sleeveless Top Crochet Pattern — Retro Lantern Motif Vest, XS to 5X

A sleeveless crochet top built from columns of retro lantern motifs — ogee shapes in three colours with a flower at the centre of each — finished with a ribbed waist, ribbed armholes and a neat little Peter Pan collar fastened with a single button. It's the seventies-cardigan look worn as a vest, and it goes over a shirt or on its own.

Seven sizes, three lengths

XS through 5X, graded by actual chest measurement from 65 cm to 170 cm — not three sizes and a shrug. And each size comes in three lengths (short, medium and long), with a full table of finished measurements so you can see exactly what you're committing to before you start.

The length table deliberately excludes the waist ribbing, because you choose how deep to make that — so the real finished length is yours to set. There's a worked example showing how the designer's own 35 cm size-1A body plus 5 cm of ribbing came to 40 cm shoulder to waist.

What you get

• 18-page PDF, instant download after purchase
• US crochet terms, written in six clearly numbered sections: information, sizing, colours, making the lanterns, joining the lanterns, adding the ribbing
• Illustrated diagrams throughout, with the joining rows drawn in a contrasting colour so you can see exactly where each lantern meets the next
• A colour-order chart telling you how many lanterns to make in each colour sequence for your size and length
• Guidance on choosing between sizes if you fall in between — size down for a closer fit, up for a relaxed one

How it's built

You make the lanterns first, then join them. Each one is a rounded ogee worked in rounds from a centre flower outward, and the chart tells you how many you need in each of the three colour orders (A–B–C, B–A–C and so on) so the columns stagger properly rather than repeating in stripes.

The joining is worked, not sewn — the rows between lanterns are crocheted in as you assemble, which is why the fabric stays flexible and the seams don't sit as ridges. The diagrams colour these rows orange so they're easy to pick out.

The ribbing goes on last: waist, then both armholes on a bigger hook, then the collar. That's the order that keeps the shoulders sitting flat.

Skills & materials

• Advanced beginner. The pattern says it plainly — you just need the basics. blo, ch, ch sp, sc, hdc, dc, tc, slst, yo
• Weight 2 (fine / 4 ply) — the sample is Katia Capri — or weight 3 (8 ply / DK / light worsted) if you check your gauge
• Three colours. 3 balls of each for the smallest sizes up to 7 balls of each for 5X (1 ball = 50 g / 125 m). Sample is white, yellow and green
• 3.5 mm, 4 mm and 5 mm hooks (depending on size and gauge), tapestry needle, tape measure
• One small button, about 1 cm, for the collar

Please note

This is a digital PDF pattern, not a finished garment. No physical item is shipped. Because of the nature of instant downloads, the file is non-refundable. For personal use — please don't resell or redistribute the file.

Your PDF link arrives by email as soon as your payment goes through, and it's also on your order confirmation page. Save the file somewhere safe, it's yours to keep.

Because a pattern can't be handed back once it's downloaded, digital orders aren't refundable. If something is wrong with the file or a round doesn't add up, email us and we'll sort it out.