Pick up the long starting tail with your hook and ch 8, which makes 2 in (5.1 cm). Thread the tail down into the bell and out through the center of its magic ring. The ball should hang with about half of it below the rim.

Collar: Wrap the gold stalk tail 4 times around the base of the bell’s top. Pass it under the wraps to lock them. This makes the small gold collar.

Keep both tails at the top of the bell, the cream body tail and the gold stalk tail. You’ll use them to attach the bell to its cord.

Make All Pieces

• Cream bells (cream body, gold rim): 30
• Gold bells (all gold): 30
• Gold clappers: 60, one per bell
• Cords: 6 odd cords with 201 ch each, and 6 even cords with 221 ch each

Read each cord from top to bottom. C = cream bell, G = gold bell.

ODD CORDS 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11:   C  G  C  G  C
EVEN CORDS 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12: G  C  G  C  G

The grid below shows each bell level across the 12 cords, read left to right. A dot means that cord has no bell at that level.

LEVEL 1 (6 in / 15.2 cm):   C · C · C · C · C · C ·
LEVEL 2 (11 in / 27.9 cm):  · G · G · G · G · G · G
LEVEL 3 (16 in / 40.6 cm):  G · G · G · G · G · G ·
LEVEL 4 (21 in / 53.3 cm):  · C · C · C · C · C · C
LEVEL 5 (26 in / 66.0 cm):  C · C · C · C · C · C ·
LEVEL 6 (31 in / 78.7 cm):  · G · G · G · G · G · G
LEVEL 7 (36 in / 91.4 cm):  G · G · G · G · G · G ·
LEVEL 8 (41 in / 104.1 cm): · C · C · C · C · C · C
LEVEL 9 (46 in / 116.8 cm): C · C · C · C · C · C ·
LEVEL 10 (51 in / 129.5 cm):· G · G · G · G · G · G

Each level is measured from the loop join down to the top of the bell. The totals check out: 6 cords × 3 = 18 cream bells and 6 cords × 2 = 12 gold bells on the odd cords. The even cords add 12 cream and 18 gold. That makes 30 of each.

Joining

Joining means building the cords and sewing the bells onto them.

Stringing: Thread 9 pearls onto the cream yarn before you start each cord.

Odd cords: Ch 201. Lock a pearl into ch 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180 and 200.
Even cords: Ch 221. Lock a pearl into ch 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200 and 220.

Slip-stitch pass: Sl st into the back bump of the 2nd ch from the hook. Continue with 1 sl st into the back bump of every ch back to ch 1, including the pearl chains, so the pearls sit on the front of the cord. Fasten off and leave an 8 in (20.3 cm) tail.

The first 16 ch form the top loop. Measure every bell position from ch 16.

Bell points: Each bell attaches to the chain directly below a pearl.
– Odd cords: ch 41, 81, 121, 161 and 201.
– Even cords: ch 61, 101, 141, 181 and 221.

Pearls at the remaining chains sit halfway between bells: ch 60, 100, 140 and 180 on odd cords, and ch 80, 120, 160 and 200 on even cords.

Thread both bell tails through the bell-point chain. Pass them back through the bell’s top 2 rounds, knot inside the dome, and trim.

Tension: Keep the slip-stitch pass relaxed. If it’s tight, the cord shortens and every level moves up. Lay each finished cord flat and check that ch 16 to ch 41 measures 6.25 in (15.9 cm).

Size checkpoint: Before hanging, check the full length of each cord: 50.25 in (127.6 cm) for odd cords and 55.25 in (140.3 cm) for even cords.

Border: Top Hanging Edge

This curtain has open sides and a staggered bottom, so its only border is the top hanging edge.

Border gauge: 4 ch = 1 in (2.5 cm), the same as the cord.

Round 1 (loop): Fold ch 1 over to meet ch 16. Use the 8 in (20.3 cm) tail to sew ch 1 to ch 16. This gives a closed loop of 16 ch, 4 in (10.2 cm) around, which fits easily over a rod 0.75 in (1.9 cm) thick. Do this on all 12 cords. (12 loops × 16 ch = 192 ch across the top edge)

Round 2 (spacing): Slide the loops onto the rod. Place cord 1 at 1.5 in (3.8 cm) from the left end. Space the remaining cords 3 in (7.6 cm) apart, center to center.

Edge counts:
– Top: 12 loops.
– Sides: 0 added stitches, because the edges are open cords.
– Bottom: 6 cords end at 48.5 in (123.2 cm) and 6 end at 53.5 in (135.9 cm).

Why the math works:
– Rod width: 1.5 + (11 gaps × 3) + 1.5 = 36 in (91.4 cm).
– Drop: On an even cord, ch 221 is 205 ch below ch 16, which is 51.25 in (130.2 cm). Add the 2.25 in (5.7 cm) bell and you get 53.5 in (135.9 cm). An odd cord gives 46.25 + 2.25 = 48.5 in (123.2 cm).
– Spacing: Bells on each cord are 40 ch apart, or 10 in (25.4 cm), and the two cord sets are offset by 5 in (12.7 cm). Each bell is only 2.7 in (6.9 cm) wide, so bells on neighboring cords never collide.

Final Blocking

1. Lightly mist each bell rim with water or spray starch.
2. Set each bell over a form about 2 in (5.1 cm) tall, such as a shot glass or a paper cone.
3. Push the gold rim outward with your fingertips until it measures 2.7 in (6.9 cm) across.
4. Let the bells dry completely. This takes about 6 hours.
5. Hang the cords and let them settle for a day, so the chains relax to their true length.
6. Re-measure the drop, and adjust any loop join that looks uneven.

Final Quality-Control Checklist

• [ ] All 60 bells are 2.25 in (5.7 cm) tall and 2.7 in (6.9 cm) across.
• [ ] Every rim has 42 rev sc and no visible gaps.
• [ ] Each clapper hangs about half below its rim.
• [ ] Each gold collar is tight, with 4 even wraps.
• [ ] Each cord has 9 pearls, all sitting on the front of the cord.
• [ ] Odd cords run C G C G C and even cords run G C G C G.
• [ ] Every bell knot is hidden inside its dome.
• [ ] Cords are spaced 3 in (7.6 cm) apart on the rod.

Troubleshooting

• The bell won’t flare: Round 11 may be too tight. Rework it a little looser, or block it again with starch.
• The bell looks pointy: You may have skipped a plain round. Check Rounds 4, 6, 7 and 9.
• The cord is too short: The slip-stitch pass is too tight. Remake the cord with a 4 mm hook for the slip stitches only.
• The pearls twist to the back: You worked into the front loops. Always work into the back bump.
• The clapper hangs too low: Pull the stalk back up through the magic ring before wrapping the collar.
• The bells collide: A chain count is off. Recount the bell points.

Care

Dust the curtain gently, or shake it out. If it needs washing, hand-wash it in cool water, press the water out in a towel, and re-block the rims while they’re damp.

Final Notes

The measurements all build on each other:
– Gauge: 5 sc = 1 in (2.5 cm).
– Bell: 42 stitches at the rim, 2.7 in (6.9 cm) across and 2.25 in (5.7 cm) tall.
– Cords: 4 ch = 1 in (2.5 cm), with bells every 40 ch, or 10 in (25.4 cm).
– Rod: 12 cords spaced 3 in (7.6 cm) apart across 36 in (91.4 cm).
– Drop: 48.5 in (123.2 cm) and 53.5 in (135.9 cm).

If each step matches its checkpoint, the whole curtain hangs evenly.

Happy crocheting!