Crochet playing cards

Hi,
I’d like to crochet playing cards for my Doppelkopf club.
For example, the Ace of Diamonds, Ace of Hearts, Ace of Spades, and Ace of Clubs.
Does anyone have a crochet pattern for these?

I’d appreciate your help.

Best regards,
Katja

Great idea

Hey there… I haven’t seen anything like that before. Great idea!

How big are you planning to make them? To hang on the wall, as decoration, and so on? Or do you want to use them as playing cards?
Maybe one of the pros here will like the idea so much that he or she will create a pattern for it?
That would be great, of course.

I think sewing them would be easier than crocheting.
You’d basically just need white fabric for the front and fabric of your choice for the back.
And then just sew on a few appliqués on the front—though you could probably just enlarge regular playing cards and use them as a template. Although, playing cards aren’t actually solid-colored—what do you even call the front side? You know, the colors and everything? There was a word for it, but I’ve forgotten it.

Too bad there aren’t any patterns for this yet. After all, there are plenty of people who love to play cards.

@Katja
have you found a good crochet pattern for crocheted playing cards yet?

Hi Sundown,

no, unfortunately not yet.
My idea is to crochet a fox because that’s our club mascot.
Then I’d like to crochet a playing card and attach it to the fox. So it doesn’t have to be very big. But I’m flexible about the size too. The card could be between 5 and 10 cm in size. I’d most like to crochet an ace of diamonds.

Best regards
Kati

Hi Kati

maybe someone can give you a good tip on how to crochet an ace of diamonds. That narrows things down a bit—you don’t have to crochet an entire deck of cards with all the suits and symbols. That would be quite a lot of work.
But with the ace of diamonds, there’s a lot of white and just a little red on it : ) Yeah, I know—it’s not quite that simple when it comes to patterns. But that’s the basic idea, at least.
So, to crochet a playing card, I’d actually just use single crochet stitches; with double crochet stitches, etc., you can see right through them, and they’re way too loose. I’d make a white front using single crochet—so with white yarn—and a dark back using black or gray yarn. That would mean two crocheted rectangles. That way, the whole thing would actually be doable and not too heavy.

Of course, you could also spice up the back a bit—with some kind of pattern or something—but oh well. On the back, you could maybe alternate between a row of black yarn and a row of gray yarn, and work the contrasting-color strand back into the piece at the end of each row using the turning chain stitch. So, essentially, you’d crochet each row using just one color, but use both strands for the turning chain. So that would be one right side row and one wrong side row in one color, then a color change, followed by a right side row and a wrong side row in the other color, and another color change. Or you could use other patterns—there’s plenty you can experiment with—but first, the front should be done; that’s more important than the back in this case, at least. After all, the backs of playing cards in a deck always look the same.

But anyway. First, get the front right. Then you can make more or less complicated patterns on the back. : )

How about using a regular playing card as a size template and crocheting both the front and back? It’s best to use a relatively small hook and thin yarn so the whole thing turns out nice and tight. If it’s nice and tight, you’ll be able to hold it comfortably in your hand. I think it might feel a bit like a stiff pot holder when you hold it, but that’s okay. It’s not ideal for a pot holder, but it works perfectly well for a playing card.
Maybe a size 2.5 or 3 hook?
You’ll still need to reinforce it with some cardboard, though.
So just make sure you adjust the number of stitches so that the width and height are roughly right. Don’t forget the turning chains at the beginning; otherwise, you won’t get that nice, smooth edge or a consistent number of stitches. And keep checking the original playing card every now and then to see if the width and height are working out.
So you won’t be able to avoid counting stitches. Even if it’s not exactly fun, and you’ll need a gauge in this case too, because with the playing card, every stitch counts, and the edges should be nice and even. If they aren’t, you might just iron out the irregularities when sewing the front and back together.

And then embroider the diamonds. Since I don’t know how to crochet them, embroidery might be a good option. By the time you’ve spent that long trying to figure out how to crochet them, the embroidery will probably be finished long ago. Just embroider the diamonds with some red silk thread. I don’t know how to recreate the slightly curved lines of the diamond shape you see on some playing cards, but if necessary, they’ll just end up being straighter and not as curved. And then you can either fill the diamond in with red, or just make horizontal or vertical lines until the red diamond is visible. Or leave the diamond empty so that you can only tell it’s there because of the outline—in other words, so that the diamond symbol is just hinted at.
So, just make the lines by using a darning needle or wool needle with thread to stitch from the back to the front, and then, once you’ve reached the desired width, bring the thread back to the back, and then start again from the back to the front a little higher or lower for the next line.
I wish I knew the technical terms for this. Given the size, though, you’ll probably only need three or four lines at most. So,

once you’re done embroidering, weave in ends, but make sure to do it on the back of the white crocheted piece so that the red thread doesn’t interfere with the pattern on the white front.
Then place the front and back pieces on top of each other and sew three sides together, either with a darning needle or a crochet hook. I’d do this from the wrong side, not the right side—essentially turning it inside out. I’d leave the narrow bottom edge open so you can still insert the cardboard for stabilization. Before you insert the cardboard, be sure to turn it right side out first, of course. If you’re skipping the cardboard, sew it closed just enough so that you can still turn the whole thing right side out—or turn it inside out, so to speak. Then sew up the remaining opening, or tuck the remaining thread discreetly somewhere at the bottom back and weave in the ends. Always tie a good knot—you don’t want anything to come undone.

I’m no pro, and I’m not writing a pattern.
For this post, I’m not drawing on my actual skills, but only on memories of skills I should have learned in needlework class.
But since there obviously aren’t any ready-made patterns for this and no one seems willing to make any, you’ll probably have no choice but to experiment, try things out, and see how it goes and how you manage.

A pattern for the animal you want, on the other hand, should be relatively easy to find.