Boleros and shrugs can use a large back square, folded motifs, or separate sleeves and cuffs. These seven free designs show different garment constructions from their original creators.
1. Tulip Square Shrug by Wilmade
Wilma Westenberg turned her Tulips from Holland square into a lightweight layering shrug: a large textured granny square on the back, double-crochet front panels, flat sleeves seamed into tubes and a ribbed collar worked in the round. Sizes run S to 5XL (34 to 64 inch bust), and the sample uses Lion Brand Touch of Alpaca, a medium 4 weight, with an 8 mm (L/11) hook, so it works up quickly. Yarn needs go from 4 skeins in S to 7 in 5XL, and the length changes from 24.5 to 28.5 inches at 2XL. A video tutorial and an ad-free PDF are offered too. Open the pattern.
2. Crochet Modern Granny Shrug by The Crochet Crowd
Jeanne Steinhilber’s shrug is really one big granny square that you fold and seam, and she credits a “recipe” from Mariavalles Handmade as her starting point. Size comes from the finished square: 36 inches for XS to M, 38 inches for XL to 2XL and 40 inches for 3XL to 5XL. After folding, seam from eight inches below the fold, then add cuffs and a border around the opening. It uses about 4 skeins of Caron Cakes (26 oz total) and a 5.5 mm hook, and it is rated easy. Open the pattern.
3. Granny Square Shrug Cardigan by Ginell’s Crochet Therapy
This link goes to a YouTube video rather than a written pattern. Ginell’s Crochet Therapy shows how a large granny square becomes a shrug cardigan, so it is useful if you learn better by watching the fold, the arm opening and the finishing steps than by reading rows. There is no written pattern to print from this link, so keep the video open next to your work and pause at each stage. Watch the tutorial.
4. Faerie Grannie Shrug by HayHay Crochet
Heather Brooke’s Faerie Grannie Shrug is worked top down as a raglan, starting from a 72-chain foundation and growing into a granny-style rectangle. You increase at four corners to reach the underarms, join the corners for armholes, then add sleeves in the round at whatever length you like. It uses worsted or aran weight (#4) yarn and a 6 mm hook. The designer says it is beginner-friendly and can be made in any size just by working extra rounds, and there is a video tutorial on the page. Open the pattern.
5. Granny Square Bolero/Shrug by DIY From Home
DIY From Home’s shrug is a video-first pattern: the full construction is shown in the video tutorial using basic chain, slip stitch, double crochet and half double crochet. The page lists two skeins of Loops & Threads Soft & Shiny yarn and a 5 mm hook, plus an optional stitch marker. The written PDF is sold separately, so if you want a printed pattern you will need to buy it. Good for a beginner who is comfortable following along with a video. Watch the tutorial.
6. Granny Stripe Crochet Shrug
Susan at A Box of Twine makes this shrug from one long rectangle in a three-color granny stripe of double crochet, then seams the long edges to form the sleeves. The rectangle is 18 inches wide by 60 inches long before seaming. It uses size 4 medium yarn (Lion Brand Pound of Love in the sample, which is 1,020 yards per skein) and a J (6 mm) hook, and the page says it takes about eight hours. The stripe colors use roughly 230 to 270 yards each.
7. Granny’s Cabin Shrug
Shelby’s Granny’s Cabin Shrug is built from traditional granny squares: ten 8-round squares joined with a join-as-you-go method, four squares for each sleeve and two for the body panels, with more squares added to size up. The ribbing on the sleeve and hem edges finishes it. It needs about 450 to 600 grams of worsted weight (#4) yarn depending on size, and a 5.5 mm hook. Over 60 testers made it, and their colorways are shared on the designer’s Instagram.
