A Crocheted Bag for my Favorite Little Bag Lady

Ever since I crocheted that pink bag with beads for Jane, my very favorite little bag lady (4 yr old daughter Gracie) has been after me to make her a bag too. And since I am between Serious Projects at the moment and just looking for quick summer-like things to work on, now was a great time to fulfill my promise to make Gracie her own bag.

So I let her look through my pattern book to pick her pattern and then off we went to Michael's where she picked out a very bright, very cheerful, but not nearly as PINK as I expected, Sugar 'n Cream cotton called Playtime.


And two days later, here it is hanging off one of the dining room chairs to give you a little idea of how big it is. I even made the strap shorter than the pattern called for! I really didn't want the bag dragging on the ground when it was draped over her shoulder!


This bag, unlike the pink one I made for Jane, is flat. You can see here at the bottom of this picture where the beginning chain was slip stitched together after all the crocheting was complete. The bag is actually crocheted in the round with the bottom open, and then the bottom seam is closed at the end.


The pattern stitch is a very simple one...just two double crochet, skip a stitch, and continue around. After every 5 rows of this double crochet pattern, there was a row of single crochet which is what gives the bag the appearance of having horizontal sections. The pictures in my pattern booklet show this same bag crocheted in a red, white and blue color scheme having the large sections in either blue or white, and each single crochet row in red. It is really quite striking. It is also nice worked in one solid color.


I ran out of the Playtime yarn right at the end when all I had left to do was close the bottom of the bag and crochet the trim around the top of the bag and the handles. For projects like this, and others as well, you really cannot go by the ounces of yarn called for. Yardage should be used to determine how many balls of yarn will be needed. I learned that lesson on this project. So back to Michael's we went and picked out this Hot Pink for the trim and I think it actually works better than if I had used the Playtime variegated.


I like the look of the double crochet pairs and the one row of single crochet thrown in there. This pattern would make a nice blanket, wrap or scarf as well.


This is the booklet of bag patterns in which I found both this bag and Jane's pink bag. On the cover, notice the yellow bag. That is the one I made for Gracie. The big black one with the gold beads around it is the same pattern as the one I made for Jane. The booklet is from American School of Needlework and it is number 1251. I don't believe it is in print anymore but I did find it available used through Amazon.

Trendsetting Totes: 8 Crochet Designs in Cotton Yarn (1251) (American School of Needlework #1251)

There are 8 designs altogether in this booklet, but the inside pages and back cover show each one in many different color schemes. I have made almost all of the patterns in this booklet at one time or another and they are all well written patterns and fun little projects to make.

Happy Stitching!

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