Needlepoint Charts from Vintage Afghans

Updated November 14, 2023.
My DH’s family is full of very hardy pioneer women. They made quilts, ran general stores, and crocheted afghans. One in my collection is from his Great Aunt Dora and has roses stitched over the crochet.

This technique of embroidering knitted and crocheted items is sometimes called duplicate stitch.

In a vintage Anne Orr book of afghans, there are many patterns for embroidery of these items.

While they look very small and delicate charted, the large scale of crochet stitches means these motifs are about 5 stitches per inch.

Today I have three of these for you.

Two Sweet Violets

These delicate flowers are stitched in three shades of lavender(light, medium, and dark). To make them easier to distinguish on the chart I’ve made the middle shade have larger squares. To this add white (pale grey squares), a tiny bit of yellow, two greens for the leaf, and a greenish-tan for the stems. It’s small enough that you could use this as part of a medieval flower-strewn background.

Luggage Rack Borders

Stitched bands were often used to make the straps for luggage racks. They used to be quite popular, but it’s been ages since I’ve seen any.

Thee three borders were charted together but they could be used individually. The book also suggests they could be used for bell pulls. I also like them for needlepoint borders or for horizontal lines between the areas in a band sampler.

People Border

Another folk art style border, this border alternates girls and boys holding hands. It’s striking as silhouettes in just one color. You could make it really fun by “dressing” the figures in different colors using your scraps of thread.