Cream and Chocolate Art Deco Fan Hanging Curtain Crochet Pattern

This curtain is a hanging cascade of cream Art Deco fans on fine chocolate brown chain strands. Each fan is shaped like a little shell, pointed at the bottom and rounded at the top, with brown arcs that trace its curves like lines in an old drawing. A scalloped brown dome crowns every fan, and a small brown knot hangs just below its point. Between the fans sit tiny cream bead flowers with brown centers, and whole strands of these little flowers hang between the fan strands. The look is elegant and a little bit vintage, like a window in a grand old hotel.

At the top is a cream lace valance made of ten pointed triangles. Each triangle is worked as a small granny triangle in open rows of double crochet, then edged in chocolate brown along its two sloped sides, so the points form a crisp brown zigzag. The triangles are joined across their tops with two rows of cream single crochet, and a third row wraps the band around eleven dark bronze curtain rings. The rings slide easily on a wooden rod, so the curtain opens and closes smoothly and always hangs straight.

Below the valance there are nineteen strands. Ten fan strands hang from the points of the triangles, and nine bead strands hang from the places where two triangles meet. Every fan strand carries six fans with a bead flower above each fan and one at the end, so it holds seven bead flowers. Every bead strand carries fourteen bead flowers spaced evenly down its length. The fan strands take turns starting high and low, which staggers the fans into a soft diagonal rhythm across the window, and every strand ends in a short cream tassel.

The fans are worked in rows from a magic ring at the point. The first two rows of cream double crochet open into a small fan, then a row of brown single crochet draws the first arc. Two more cream rows widen the fan, and a brown row of shells finishes it with a scalloped dome. The bead flowers are tiny: a brown center, a cream round and six little petals. The strands are worked by chaining down from the valance, sewing on bead flowers, slipping into the top of each fan, carrying the chain behind it and coming out at the point.

The finished curtain measures about 120 cm wide and 180 cm long (47 by 71 inches) from the top of the rings to the tips of the tassels. That suits a standard window, a tall single window or a French door. I used worsted weight cotton and a 5.0 mm hook, which gives the fans a solid, crisp shape and helps the strands hang heavy and straight. Cotton also keeps the two colors clean and sharp, so the brown arcs stay bold against the cream.

What I love about the finished curtain is how it looks in different light. In the morning, the sun shines through the gaps between the strands and the fans look like little lanterns with dark outlines. In the afternoon, the light turns the cream golden and the brown deep and rich. It gives a room privacy and a sense of style without hiding the view, so you still see the trees outside through the fans. It moves gently when a window is open, and the fans turn just a little on their strands.

I rate this pattern Intermediate. You only need chains, slip stitches, single crochet and double crochet, plus a simple puff stitch for the little knots. The challenge is the number of pieces, sixty fans and almost two hundred bead flowers, and keeping your color changes neat. If you have made a few small motifs and can follow rows with stitch counts, you can make this. Plan on about seventy to eighty-five hours. It suits a patient maker who enjoys small pieces and loves a classic, elegant look.

I fell in love with this design because of old Art Deco buildings. I have always loved the fan shapes you see over doorways, on mirrors and in old theaters, with their strong lines and graceful curves. One day I sketched a fan with brown arcs on the back of an envelope and thought it would make a beautiful curtain motif. The first fan I crocheted came out just like the drawing, and when I hung it in the window with the light behind it, I knew I had to make a whole curtain.

The thing I love most is how portable the pieces are. Each fan takes one short sitting, and the bead flowers take only a few minutes each. I kept a little basket with a ball of cream, a ball of brown, a hook and a needle by my chair, and I made bead flowers during the evening news and fans on quiet weekend mornings. By the time I started joining the strands, I had a big pile of pieces ready, and it felt like opening a treasure box.

This project also taught me how to make clean color changes. With two strong colors, every messy join shows. I learned to finish each cream row, fasten off neatly and join the brown with a slip stitch in the very first stitch, then weave the ends along the row of the same color. It takes a little longer, but the fans look so much crisper. I also learned to count every shell on the dome, because one missed skip makes the scallops lopsided.

Here is what keeps me coming back to this design:

• Classic cream and brown that suits almost any room
• Small pieces that fit in a tiny project basket
• Fans that look like little works of art on their own
• A window that feels elegant and warm all day long

It is also a wonderful gift. I made a shorter version for my niece when she moved into her first apartment, and she says friends always ask where she bought it. A handmade curtain is something a person sees every single day, so it becomes a small part of their home. The cream and brown colors are easy to love, and they fit a farmhouse kitchen as well as a modern living room.

This curtain is kind to your stash, too. The bead flowers take only a little yarn each, so all those half balls of cream and brown from other projects can go straight into them. You can even mix two slightly different creams across the bead strands, because the small pieces hide the difference. The scraps at the end make perfect tassel wraps, and I had almost nothing left when I was finished.

Most of all, I love the slow satisfaction of it. There is a special moment when you hang the last strand and step back to see the whole window at once. All those small evenings of fans and flowers suddenly become one grand, elegant piece. It reminds me why I love crochet so much, and I hope it brings you the same feeling every time you walk past your window.

The easiest change is the color pair. Cream and chocolate is warm and classic, but these fans look striking in many combinations. White fans with navy arcs feel fresh and coastal. Ivory fans with golden arcs look rich and festive. Blush pink fans with white arcs are sweet for a bedroom or a nursery, and sage green fans with cream arcs bring a calm garden feeling. For a bold kitchen, try red fans with white arcs, or white fans with red arcs for a cheerful farmhouse touch.

You can change the width to fit your window. Each valance triangle is about 12 cm (4.75 inches) wide and carries one fan strand, and every join between two triangles carries one bead strand. For a narrow window, make 5 triangles with 5 fan strands and 4 bead strands, about 60 cm wide. That takes 30 fans and 91 bead flowers. For any width, the bead strands always number one less than the fan strands.

Length is just as easy to change. Each extra fan, with its bead flower and links, adds about 23 cm (9 inches) to a fan strand, and each bead strand needs two more bead flowers to keep up. For a door about 210 cm tall, keep 10 triangles and work 8 fans per strand. That gives 80 fans and 252 bead flowers in all. For a room divider about 170 cm wide and 230 cm tall, make 14 triangles with 9 fans per strand, which takes 126 fans and 400 bead flowers.

• Narrow window: 5 fan strands of 6 fans, about 60 by 180 cm
• Standard window: 10 fan strands of 6 fans, about 120 by 180 cm
• Door: 10 fan strands of 8 fans, about 120 by 210 cm
• Room divider: 14 fan strands of 9 fans, about 170 by 230 cm

A short cafe curtain is a lovely first version. Keep the 10 triangles but work only 3 fans on each fan strand and 8 bead flowers on each bead strand. That takes 30 fans and 112 bead flowers and hangs about 100 cm (39 inches) long. It covers the lower half of a kitchen or bathroom window, gives you privacy and still lets plenty of light in at the top.

For a doorway curtain that people walk through, leave off the valance and hang each strand from its own ring. Use only fan strands, placed close together, about 8 cm apart, so the opening looks full. Leave off the tassels, or make them very small, because long tassels tangle quickly when people pass. Choose a sturdy cotton, and give each strand a good tug before you hang it so it has already stretched as much as it will.

The tassels are easy to change, too. For neat little tassels, wrap the yarn around a 5 cm piece of cardboard, and for long flowing ones, use a 12 cm piece. Brown tassels on the fan strands and cream tassels on the bead strands add a nice rhythm along the bottom. You can also skip the tassels and end each strand with one more bead flower, which gives a tidy, dotted hem.

Finally, you can change the yarn weight. A sport or DK cotton with a 3.5 mm (E-4) hook makes fans about 8 cm wide, and the same counts give a curtain of about 85 by 130 cm, perfect for a small window. A bulky cotton with a 6 mm (J-10) hook makes big fans, so a large window needs fewer strands. Whatever you choose, make one fan and one bead flower first, block them and measure them before planning.