Grandma Smith's Crochet - "Kim" pillowcase lace

Use size 30 crochet cotton in 2 colors, such as Pink or Blue for Main Color (MC) and White for Contrasting Color (CC), size 12 (1.0mm) steel crochet hook.

Each square motif is made separately, the pillowcase is hemmed into V-scallops and the motifs are then stitched to the pillowcase one by one.



Note that the work is turned only after rounds R1 and R2.

Motifs:

R1: with MC, ch 8, join in ring with sl st, ch 3, turn
R2: (ch 2, 1dc) 7 times in ring, ch 2 and join with sl st to top of ch-3 – 8 spokes made; turn
R3: sl st in ch-2 sp, ch 4; counting the ch-4 just made as the first tr, work the following in each of the 8 spaces between the spokes: (3tr, ch 3, 3tr, ch 5); join with a sl-st to the top of the ch-4 at the beginning of the round. Cut thread with 5” tail, draw thread through loop on hook – 8 double-petals made..
R4: with CC, join thread at the first ch-3 sp past where you ended the last round; ch 2, (ch 5, 1 sc in next loop) 15 times, ch 5, join with sl st to the top of the ch-2 at the beginning of the round
R5: in the next ch-5 loop (sl st, ch 1, sl st) (hook is now positioned in the middle of ch-5 loop); ch 2, (ch 5, 1sc in next ch-5 loop) two times; (ch 9, 1 sc in next ch-5 loop, (ch 5, 1 sc in next ch-5 loop) 3 times) 3 times; ch 9, 1 sc in next ch-5 loop, ch 5, join with sl st to top of ch-2 made at beginning of round
R6: work outer border by working in each ch-5 loop (3sc, ch 3, 3sc) and in each ch-9 loop (8dc, ch 3, 8dc); the last st you’ll work is a sc; follow this by a sl st into the bottom of the first sc of the round; cut yarn with 5” tail, draw tail through loop on hook.

Make as many motifs as are needed to string together diamond-fashion (joining end to end at corners that are diagonally opposite one another). Make one or two extra. Preshrink pillowcase. In hot water, wash and rinse the motifs, blot on a towel and let dry on a smooth countertop so they will relax to their natural size. Measure the pillowcase edge and measure the motif squares on the diagonal (measure several and take the average; be careful not to stretch the motifs diagonally – measure both diagonals and average them). Figure the number of motifs needed, rounding up any fractional amount to a whole number of motifs.

Now the pillowcase must be hemmed into V-scallops in preparation for attaching the edging. Measure the length of a side of a motif – measure several and take an average. This will be the length of the edges of the V's that you will make in the seam allowance. Mark these V's (the peaks and valleys of the V's are 90 degree angles). Adjust to make sure that you will use the same number of motifs that you calculated. Measure a 1/2” seam allowance. Cut along the seam allowance. Fold and stitch under the seam allowance, folding the seam allowance inside the hem from both the outside and the facing side so the seam allowance is not visible from the inside nor outside of the pillowcase. To smoothly fold under the seam allowances, they will need to be snipped across the points, close to the points and slashed almost to the inside points between the V's. Next, stitch the outside and facing together along the folds. You may do this by
hand folding and blind stitching along the very edge as you go, or
to do this really cleanly, you can use a technique used by quilters for appliques. This requires opening the hem up and working the outside separate from the hem facing as follows. Cut a template for the V's from freezer paper, available in supermarkets (heavy paper covered with waxy finish on one side; not waxed paper). The freezer paper should be cut to exactly the shape of the desired hem, without seam allowances. With the hem unfolded so the facing is not folded under, iron the freezer paper shiny side down onto the wrong side in the desired location on the pillowcase. Trim away the pillowcase edge, leaving the 1/2” seam allowance around the template (save this fabric you've cut away for the facing side of the hem). Cut slashes almost to the inside points and cut across close to the outside points. Iron the seam allowances up over the edge of the template, making crisp lines. Peel off the paper and repeat on the wrong side of the facing, snipping and folding and ironing as before. Peel off the paper and place the facing on the inside of the scalloped edge, wrong sides together. Either stitch by hand with tiny stitches just along the edge, or top-stitch by sewing machine. Stitch the hem up again.

With regular sewing thread sew the motifs into the V's on the pillowcase, stitching two sides of each motif to two adjacent sides of the V's. As you proceed around the pillowcase to the next motif, use a couple of small backstitches to attach the point of one motif to the point of the next, then proceed to stitch the rest of the new motif to the sides of the V.