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Wednesday 27 June 2012

A Handmade Gift Project: Crochet Bag



Approximately a year ago when I started crochetting again (I did start to crochet at the age of 12 or so, learning from my mum), I got really hooked on it and found the array of projects to crochet pretty impressive but somewhat daunting too! The more I got into it though, the more confidence I gained with my crochet hooks; so much that my hooks started to move fast enough to work through even bigger projects!

Initially I started off with patterns and followed them to the letter. Gradually I started to slightly modify and tweak the patterns to create more customizable items to my liking. At this stage I am still testing waters and have yet to start writing my own patterns! That could still take a while to come; I still have a heck loads of crochet stitches to learn.

Well, today I'm sharing this bag project I made as a gift for Sisterlovlie whose birthday was about a month ago. This post is only coming up now because I never got round to finish it up sooner.

I started off with a Patons pattern which was for this Sweatpea Bag but I tweaked it to my liking and ended up with something really quite different.



The pattern calls for two rectangular pieces to be crochetted then seamed (crochetted) together around the edges.





For the bag lining, I chose to use some bright rusty red coloured lining fabric to which I added a zip fastener; I like bags to be secure. The one in the pattern was only an open tote style bag.



Then I also went along adding some inside pockets to the lining. Inner pockets are so handy for the little things that would just get lost at the very bottom!



After the lining was (machine) stitched with the bag, I attached a few wooden beads to the zip.



And even my Bijouxlovlie label inside!



The pattern suggests making a kind of rope strap by twisting together a fair amount of yarns. I didn't go for this style. Instead, I crochetted a long strip which I lined with some other fabric. And so here was the decision to make: which fabric would be most suitable to line the strap?



Boyfriendlovlie (he's always my savior in matters of this nature!) suggested the linen canvas fabric and I was happy with that.



I made some small straps out of the linen canvas to attach the long one to the bag. I salvaged some D-rings from the pockets of an old cargo pants that I wasn't wearing anymore.



I stitched one end of the straps through the rings but the other end I secured with a knot so that the strap could be adjustable to body height.



I bought some wood chip buttons from this Etsy shop a while ago. It's an eco-friendly shop that uses driftwood, reclaimed wood, salvaged stone and pottery. Natural surplus materials, wood in particular, that would otherwise go to waste are used in the making of these buttons and a lot more useful items. Check them out.





So for a natural organic touch, I added one of these buttons as an embellishment to the bag.





VoilĂ , crochetted with love! Sisterlovlie was pretty pleased!

2 comments:

  1. That is so lovlie :) how long did it take you to make that? Does it take a long time to build up to doing bigger projects like that? Awesome bag!

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  2. Lauren, I kind of worked slowly on this, crochetting 2 rows at a time before bedtime. But even for that it wasn't every night. I started on this project somewhere around the beginning of the year and I finished by the end of May. If I were to be regular with it, I think it would take me 2 weeks to do. The lining and the rest can be achieved in a day or two.

    Overall, from when I started crochetting again, it only took me about 5 - 6 months to get onto something like this. And during that 6 months I made 4 hats and a purse. So really just after getting the hang of the basics and stitches with 5 projects, I jumped onto this one.
    It was really not a difficult one 'coz in the end all the crochet that was required was 2 rectangles. :)

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