Crochet doilies are a delightful way to add beauty and grace to any room. Often recognized as a labor of love, a delicate, handmade doily is a unique way to create a homey and hospitable atmosphere. In the list below, we’ve included a variety of free crochet doily patterns for both beginning crocheters and advanced crocheters alike. Enjoy!

photo collage of crochet doilies

Intro to Crochet Doilies

Crochet doilies are delicate, decorative pieces that add beauty to a variety of settings. While doilies are often made with crochet thread, many modern patterns are crocheted with heavier weights such as sport, DK, or worsted. Most doily patterns are circular and crocheted in the round, though you will also find a variety of square, rectangular, or oval patterns.

What can you do with a doily?

Doilies are perfect for protecting tables, dressers, or other surfaces by holding plants, dishes, teapots, and home decor. In addition, they can be hung up as wall decorations or stitched together to form a lacy table runner.

Are doilies hard to make?

Crochet doilies come in a variety of difficulty levels, from easy to experienced. However, if you’re just learning to crochet, it may be wise to get a few simpler projects under your belt before beginning on a crochet doily. This is mainly because the lightweight threads and yarns and small hooks used for doilies can be challenging to work with for first-time crocheters.

When you do decide to make your first doily, it’s helpful to look for a pattern that suggests a heavier-weight yarn, such as DK or worsted. In addition, choose a pattern that includes only basic stitches.

27 Free Crochet Doily Patterns

Enjoy these free crochet doily patterns for both beginner and advanced crocheters alike.

Supplies for Crocheting Doilies

To make your crochet doily, you’ll need the following:

  • Yarn (or crochet thread)
  • Crochet hook
  • Blocking tools
  • Notions (yarn needle, scissors, etc.)

Recommended Yarn for Doilies

Most doilies utilize lace-weight cotton thread. However, you will find a variety of patterns in the list below that can be made with a heavier-weight, thicker yarn.

If you haven’t used crochet thread before, it may take a little thinking to wrap your mind around the way that thread sizes work. With regular yarns, higher numbers coincide with thicker and heavier yarns. With thread, however, the opposite is true. Higher numbers indicate thinner threads. 

Crochet thread is available in sizes 3 to 100, though sizes 3-10 are most common for doilies, with 3 being the thickest (similar to a sport- or fingering-weight yarn).

Common threads used for crochet doilies include:

  • Aunt Lydia’s Fashion Crochet Thread Size 3
  • Aunt Lydia’s Fashion Crochet Thread Size 5
  • Aunt Lydia’s Classic Crochet Size 10
  • Knit Picks Curio #10

In the list below, however, you’ll also find thicker yarns used, including:

  • Scheepjes Catona
  • King Cole Cottonsoft DK
  • Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton
  • King Cole Aran

Recommended Hooks

For crochet thread, steel hooks are recommended (often referred to as thread hooks). Check your pattern to find the recommended size for your thread.

For fingering through worsted-weight yarn, we highly recommend the Amour hook set for making doilies.

Tips for Crocheting Doilies

Check out these tips for crocheting your first doily.

Read the pattern notes.

Before getting started on your doily, it’s important to make sure that you understand all of the stitches and abbreviations included in your pattern. If anything looks unfamiliar, take some time to research and practice before beginning, or choose another pattern.

Start with thicker yarn.

If you’re just venturing into the world of doilies, you’ll likely find it easiest to work with a regular yarn, such as sport, DK, or worsted weight, rather than crochet thread. Look for a pattern that suggests one of these yarn choices. Alternatively, you can swap out a suggested crochet thread for regular yarn, but keep in mind that your finished doily will be larger than the indicated size.

Choose a pattern with pictures and/or a video tutorial.

For beginners, finding a pattern that includes a video tutorial or at least plenty of pictures can be extremely helpful. 

Use stitch markers

Doilies are generally worked in the round and require plenty of precise stitches. Make it easier on yourself, and make use of your stitch markers!

Block your doily

You’ve worked so hard on your doily! For best results, make time for the final step of blocking your doily to help it keep its beautiful shape. There are multiple blocking methods, but this technique generally involves dampening, pinning, and then letting your doily dry in its shape.

Explore More Free Crochet Patterns

Here are some other articles that you may be interested in if you like to crochet.

What’s Next?

Pin this post: Save this tutorial to your Pinterest boards so that you can come back to it later.

Leave a comment: We love to hear your feedback. Tell me in the comments below!

Share on Instagram or Facebook: When you make this project, share it on social media and tag me @sarahmaker_. We love to see what you make!

Have questions? Join the Facebook Group!

We hope this article was useful for you! If you have any additional questions, feel free to join my Facebook Group. We created this group for you to share pictures, ask questions, and help each other out.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

2 Comments

  1. Imma Scamer says:

    I love doilies!! Tell me more about what I can do with them 🙂

  2. nascar4433 says:

    I’ve been searcing for weeks for patterns for rectangular (or square) doilies that can be used as “antimacassar” sets of soaf arm & head covers for a friend. She requested me to make some new ones for her, as the ones her mother made for her over 60 years ago are wearing out. It’s really hard to find pretty lacy doily patterns that aren’t round, and the 1940s era patterns I’ve tried are too complicated for me to figure out, as they aren’t written in “today’s” version of patterns that give clear instructions and widely-accepted abbreviations. Thanks for any suggestions you may have!

Similar Posts