Empire Club Blouse Pattern #144

Size 34-36

Materials: J. & P. Coats Mercerized Crochet, 20 balls, or Clark's O.N.T. Mercerized Crochet, 29 balls. White, size 10. Milward's steel crochet hook No. 6. Also 2 balls of Color 126, Spanish Red for Collar.

Gauge: 10 d c equal 1 inch; 9 rows equal 2 inches.

Back: Ch 184, turn. 1st row: D c in 4th ch from hook (turning ch counts as 1 d c), d c in each st of ch (181 d c). Ch 3, turn. 2nd row: D c in each of next 5 sts, * ch 2, skip 2 d c, d c in next d c (this forms a sp). D c in each of next 11 sts. Repeat from * 11 more times, 1 sp, d c in each of next 5 sts, ch 3, turn. 3rd row: D c over d c, 2 d c over sps across. Ch 3, turn. 4th row: Skip 1st d c and d c in each st across, decreasing 1st at end of row. Ch 3, turn.

5th row: * D c in each of next 11 sts, sp, repeat from * across, ending with 11 d c, ch 3, turn. Repeat 3rd and 4th rows 1 time. These 7 rows form the design. Continue working in design until 7 decreases have been made at each end, remembering that there will be 1 d c less at beginning of each sp row, or the design will not be uniform. Work even for 14 rows, then increase 1 st at both ends on the next row and every 3rd row 8 times. Work even until piece measures 13 inches.

Armhole: Sl st over 10 d c, ch 1, work to within 10 d c from other end, ch 3, turn. Continue work, decreasing 1st at both ends 3 times. Then work even until piece measures 6 inches from 1st row of armhole (27 rows, 57 d c across). This brings work to shoulder. Sl st over 6 sts, ch 1, work to within last 7 d c, s c in next, ch 1, turn. Next row: Sl st over 5 d c, work across to within last 6 d c, s c in next, ch 1, turn. Repeat this last row 6 more times. Break off.

Front: Ch 72. 1st row: D c in 4th ch from hook and d c in each st of ch. Ch 3, turn. 2nd row: D c in each of next 5 sts, * 1 sp, d c in each of next 11 sts. Repeat from * 3 more times, d c in each of next 5 sts, ch 3, turn. Continue work, decreasing at side seam as in back and making 1 increase at front side on every row for 11 rows, then 2 increases for 5 rows. Work 18 rows (85 d c across). Break off. Work another piece to correspond. On the 19th row (a d c-row) decrease at side as usual, work to center front and join to other front, work across and make decrease at end of row. After completing the 7th decrease, work same as back up to armhole. Shape armhole the same, making 6 decreases instead of 3 (151 dc across after last row of decreases). On 8th row from armhole, work over 76 d c in design, ch 3, turn. Work even 11 more rows.

20th row: Work to within last 12 sts from front, ch 3, turn. Work 6 rows, decreasing 1 st at front on every row, working armhole even.

27th row: To shape shoulder, decrease 1 st at front, work to within 6 d c from end, s c in next, ch 1, turn. 28th row: Sl st over 5 d c, work across, making 1 decrease at front edge. Ch 3, turn. Repeat these 2 rows two more times then work 5 d c, s c, and break off. Work other half of front to correspond.

Sleeve: Ch 114. 1st row: D c in 4th ch from hook and d c in each st of ch. Ch 3, turn. 2nd row: D c in each of next 6 sts, sp, work across, ending with 6 d c, ch 3, turn. Work 11 more rows, increasing 1 d c at both ends in the 4th row, and in every 3rd row thereafter. 14th row: Sl st over 11 d c, work across to within 10 d c, ch 3, turn. 15th row: Decrease 1 st at beginning and end of row, omitting the turning ch for a 2nd decrease at the end. Ch 3, turn. Repeat this row until there are 19 rows from armhole. Then work 4 more rows, making 3 decreases at both ends. Work last row in sl st, break off.

Jabot: Ch 111. 1st row: D c in 9th ch from hook, * ch 5, skip 1 ch, d c in next. Repeat from * 23 more times, ch 5, d c in same place as last d c, ch 5, skip 1 ch, d c in next, make 24 more loops, ch 8, turn. 2nd row: * D c in 3rd ch of loop below, ch 5. Repeat, from * to center loop. Ch 5, d c in same place, ch 5, d c in center of next loop. Work 24 more loops, ch 8, turn. Repeat this row until there are 16 rows in all. Break off. Attach thread at 1st row where work was started and finish the 2 short sides and the long side with d c in each st.

Collar and Tabs: Ch 9, d c in 4th st from hook and d c in each of next 6 sts. * Ch 3, turn, and work a 2nd row of d c over d c. Repeat from * until there are 17 inches. Next row: * 2 d c in next st, d c in next, repeat from * across, ch 3, turn. Work 1 row even, then 2 more rows, making increases as before (2 d c in 1 st, d c in next). Ch 8, turn. Work 10 rows of loops as in jabot—making 14 loops to a row.

Next row: Work to within last loop, omit the ch-5 and work d c in center of last loop. Ch 3, turn. Repeat this last row until there are no more loops to work. Break off. Attach thread at last row of d c and work around the tab with d c in each ch. Finish the other end of collar the same, starting with the 1st row of increases.

Belt: Ch 19. D c in 4th ch from hook and d c in each st of ch. Ch 3, turn. Work d c over d c until belt measures 28 inches. Sew 2 snappers at corners to fasten belt.

   Place center of jabot at center front and sew it around the slit in front and up around neck as far as it goes. Sew collar around neck and fold tabs to cover slit in front to form part of the jabot. After blouse side seams are sewed, finish around bottom with 3 rows of s c.