Crochet Striped Velvet Cardigan – Free Pattern
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This Striped Velvet Cardigan is a free crochet pattern and was made with Yarnspirations Crushed Velvet Yarn. The pattern is available in sizes XS – 4XL and easily made. It’s ideal even for a beginner.
Now that the summer is gone and it’s getting colder, this is the perfect weather to wear a beautiful cozy oversized cardigan. This cardigan was made with the beautiful and easy to work with Crushed Velvet yarn by Yarnspirations who graciously provided this yarn for free to me to make this pattern. Thank you!
If you have never made a cardigan before, like some of my testers, you will be surprised how easy this pattern really is.
You start by making the back panel and then add the front panel to the back panel immediately following without any sewing.
Next, you will sew the front panels to the back panel on the sides, leaving an opening for the arm sleeves which are made separately. And sewn to the main sweater before you add a cute and stylish edging to the cardigan to finish it.
The color change happens gradually and makes a beautiful transition from dark to light (bottom to top).
The Crushed Velvet yarn is the perfect yarn for this project. It’s a #5 bulky weight yarn and super easy to work with. And did I mention how soft it is? Oh yes, it’s so soft and cuddly, I would wear it all day on cool Fall or cold Winter days.
So let me now give you the list of supplies needed in order to make this easy and beautiful cozy Striped Velvet Cardigan.
This pattern is also available as an ad-free, printer-friendly pdf pattern that can be purchased at the links below for only a small fee. The PDF includes lots of photos and video links.
How to crochet the Striped Velvet Cardigan
You will need:
- Yarnspirations Crushed Velvet bulky yarn (10.5 oz/300g, 315yds/288m), 2 skeins each of these colors:
- Bright Magenta – color A
- White – color B
- 5.0mm hook
- scissors
- tapestry needle
Gauge:
4” x 4” = 9 sts x 5 rows of dc
Size:
XS – 28-30” bust
S – 32-34” bust
M – 36-38” bust
L – 40-42” bust
XL – 44-46” bust
2XL – 48-50” bust
3XL – 52-54” bust
4XL – 56-58” bust
Stitches used:
Learn all the basic crochet stitches HERE
- dc = double crochet
- ch = chain
- sl st = slip stitch
- dec = decrease (combining 2 stitches)
- fpdc = front post double crochet
- bpdc = back post double crochet
- whip or mattress stitch for sewing/seaming
- atc = alternative turning chain (which is stacked single crochet made like this: 1 sc, insert the hook through the left loop of the sc, yarn over, pull through the loop and finish as another sc) in the height of a double crochet which replaces a chain of 3 (Tutorial is HERE)
Instructions for Striped Velvet Cardigan:
This a slouchy cardigan, which means it’s a bit oversized in the shoulders/back to be comfy, rather than tight. The length of the cardigan reaches mid-bottom. The back is worked from bottom up, then the first front panel is worked from top-down without cutting your yarn. Then the yarn is cut and reattached to work second front panel from top-down.
During the color changes, yarn is cut, new yarn is re-attached.
Back:
Start with color A
Ch 43 (49, 55, 61, 67, 73, 79, 85)
R1: starting in 2nd ch from hook: 1 atc, 1 dc in each ch, turn (42, 48, 54, 60, 66, 72, 78, 84 sts)
Rows below follow this pattern (unless mentioned otherwise):
1 atc, 1 dc in each st, turn
R2 – 5: continue with color A
R6: Color B
R7 – 10: Color A
R11 – 12: Color B
R13 – 15: Color A
R16 – 18: Color B
R19 – 20: Color A
R21 – 24: Color B
R25: Color A
Crochet Color B:
Sizes XS and S: R26 – 31
Sizes M, L and XL: R26 – 32
Sizes 2XL, 3XL and 4XL: R26 – 33
Front Panels
You will now work on both front panels which are each 1/3 of the number of stitches of the back (see figure 1). The colors are now worked backward.
To make the front panel, keep crocheting after finishing the back panel without fastening off the yarn. I will start the row count from 1 again to make it easier to read for both front panels.
After you crocheted front panel 1, re-attach the yarn (according to figure 1) and repeat the same pattern below for front panel 2.
Sizes XS and S (14 and 16 sts per row): | Sizes M, L and XL (18, 20 and 22 sts per row): | Sizes 2XL, 3XL and 4XL (24, 26 and 28 sts per row): |
R1 – 6: Color B R7: Color A R8 – 11: Color B R12 – 13: Color A R14 – 16: Color B R17 – 19: Color A R20 – 21: Color B R22 – 25: Color A R26: Color B R27 – 31: Color A | R1 – 7: Color B R8: Color A R9 – 12: Color B R13 – 14: Color A R15 – 17: Color B R18 – 20: Color A R21 – 22: Color B R23 – 26: Color A R27: Color B R28 – 32: Color A | R1 – 8: Color B R9: Color A R10 – 13: Color B R14 – 15: Color A R16 – 18: Color B R19 – 21: Color A R22 – 23: Color B R24 – 27: Color A R28: Color B R29 – 33: Color A |
Sew front panels to back panel:
Reference figure 2 and fold the front panels over the back panel.
Using the mattress stitch sew each front panel outside to the back panel outside seam (starting from the bottom up) until you have this many inches left for the arm sleeve opening:
- XS: 6.5
- S: 7
- M: 7.5
- L: 8
- XL: 8.5
- 2XL: 9
- 3XL: 9.5
- 4XL: 10
Arm Sleeves (make 2):
The arm sleeves are made in rounds, starting from the widest opening (shoulder) to the smallest (wrists). The arm sleeve pattern is written for very long sleeves to make them cozy. Feel free to shorten them if you prefer.
Start with color A: Ch 30 (32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44) and sl st the last ch to the first ch (chain count = stitch count for the first round)
R1: 1 atc, 1 dc in each ch, sl st to the 1st st
Rows below follow this pattern (unless mentioned otherwise):
1 atc, 1 dc dec, 1 dc in each st, sl st to the 1st st
R2 – 5: Color B
R6 – 7: Color A
R8 – 10: Color B
R11 – 13: Color A
You should have now this many stitches per round: 18 (20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32)
Now follow this pattern: 1 atc, 1 dc in each ch, sl st to the 1st st
R14 – 15: Color B
R16 – 19: Color A
R20: Color B
Crochet in Color A for the following:
Size XS and S:
R21 –23: 1 atc, 1 dc in each st, sl st to the 1st st
R24: 1 atc, *1 fpdc, 1 bpdc, repeat from * to end, sl st to 1st st
Size M, L and XL:
R21 –24: 1 atc, 1 dc in each st, sl st to the 1st st
R25: 1 atc, *1 fpdc, 1 bpdc, repeat from * to end, sl st to 1st st
Size 2XL, 3XL and 4XL:
R21 –25: 1 atc, 1 dc in each st, sl st to the 1st st
R26: 1 atc, *1 fpdc, 1 bpdc, repeat from * to end, sl st to 1st st
Now sew on the sleeves to the arm sleeve opening using the mattress stitch (figure 2).
Band/Edging of the Cardigan opening in the front and around the neck
Attach color B on one bottom corner of one of the front panels (figure 3)
R1: 1 atc, then crochet dc’s all around evenly (likely 2 dc’s per row), turn
R2 – 6: 1 atc, 1 dc in each st, turn
Feel free to add more rows for the edging and add buttons if you like. Fasten off and weave in all the ends. You are now done and can enjoy your cardigan
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