Back-Button Blouse No. 948 | Vintage Bucilla Hairpin Lace Pattern PDF
Back-Button Blouse No. 948, a hairpin lace back-button blouse, is an advanced vintage Bucilla Hairpin Lace garment with a graceful fitted shape, back-button closure, and intricate strip mapping. This Heritage Edition preserves the original Size 16 source and adds detailed guidance for modern makers.
Original Sizing
Vintage Size 16 only. Modern makers should work from assembled measurements rather than assume equivalence with contemporary sizing.
Original Materials
Glossilla Bouclette, 6 balls; Bucilla Adjustable Hairpin Lace Loom Article 3947; Bucilla steel crochet hook No. 6; Bucilla white 6-inch crochet hook No. 3; 12 glass buttons approximately 1/2 inch in diameter.
Gauge
6 loops = 1 inch.
Construction & Technique
The blouse uses numerous strips with specific loop counts and interlaced joining to create increases, decreases, sleeve shaping, and the back opening. Button loops are worked into the edging.
Modern Maker’s Notes
Create a numbered strip inventory. This is a high-complexity Hairpin garment.
Protect the 6-loops-per-inch gauge. Every strip length and shaping relationship depends on it.
Choose bouclé with restraint. Excessive fuzz can obscure the interlaced construction.
Test button weight. Modern lighter buttons may reduce pull on the openwork back edge.
Resizing is structural. It requires recalculating loop counts and join distribution, not merely changing hook or loom width.
Then & Now
Pair the blouse with a pencil skirt, high-waisted trousers, or wear it over a simple slip top so the Hairpin construction remains visible.
Digital Download
Digital PDF only.
Printing Guidance
Print at 100% / Actual Size.
Hairpin Lace Back-Button Blouse: Working With The Heritage Edition
For Back-Button Blouse No. 948, the strip map, 6-loops-per-inch gauge, and back-edge stability all work together; changing one element without testing can affect the entire fit. Because vintage yarn names, loom settings, hook numbering, and sizing conventions may differ from present-day practice, begin with the original source and make a controlled swatch before committing to the full project.
In addition, compare the blocked sample with the original measurements and construction sequence rather than relying only on a modern yarn label. Hairpin Lace responds strongly to loop width, center-stitch tension, joining tension, and fiber memory. Therefore, small material differences can become more visible after several strips or motifs have been joined.
Continue Exploring Hairpin Lace
For technique background, loom terminology, vintage tools, and related archive resources, visit the Hairpin Lace & Maltese Lace Crochet Guide. You can also browse the wider Dazespast Archive for restored garments, accessories, home projects, and technique collections.
Modern Yarn Reference
When comparing a discontinued vintage yarn with a current substitute, the Craft Yarn Council Standard Yarn Weight System is a useful modern reference for yarn categories, typical crochet gauges, and hook ranges. However, those categories are guidelines. For historical Hairpin Lace, the original measurements and your own blocked swatch remain the final authority.
Before You Begin
First, read the historical source from beginning to end. Next, identify each strip, loop count, loom width, joining instruction, and finishing step that applies to the project. Then make and block a short sample with your chosen yarn. Finally, record loom width, loop gauge, yarn behavior, and any substitutions so later sections remain consistent.
