I finally added the lining.

Whew! Progress!

It’s finally starting to look like the Opera Bag.
Large size jpgs. Please wait until photo focuses after you click the + sign. I am in the process of donating a copy of my antique booklet in which this is in to the Antique Pattern Library. I’ll post a link here whenever it’s available online.
Link to antique book this pattern is in It’s best to save the file to your computer and then open it. You must have the most current version of Adobe Reader, and it’s updates, or this PDF file won’t open properly.

Bucilla Wondersheen - Ecru (the color is not showing correctly in the photos ~ it’s a golden ecru.)

Hero crochet hook size 6 (It also says: Made in England)

This pattern is for an advanced crocheter.

I’m working on making both the front and back sections at bit at a time. As soon as I’m sure I have a round or two correct on the front piece, I pick up the back piece and crochet those rounds onto it also. This way I’m not forgetting what I’m doing, nor how I interpreted the pattern, and I won’t have to re-think the pattern later to make the back piece of the opera bag. This method does require using two skeins of thread, one for each piece.

My notes so far (mainly so I’ll remember what I did, but you’re welcome to read them also) ~

5/26/12: If you don’t want this small single crochet center to have the back side to the front, be sure to turn as stated in the pattern. (I goofed on mine, but I like the back side of this sc oval to the front and I’m not going to do it over. After the bag is complete I may decide to put a small Irish Crochet motif in the middle of each oval, but I haven’t decided for sure yet.)

Beginning notes:

Chain 7, turn, skip the first chain, 2 sc in next ch, sc in in next 4 ch, 3 sc in last ch, then on other side of chain work sc in next 4 ch, sc in same ch as the first two sc, join.

Work 2 more rounds, increasing by 2 on each end. (Last round has a total of 22 stitches. (Could actually try increasing by only one on each end on rnd 3 since you really only need 20 stitches for the next round)

(I don’t necessarily recommend doing this modification) When making the section with the picots…I chained the 9, then when I single crocheted into the appropriate stitch…I also then did a slst into the next stitch…and then I turned. It stabilized the base of the bar that is being crocheted over. This change does require rethinking the fact that the next stitch to skip later on….has a slst in it. Note 5-29-12: Although this small change stabilized the center medallion, the medallion doesn’t twirl into place. I did notice that another person’s project followed the antique instructions and their medallion is also at a slant, so…ah, well, maybe it’s just the nature of the oval….a small motif will probably be applied to the very center of the oval medallion when I’m putting the finishing touches on the bag. (The mouse is sitting on the problem ~LOL~)

When I got to the part where I needed to make 7 sc in the next four loops…I had to slst into the next 7 stitches to get my hook to the correct place.

After the round which requires 3 sc in each space…I opted to cut the thread and reattach in the correct place instead of turning and slip stitching 12 stitches back to the starting place. (I actually re-attached my thread 13 stitches back, not 12, and then started making the first set of leaves).

I used 8 small safety pins to mark the placement for beginning the leaves and the pyramids before I actually crocheted them. I did this because the stitch count in the pattern is off.

When making leaves: when you get to the top of a leaf, before slip stitching back down to the bottom: slst in very top to join, then turn, skip the slip stitch you just did, and then slst in the nine stitches back down to the bottom. After I single crocheted around each of the first two leaf’s stems I slip stitched back into original sc on the round below. After the third leaf I single crocheted around it’s stem, and then I single crocheted around the base of all three stems together. Then I skipped the next sc on the round below and then single crocheted in the next 18 sc. This wasn’t noted in the pattern but it’s the only way the count comes out correctly. Also, on the same round….instead of sc in next 7, I had to do a sc in next 8 to get the count to be correct.

Working in first stitch make a set of leaves, ** Then skip 1 sc on round below, and sc in next 18 stitches, turn and make a pyramid, slst down side of pyramid, sc in next 8 stitches, then in that eighth sc you just made, make the next set of leaves. Repeat from ** around.

When making the pyramids, I did a tight chain 1 just before I turned.

When slip stitching back down the side of the pyramid, I picked up the stitches toward the back edge of the side so that the slip stitches would not lay directly on top of the work.

5/28/12:
On the “1st row” instructions, the pattern has one too many single crochets in each loop. So instead of 13 and 17 sc, use:
12 sc over the chain 8 or chain 9 loops, and 16 sc over the chain 11 loops.

6/16/12
Slow going. Not much crochet time lately.
10th Row: I counted 66 stitches from the center of one shell to the center of the shell where you turn (not 65).
Stitches over shells: 4 + (5x8) + 4 = 48
Stitches over loops: 3x6 = 18
48+18=66
I went with the 66….we’ll see.
When I went back across the bottom after making both points, I did 65 sc, and then put 3 sc in the corner. Then I made the 12 sc down the side with the last of those 12 single crochets being in the same stitch as the 65th sc of row 10.

6/21/12
89 stitches down the side, not 90. Posted a new graph.

6/24/12
Whew! I’ve got both side pieces crocheted! They are each 12 inches tall by 12 inches wide. I lightly steam pressed them between towels so that I could see how they looked, and also so I could draw a template pattern around them to have when I get ready to make the lining. Next step is that I’ll need to fasten the pieces together by crocheting around three sides.

~ While crocheting around the three sides to form a bag, I had a 2 stitch variation between front piece and back piece on each side so I adjusted toward the edges and in the “V” indents.

~I’ve crocheted part of the top frill. I changed the trc to dtr because it just didn’t look right to me with trc, and the frill wouldn’t stretch across the purse correctly. I also changed the “3 chain/slst” picot to a “3 chain/sc in third chain” type of picot. Plus I made a slst into the top of each leaf before I made the sc into the bag. (Edit: changed the way I attached the top frill to the bag - see the post of 8/18/12 below) The end result is that the frill seems to drape more like it does in the antique photo. That’s it for today.

7/28/12
I finally crocheted the top frill for the second side of the purse, and I’ve started the side frill.

8/18/12
I changed my mind about the way I attached the top frills - too busy looking - decided to go with not adding the slst in top of each leaf, and to make “close” slip stitches (instead of single crochets) into bag when attaching the frills to the bag. Also attached the side/bottom/side frill around the edges of the bag. Crocheted it in such a fashion that hopefully neither side of the purse looks like it’s the ‘wrong’ side.

Close slip stitches: remove the hook from the loop, insert the hook though the stitch you are attaching to, put the loop back on the hook and pull it though the stitch.