A filet-style top that can be worked longer as a shift dress. It uses the clover stitch to build an open, decorative fabric, and it is versatile in a way most crocheted garments are not – wearable as a beach cover-up, over a tank top or t-shirt with jeans, or over a light dress or slip.
Worked in fine to medium mercerised cotton.
Why mercerised cotton
Mercerising is a treatment that makes cotton stronger, smoother and noticeably more lustrous. For an open stitch pattern like this it matters: the shine catches light along the stitch edges and makes the filet structure read clearly, where a matte yarn would look flat.
It also resists stretching better than untreated cotton, which is worth having in a garment with large open spaces that would otherwise sag under their own weight.
Layering
The open fabric is the whole design, which means what goes underneath is part of the finished look. Plan for it. A contrasting slip or a plain tank changes the garment completely, and the same tunic reads as beachwear or as evening depending on the layer beneath.
Make a swatch and hold it over the things you intend to wear it with. Some colour combinations that sound good are muddy in practice.
Sizing an open garment
Filet fabric stretches, particularly in cotton, and particularly under its own weight in a longer dress version. Work slightly smaller than your finished measurement rather than adding ease.
If you are making the dress length, be aware the extra weight pulls harder. A firmer gauge is worth the extra effort.
Blocking
Essential. Filet crochet looks like an uneven mesh straight off the hook and only becomes crisp and geometric once wetted and pinned out square.
Block the pieces before seaming, and block the finished garment again after. Measure only after blocking – an unblocked measurement will mislead you by inches.
Care
Wash gently and dry flat. Hanging a wet open-work cotton garment will stretch it out of shape.
