Tabbed "Bleeding Heart" Edging rewritten with variations. See wide Irish edging pattern below also.

Tabs ("Bleeding Heart" flowers)

This pattern is worked sideways (from the narrow end). You can just keep working it until you have the right length. No guessing at how long a starting chain has to be. Its Inside edge (the side you will sew onto something) is a row of turning chains. The Outside edge is a row of tabs with trefoils (three long picots, leaflets) at the points.
See diagram posted on Aug. 22, 2015.

Notes. Please read this section.

- Picots (p): 3, 4, 5, or 6 ch, not counting the loop around the hook, and sc in 2-ch space in the point of the tab.

- Trefoil: All are 3 picots attached into the 2-ch space at the point of the tab with a single crochet (sc). There are 3 picots, the middle one bigger than the side two, made (for example) like this: ch 4, sc in 2-ch space at point of tab, ch 5, sc in same 2-ch space, ch 4, sc in same place. You can use 3-4-3 chs or 5-6-5 or whatever combination you like best. See Notes at end of pattern.

- V-stitch: dc, ch 2, dc in same ch 2 space which is the ch 2 top of the previous V-stitch. Some V-stitches are made 3 ch (equals dc), 2 ch, dc.

This pattern is in new-style (American) notation.

Materials

- DMC Baroque (size 10) in white or ecru. I like ecru better for this pattern. Applied to a white item it looks pale gold. Smaller sizes of thread make a more delicate edging, but this is supposed to be a bit of a heavy pattern, so smaller sizes don't look as good.

- Size 8 or 9 (1.4 mm) hook. You could use 10 (1.3 mm).

- Tapestry needle for weaving in ends.

About the pattern

The tabbed edging is made on a spine of V-stitches. V-stitches are dc, ch 2, dc (like a minimalist shell). V-stitches are made in the top two ch of the previous V-stitch and are connected with turning ch's. Tabs are downward arches of close-packed long stitches such as dc and tr worked on a turning chain. 

Turning chains are always 6 ch and alternate sides. There are no turning chains where the tabs attach. See diagram at end.

INSTRUCTIONS

Foundation:

Ch 5, make a ring. This is where you will attach the first tab. Ch 6, turn.

ROW 1

Make a V-stitch (dc, ch 2, dc) into the ring. Ch 6, turn.

ROW 2

V-stitch into previous V-stitch. Ch 6, turn.

Note that the turning chains alternate from side to side of the V-stitch spine.

ROW 3 -- The Tab, the Most Complicated Bit, Part One

V-stitch into V-stitch. DON'T ch 6 and DON'T turn. You are fixing to make a tab. From the dc you just made, ...

* [beginning of repeat after last row, ignore * first time]

... 2 ch, then 6 dc's into the previous ch-6 turning chain on the same side. Then do 2 ch and another 6 dc's. Make 2 ch and sl st into side of previous V-stitch. [Note: For the first tab only, 2 ch and sl st into the side of the original ring]. You have now worked back towards the beginning of the edging, attached to the previous V-stitch, and are ready to do the outside of the tab.

ROW 4 - The Tab, The Most Complicated Bit, Part Two

a. Chain 2, then one more than the number of long stitches in the side of the tab. If you did 6 dc, that's ch 7. This chain goes down the side of the tab.

b. Sc into the 2-ch space at the point of the tab.

c. Now you will make a trefoil of three picots. Ch 4, sc in 2-ch space. Ch 5, sc in 2-ch space. Ch 4, sc in 2-ch space.

d. Chain 7, the same number as you did in the first part of row 4 (one more than the tab long stitches). This chain goes up the other (forward) side of the tab. Ch 2, sc into last V-stitch. Ch 1, sc into top of V-stitch to start the next V-stitch. Note no turning chain.

Ch 5, (= dc + ch 2), dc into top of previous V-stitch. This makes a V-stitch as described in Notes.

Ch 6, turn.

ROW 5 -- Back to simple again!

V-stitch. Ch 6. Turn.

ROW 6 -- Starting the motif over.

V-stitch. Continue from the star * in ROW 3.

Notes on alternative numbers of stitches.

Try making the top turning chains 4 instead of 6. This leaves the bottom ones plenty big for the tabs, and the top ones less obtrusive when you sew the edging to a hand towel or collar or whatever. Another variation of this puts 16 long stitches in a 2-ch turning chain. This was too hard for me. But you can ...

... Try different arrangements of long stitches. As written above, it's 6 dc, 2 ch, 6 dc. How about:

3 dc, 3 tr, 2 ch, 3 tr, 3 dc?

8 dc, 2 ch, 8 dc?

2 hdc, 3 dc, 2 tr, 2 ch, 2 tr, 3 dc, 2 hdc?

Some work for me, some don't. See what you like.

Different trefoils

I used 4 ch picots on the sides with a 5 ch picot in the midde. How about 5 ch p, 6 ch p, 5 ch p? Or 3 5's? Or any arrangement you might like, providing they are either all the same or the middle one is bigger.

Finishing

Careful ironing brings out the trefoils. You don't have to pin them out, just push them with your fingers to uncurl them, then run the iron over them. The body of the pattern holds itself in shape. The picots tend to curl up somewhat. Providing you used cotton thread, iron at the cotton setting with steam.