Crochety Old Bag - A tutorial for a ruffly crochet handbag

Did you notice how many people have taken up crochet recently, even my guest, Susie blogged about it?  So before the bandwagon drives off, here is a little something that I have created for you to make.  And if you don't believe me take a look at Handmade Monday on Wendy's wonderful site and see who else has been bitten by the bug.

Can Can Handbag

Materials

1 ball of Rico Can Can or similar tape yarn

1 size 8.0 crochet hook

1 fat quarter for lining

Make 12 chain using the tape unwrapped.

Round 1: Open up the tape and work in slip stitch down the chain (12 stitches), now turn your work and work down the other side of the chain (24 stitches)

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Round 2: Slip stitch twice into the first chain, slip stitch into the next 10 chain, slip stitch twice into the next two chain, slip stitch into the next 10 chain, slip stitch twice into the next chain (28 stitches)

Round 3: Sl st into the first chain, Sl st twice into the next stitch, sl st into the next 10 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next two chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 10 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next chain (32 chain)

Round 4: Sl st into the first 2 chain, Sl st twice into the next stitch, sl st into the next 10 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 4 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 10 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 2 chain (36 chain)

Round 5: sl st into the first 3 chain, sl st twice into the next stitch, sl st into the next 10 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 6 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 10 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 3 chain (40 chain)

Round 6: Work in sl st until round is completed

Continue to work in sl st until the bag measures 7 inches or more from the bottom seam, cast off final sl st.

To make handles

Count in 7 ch from the centre of the side seam (ie where you cast off), count down three rounds and attach the yarn unwrapped to the row with a sl st and do this up each row, when you reach the top of the bag, chain [24], reattach the chain to the bag with a sl st, continue to slip st down 3 rows.

Turn the bag and sl st up to the edge of the bag, at the first chain dc , 1 ch miss one ch,; dc 1 ch miss 1 ch) 11 times, sl st down 3 rows and fasten off.

Now repeat this on the other side.

To make the button

Make 5 chain and join together.

Make 2 chain, double crochet 8 stitches into the chain round, slip stitch into second chain and fasten off.

To line your bag

Measure your bag, around the largest point (ie the top of the bag) and then from the top of the bag to the base (double this figure).  For my bag, it was 20” (length) x 14” (width), so giving myself ⁵/₈” seam allowance I cut out a piece of fabric 21¹/₄”  x 15¹/₄”.

To make a pocket for your phone and keys, cut out a piece of fabric 7¹/₄” x 7¹/₄”.  Fold a seam allowance of ⁵/₈” all round.  Sew across the top of the pocket.  Now pin the pocket to the fabric 1¹/₂ “ below the top seam, placing it an equal distance from both side seams and sew it onto the lining fabric.

Fold the fabric in half with right sides facing and pin the seams together, start from the top with a ⁵/₈” but as you reach the crease at the bottom you will need to increase the seam allowance to a good inch to allow for the narrowing at the base of your bag.

Press open the seams of your fabric so that it will lay flat. You need to create a right angle (the corner of a square and get the seam to bisect it at 45' (which should be slap bang in the middle, just like this picture).  Fold the top of the seam down to make a little triangle.  Sew across this.  Now trim off the triangle with your pinking shears - you have now made the base of your bag, so that it will sit properly.

Take your button which you have crocheted and stitch it firmly between your handles.  Now find the centre stitch between the other pair of handles and make a slip stitch one chain to the right, make sufficient chains to go around the button and close your bag, then slip stitch this to one chain beyond the centre point stitch.  Sew in your loose ends.

Now fold ⁵/₈” around the top of your bag lining, turn the crochet bag inside out and pin it just below the top row of crochet.  Hand slip stitch this to your bag.

Turn bag inside out.  Now gaze in wonder at what you have created!

All Taped Up?

Not so long ago, when you went to the wool shop you would just find various weights of wool to knit with... 3 ply, 4ply, DK, Aran, Chunky but in the last few years there has been an explosion in fancy yarns particularly the tape yarns.


I first came across tape yarns at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally in the 1990s when I bought this knitting kit from KnitWits in Cumbria (if anyone knows what happened to them, let me know, I loved them).  This was knitting on the edge, it was a cotton tape which knitted up quickly to create crunchy summer styles but still knitted in the conventional way.

No, they are not dropped stitches... and yes, I will sew buttons on soon, I promise!

Then Rico, pushed the boundaries even further with CanCan from which you could make fabulous flouncy scarves with block or jewel like graduated colours hit the shops.  However you did not use the yarn as you did before, you cast on by opening out the yarn and literally sticking your needle about a quarter of inch below the top of the tape, then moving along about two inches you did the same again -  no thumb method, continental, cable, long tail end, this was new order - stab and grab!  Then to knit with it, you used placed you right needle through the left stitch to knit but instead knitting the whole of the yarn you stabbed a hole two inches further with your right needle and pulled it through as a knit stitch so that the rest of your yarn created the flounce and not only could you knit with it, you could crochet too.  As an experienced knitter, it drove me up the wall as I could not thread the yarn through my fingers but new knitters love it with the exaggerated movements to wind the yarn around the needles.

More yarns followed from Rico - Loopy and from Katia - Triana, living up to its name where the tape is a series of loops sewn together.  

Like CanCan, you cast on by putting your needle through the holes of each loop along the top of the yarn and then knit in garter stitch through every second stitch over just seven stitches to make a brilliant narrow flouncy scarf with a great lacy effect, these scarves tended to be much narrower and wound several times round the neck.

And the latest I have found is Woolcraft - Tango, which forms a very closely looped jabot style scarf but yet again an entirely new form of tape.

I worked up this scarf in front of the telly in just a couple of hours, I can just imagine if peeking out from a black coat this Winter.  And this is my contribution to HandMade Monday, so don't forget to take a look and see what everyone else has been up to.

If you wondered if I finished my socks from last week, they can be found in the blog below this.  However I happened to be passing the LYS, having walked up to the bus stop and spent 10 mins waiting for the bus and 20 mins sitting on it... so like I say, just passing when I found some super Alpaca sock yarn which will make such lovely bed socks.  It is deliciously soft and I am trying something called butterfly stitch which took and inordinate amount of swearing and ripping back for me to work out how it was done and then I realised I was over-complicating things - KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).

I will let you know how they go, and I promise the applique tutorial will be here shortly when I am happy with the pics.