Digital patterns
Make a layered crochet water lily with purple petals, a yellow centre and a wrapped stem. This free written pattern takes you through two petal sizes, short and long stamens, and the assembly steps, with photos to help you follow the construction.
Display your finished flower on its own or use it as the focal point of a handmade arrangement. Browse our free crochet flower and leaf patterns for pieces to make alongside it.
Materials
- Yarn: purple for the petals, yellow for the centre and stamens, green for the upper stem, and light brown for the lower stem. Choose a yarn that makes firm, workable stitches with your hook.
- Crochet hook: 2.5 mm as a starting point; adjust if necessary for your yarn and tension.
- Flower rod: approximately 40 cm long and 2 mm in diameter.
- Thin floral wire: approximately 0.4 mm in diameter, for the petal edges and long stamens. Prepare nine 20 cm lengths for the long stamens.
- Stuffing: a small amount of fibre fill or clean yarn scraps for the centre.
- Tapestry needle, scissors, wire cutters and a stitch marker.
- Hot glue and a glue gun for assembly.
Keep wire ends covered and handle hot glue carefully. This wired flower is intended for decorative display.
Difficulty, Gauge and Pattern Notes
Skill level: intermediate. You will work around both sides of a foundation chain, crochet over wire, use front and back loops, shape a small centre with decreases, and attach the separate pieces to a stem.
Gauge: no fixed gauge is required for this decorative flower. Yarn weight, hook size and tension will affect its finished size. Use the same yarn and hook for all petals so the layers remain consistent.
- This pattern uses US crochet terminology.
- Unless stated otherwise, work one stitch into each of the next stitches. For example, sc 3 means one single crochet in each of the next three stitches.
- An increase means two single crochet stitches in the same stitch.
- For joined rounds, slip stitch into the first stitch and chain 1 where instructed. The joining slip stitch and starting chain do not count as stitches.
- The petals are worked around the foundation chain. Rotate the piece at the tip to work along the opposite side of the chain; do not turn it into a flat back-and-forth row.
- Petal counts list the crochet stitches separately from the chain at the pointed tip.
Stitches and Abbreviations
- ch: chain
- sc: single crochet
- hdc: half double crochet
- dc: double crochet
- ss: slip stitch
- st / sts: stitch / stitches
- inc: increase; work 2 sc in the same stitch
- sc2tog: single crochet two stitches together; a decrease
- FLO: front loops only
- BLO: back loops only
- R: round or numbered step, as indicated
- [ ]: stitch count at the end of the round
Single Crochet Two Together: sc2tog
Insert your hook into the next stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop. Insert the hook into the following stitch, yarn over and pull up another loop. You now have three loops on the hook. Yarn over and pull through all three loops. Two stitches have become one.
Working Over Wire
Lay the thin wire along the edge of the petal and work the edging stitches over it. Keep the wire enclosed in the stitches and leave enough at the base to help attach the petal. Cover exposed ends when assembling the flower.
Free Crochet Water Lily Pattern
Large Petals — Make 8
- R1 — foundation: ch 21.
- R2: beginning in the second chain from the hook, sc 3, hdc 3, dc 8, hdc 3, sc 2. Work 3 sc in the last chain to form the tip. Rotate the piece and work along the opposite side of the foundation chain: sc 2, hdc 3, dc 8, hdc 3, sc 3. Join with ss to the first sc; ch 1. [41 stitches]
- R3: add wire and crochet over it. Sc 20; in the next stitch, work (sc 1, ch 1, sc 1) to form the point. Continue around the opposite side: sc 20. Join with ss to the first sc. Fasten off, leaving a tail for assembly. [42 sc plus one ch-1 point]
The ch-1 at the tip creates the point; count it separately from the 42 single crochet stitches.
Medium Petals — Make 8
- R1 — foundation: ch 17.
- R2: beginning in the second chain from the hook, sc 3, hdc 3, dc 5, hdc 2, sc 2. Work 3 sc in the last chain. Rotate the piece and work along the opposite side: sc 2, hdc 2, dc 5, hdc 3, sc 3. Join with ss to the first sc; ch 1. [33 stitches]
- R3: add wire and crochet over it. Sc 16; in the next stitch, work (sc 1, ch 1, sc 1). Continue around the opposite side: sc 16. Join with ss to the first sc. Fasten off, leaving a tail for assembly. [34 sc plus one ch-1 point]
The ch-1 at the tip creates the point; count it separately from the 34 single crochet stitches.
Short-Stamen Centre — Make 1 in Yellow
- R1: make a magic ring and work 6 sc into it. Tighten the ring. Join with ss to the first sc; ch 1. [6]
- R2: inc in each stitch around. Join with ss; ch 1. [12]
- R3: repeat (sc 1, inc) 6 times. Join with ss; ch 1. [18]
- R4: work in the front loops of R3. Repeat (sc 1 in the next front loop, ch 9) 18 times. Join with ss to the first sc; ch 1. The chains form loops between their attachment points. Leave the back loops of R3 unused for the next round. [18 sc and 18 ch-9 loops]
- R5: work 1 sc into each of the 18 remaining back loops of R3, behind the chain-loop fringe. Do not work into the ch-9 loops. Join with ss; ch 1. [18]
- R6: repeat (sc 1, sc2tog) 6 times. Join with ss; ch 1. [12]
- R7: repeat (sc 1, sc2tog) 4 times. Join with ss. Fasten off, leaving a long tail to secure the centre during assembly. [8]
Long Stamens — Make 9
- Take a 20 cm length of the thin floral wire listed in the materials. Wrap it with yellow yarn, securing the yarn ends with a small amount of glue.
- Fold the wrapped wire in half to create a rounded tip. Keep the cut ends together at the base and cover them when attaching the stamen to the stem.
- Repeat until you have nine long stamens.
Before assembling, lay out the pieces and check that the eight petals in each size are similar. Gently shape the wired edges so the petals can curve outward around the centre.
Assemble the Crochet Water Lily
Check Your Pieces
- 8 large petals
- 8 medium petals
- 1 yellow short-stamen centre
- 9 wrapped-wire long stamens
- Flower rod, green and light brown yarn, stuffing and hot glue
Step 1: Prepare the Top of the Stem
Wrap approximately 3 cm of the upper end of the flower rod with green yarn. Keep the wrapping snug and secure the yarn.
Step 2: Attach the Short-Stamen Centre
Fit the flower rod into the opening at the base of the yellow centre. Add a small amount of stuffing inside the centre and secure it to the rod with glue. Use the long yellow tail to gather and tie the opening snugly around the stem.
Step 3: Add the Long Stamens
Arrange the nine long stamens evenly around the yellow centre, with their folded tips pointing upward. Secure their bases with a small amount of hot glue. Let the glue set before continuing.
Step 4: Cover the Stamen Bases
Wrap approximately 2 cm of the area below the stamens with green yarn to cover and hold the attachments.
Step 5: Attach the Medium Petals
Position the eight medium petals around the stamens, slightly overlapping their bases. Check the spacing before gluing them in place. Apply glue only near the lower part of each petal so you can adjust the upper petal shape.
Step 6: Wrap the First Petal Layer
Wrap the bases of the medium petals with green yarn, covering the yarn tails and wire attachments.
Step 7: Attach the Large Petals
Arrange the eight large petals around the outside of the medium petals. Place their centres between the medium petals for a staggered outer layer. Secure each base with a small amount of glue.
Step 8: Wrap the Outer Petal Bases
Wrap the lower part of the outer petal layer with green yarn until the attachments are covered and the flower feels secure.
Step 9: Tidy the Base and Shape the Flower
Trim excess yarn tails and any unnecessary wire extending below the attachments. Keep the wire inside each petal intact. Tuck or cover all cut wire ends, then gently bend the petals outward to create an open bloom.
Step 10: Finish Wrapping the Stem
Continue wrapping with green yarn to the length you prefer. Change to light brown yarn for the lower stem, wrap to the end of the rod, and secure the yarn with glue.
Your crochet water lily is ready to display. Adjust the petals gently and check that the centre, petal bases and stem wrapping are secure.
Colour and Display Ideas
Try pink, cream or pale lilac petals with a yellow centre, or keep the purple palette shown in the photos. Make one petal in your chosen yarn before committing to the full flower.
For a vase arrangement, leave enough space around the bloom to show its layers. You can make smaller flowers and greenery from our free crochet bouquet pattern directory to complement it. Remove dust gently with a soft brush; consider the wire, glue and yarn care instructions before cleaning the finished piece.
Choose a Floral Crochet PDF for Your Next Project
Enjoy making floral designs? Our downloadable PDF collection offers flower-inspired crochet blanket projects that you can save and follow at your own pace.
Pink Lotus C2C Blanket Pattern PDF
Bring a layered pink flower into a larger crochet project with this lotus-themed corner-to-corner blanket pattern.
The download includes five English-language PDFs: a printable chart pack, boxed written instructions, row cards, compact row instructions, and an illustrated diagonal box crochet guide. The design uses 9 colours and a 240 × 340 C2C-block chart, with 579 diagonal rows. Finished dimensions depend on your yarn, hook and gauge.
This is a separate C2C blanket project. The free 3D water lily instructions remain above. The PDF is a digital crochet pattern, not a finished flower or blanket.