Filet Crochet for Beginners: Your First Project
Written by the Filet Crochet Chart Builder team · Updated
The best first filet project is a small, bold motif that reads clearly even if your counting slips by a square. This walkthrough takes you from picking a chart to a finished piece, and points you at the patterns that are most forgiving to learn on.
Before this guide
Start with a forgiving motif
Choose a simple, solid shape — a heart, a star, a simple flower, or a single letter. Avoid busy designs with many separate regions for your first attempt. The Easy Beginner collection gathers motifs chosen specifically because they survive a small miscount.
Make your foundation
Filet starts with a foundation chain roughly three times the number of squares wide, plus a few extra chains to turn. Work the first row of blocks and spaces across, then turn. Keeping the first and last squares as blocks gives the design a tidy edge to count from.
Work the chart row by row
Read the chart from the bottom up, alternating direction each row, making a block for each filled square and a space for each empty one. Tick off each row as you finish it. If you lose your place, count squares from the nearest edge rather than guessing.
Block the finished piece
When you fasten off, wet or steam block the piece and pin it square to open up the mesh and sharpen the blocks. Blocking is what turns a slightly wobbly grid into the crisp, even fabric filet is known for. Add a simple border if you want a finished edge.
Ready to try it?
Open the editorRelated patterns
Practice projects
Put this guide to work on a motif chosen to match what you just learned.