Meadow Flower: a Free Crochet Flower Pattern

What you'll make

Meadow Flower is a small flower with five rounded petals and a round centre, with a leaf that peeks out from behind it. The pattern is free for personal use. The whole thing fits on one page.

It is an easy crochet flower: three rounds for the flower and one more for the leaf. Sew it on a bag or a hat, or add a pin back and wear it as a crochet flower brooch.

Is it right for a beginner?

Yes. This is a beginner pattern, written in US crochet terms. You need five stitches: chain, slip stitch, single crochet, half double crochet and double crochet.

The only step that may be new is the start. You can use a magic ring, or chain 4 and join with a slip stitch to make a ring. Either one works, so pick the one you like.

You work the flower with the right side facing and you do not turn. That keeps every round simple.

What you need

You need very little. Three colours of cotton, a hook and a needle are the whole shopping list.

• Yarn: worsted-weight (#4) cotton in three colours, about 3 yds (3 m) of A (centre), 6 yds (5.5 m) of B (petals) and 5 yds (4.5 m) of C (leaf).
• Hook: US G-6 (4 mm).
• Notions: tapestry needle; a pin back or a button (optional).

How big is the flower?

The flower is about 2¾ in (7 cm) across. The leaf is about 2½ in (6.5 cm) long.

Gauge is not critical. As a check, the first round measures about ¾ in (2 cm) across.

The three colours add up to about 14 yds (13 m), so one small ball of each is far more than you need.

Abbreviations (US terms)

These are the US crochet terms the pattern uses.

• ch: chain
• sl st: slip stitch
• sc: single crochet
• hdc: half double crochet
• dc: double crochet
• sp(s): space(s)
• st(s): stitch(es)
• ( ): work everything inside the parentheses into the same space
• *: repeat the instructions after the * as directed

The free crochet flower pattern

US crochet terms. Work the flower with the right side facing; do not turn. The leaf is a separate piece, worked along both sides of a chain. Sew it behind a petal when both are done.

• Start: With A, make a magic ring (or ch 4 and join with a sl st to form a ring).
• Round 1: Ch 1, 10 sc in the ring. Pull the ring tight and join with a sl st to the first sc. Fasten off A. (10 sc)
• Round 2: Join B in any sc. Ch 1, sc in the same st, ch 3, skip the next st, *sc in the next st, ch 3, skip the next st; rep from * 3 more times. Join to the first sc. (5 ch-3 sps)
• Round 3: *(Sc, hdc, 3 dc, hdc, sc) in the next ch-3 sp; rep from * 4 more times. Join to the first sc and fasten off. (5 petals)
• Leaf, Round 4: With C, ch 9. Sc in the 2nd ch from the hook, hdc in the next ch, dc in the next 3 ch, hdc in the next ch, sc in the next ch, 3 sc in the last ch; working along the other side of the chain, sc in the next ch, hdc in the next ch, dc in the next 3 ch, hdc in the next ch, sc in the last ch. Join to the first sc and fasten off. (17 sts)
• Finishing: Weave in the ends on the back. Sew the leaf behind the flower so it peeks out between two petals.
• Finishing: Sew the flower to a bag or a hat, or sew a pin back to the back of the leaf.

How the petals are made

Round 1 is a small ring of 10 single crochet in colour A. That is the centre.

Round 2 is the frame. You join colour B and work a single crochet, then chain 3 and skip a stitch. Do that five times and you have 5 chain-3 spaces. Each space will hold one petal.

Round 3 is where the petals appear. In each chain-3 space you work one group: sc, hdc, 3 dc, hdc, sc. The stitches grow from short to tall and back to short, which gives each petal its rounded shape. Do it in all five spaces and you have 5 petals.

If a round looks off, count. Round 1 should have 10 sc, round 2 should have 5 ch-3 spaces and round 3 should have 5 petals.

Ways to use it

Meadow Flower is a flower for a bag, a hat or a gift tag. A few ways to finish it:

• On a bag: sew the flower to the front, with the leaf behind a petal.
• On a hat: sew it to the side or the brim.
• As a pin: sew a pin back to the back of the leaf and wear it as a crochet flower brooch.
• On a gift tag: sew it to a tag or tie it on with the yarn.
• As a crochet flower applique: sew it onto any plain piece that needs a small touch of colour. A button in the centre is optional.

Using up leftover cotton

This is a good way to use up leftover yarn. You need only about 3 yds of A, 6 yds of B and 5 yds of C, so the ends of old balls are plenty.

The pattern is written for worsted-weight (#4) cotton, so keep to that weight if you can. Choose a centre colour that stands out from the petals, and a leaf colour that sits well beside both. Then make a few in different colour sets.

The crochet leaf pattern is its own small piece, so you can also make extra leaves in C and use them with other flowers.

Following it in Row & Round

Row & Round is an iPhone and iPad app for following knitting and crochet patterns. Open a PDF pattern in it and a highlighter bar sits on the row you are working. Tap +1 and the count and the bar move together.

Crochet projects count in rounds, which suits this pattern: the flower is Rounds 1 to 3 and the leaf is Round 4. Tap Undo if you tap by mistake. Your place is saved on every tap.

Row & Round also has linked counters and row alerts, for patterns with longer repeats. For a four-round flower you may only need the bar and +1.