Mandella's Romantic Victorian Vest Pattern
- Purls & Top Knots
- Jul 17, 2025
- 2 min read
A while back I posted about a crochet vest (below) that I made based off of one briefly worn by Mandella in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You.
I was blown away by how many people were interested in a tutorial or a pattern! The pattern is actually a vintage pattern from a magazine from the 1970s which I will be sharing below!
A few notes since this is a vintage pattern:
Yarn: The pattern calls for Brunswick Pomfret Sport yarn. This yarn is discontinued so any weight 2 sport yarn will work. I used Estako Happy Cotton. You will probably need 2 skeins of whatever primary color you decide to use for the vest and 1 skein of your contrasting color. I recommend using a cotton yarn over an acrylic or wool yarn.
Hook size: The pattern calls for a steel crochet hook in either the size No. 1 or No. 0. There's some varying information about exactly what size these hooks are but it is somewhere between 2.0mm-3.0mm. You might have to play around with the hook size until you get the right gauge (4 inches x 4 inches). For me, I ended up using a 2.5mm hook for my first vest. It ended up being slightly big on me so for my second time around I am using a 2.0mm hook.
Sizing: The pattern only has instructions for 2 sizes (small - 15" from arm pit to arm pit under bust / medium - 17" from arm pit to arm pit under best). If you need to adjust this measurement, divide whatever your desired measurement is by 4 and make that your new gauge number. So if I needed it to be 20 inches across, I would divide 20/4 which gives me 5 inches. So each square would need to measure 5 inches by 5 inches. I would size up my hook until I get this gauge, and if necessary, you can also switch your yarn to a size 3 or thicker. Similarly, if you need it smaller than 15 inches, size down your hook until you get your desired size.
Other than that the rest of the pattern is pretty self explanatory! If you have any questions leave them in the comments below and I will try my best to help you!
I am in the process of making a YouTube tutorial explaining in more detail how to follow this pattern so stay tuned for that, it should be out very soon!
If you would like a downloadable version of this pattern I will have that linked below.
Happy crafting!
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