Make your own "Vintage" Crocheted Shade Pulls

A few years ago, a friend of mine asked if I could replicate some very old crocheted shade pulls that had been hanging in her house for as long as she could remember. She had lived in this old New England farmhouse for over 50 years, so they must have been quite old! She brought one to me to use as a sample, and I worked out the pattern and made her as many as she needed.

I never kept a picture of them, nor did I write down the pattern, and have since regretted both. How often I have thought how nice it would be to replace the $1.50 tassel shade pulls that I got from Home Depot with something pretty, unique and vintage looking! So here's what I did...


I gathered my materials which consisted of...

... a new ball of #10 white crochet cotton thread, some plastic rings in two sizes because I didn't know which size I would end up using, and my #7 steel crochet hook with Comfort Grip.

Then I started to think up a pattern and here's what I came up with...

Starting with a slip knot on my hook and a small plastic ring, I put my hook through the ring, drew up a loop around the ring...



...then drew up another loop through the two loops on the hook to complete the first single crochet.



I worked 22 single crochet stitches on the ring in the same manner and this is what it looked like after the first 8 stitches.



I joined the ring of stitches with a slip stitch into the first single crochet as shown above.



This is what my ring of 22 single crochet stitches looked like when finished.



Then I worked three chain stitches, skipped one single crochet and worked one single crochet into the next stitch. I continued this all the way around the ring until I had eleven loops and joined with a slip stitch at the base of the first chain three.



Then I did one single crochet in the first loop, worked five chain stitches and then one single crochet into the next loop.


I continued all the way around the ring working five chains and one single crochet into each loop, joining with a slip stitch into the first single crochet of the first loop. This is what it looked like.



In each loop around, I worked one single, one half double, one double, one triple, one double, one half double and one single crochet to make the little flower petal like curves. Then I joined with a slip stitch in the first single crochet as before. This is how it looked after four petals were complete.



And this is how it looked when all the petals were complete.



Then I crocheted 150 chain stitches and joined with a slip stitch at the base of the chain to complete the hanging loop. You could make this part however long you need for your own shades.



This is the old shade pull purchased at HD at the same time I purchased the shades. I removed the pull, leaving behind the little white button that screws into the bar at the bottom of the shade, and replaced it with my own brand new, handmade, original, unique, 'vintage' crocheted shade pull.


What do you think? The picture isn't the greatest and I apologize for that. I had a hard time trying to get the camera to focus on the shade pull instead of the scenery. But you get the idea.

They only took me about an hour to do each one, and that included time for taking pictures along the way, so they work up quickly. Make a few for yourself and see what you think.

I have a few more patterns that I worked up and I will share them with you soon!

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