Crochet Flower Bag

This is the first crochet bag I have ever crocheted. The tutorial pattern of this bag is by Meladora's Creations. There are two separate videos for this tutorial, one is for making the flowers and the other is showing how to connect the flowers and how to do the handles.

This bag has 63 flowers in all because I made a bigger one. Each flower is about 3 inches. The finished connected flowers will look like a rectangle and so the longer side would be your front and back and the shorter sides would be the sides of the bag.

I think if you wish to make a much bigger than this one, you can just add 2 or 3 more flowers horizontally and vertically. What's important though is that when you start single crocheting the first row of the upper part towards the handle, be consistent! I mean, the number of single crochets in one side must be the same for the opposite side.

~ the button could have been covered but I think it looks good enough like that ~

This particular pattern requires an inside lining because it's "hole-ly". Aesthetically, this pattern is very nice but safety wise, not very much, unless the lining is really thick that you will feel comfortable enough to carry your wallet, cellphone, and other important things in it. It also cannot carry heavy loads.

The lining I used is my old wrap-around skirt and it's 23 X 29 inches so I have a good amount of space for stitching...I did hand stitch because I don't have a sewing machine with me.

Meladora also has a video on how the seamstress did the lining, which I followed. I also stitched a smaller pocket inside with a snap so I can put my phone there itself.

~ up-close image of the bag ~

It's made from acrylic yarn and I used an over-the counter steel crochet hook number 10, well that's what it says in the hook. I paid Rs. 8 for it.

You can try it out yourself!

Tablet Cover Case: Entrelac Crochet/Chess Board Design

Finally, a crocheted tablet case or bag for my husband's tablet. He chose the color combination without a design or a particular stitch in mind. When I consulted him about the design he suggested a design that would look like a chess board (he likes chess, he has downloaded chess applications like Fritz and Chess Genius and been playing against them in his free-patient time...sometimes he plays with his patient cum friend, Jagdamba Prasad, a 62-year old man who keeps getting us produce like sponge gourd, mushrooms, mangoes, figs, peach, etc.).

Anyway, a chess board like design? Well, it's internet so it must be there somewhere! One of the best things about internet is that you'll always find people who share knowledge for free. Thanks to them! 

So I kept searching.  At first, I found a set of crocheted chess board and pieces but patterns are not available for free so I continued looking. Until I stumbled on How To Entrelac Crochet by Mikey. I don't even remember how I stumbled upon his video...I just did. So I downloaded the video and started crocheting (a portion of my free time) what I call "chess board-like crochet design". 

Watching the video seems so easy but I find it quite difficult at first. Since I was using a 10 size steel hook the result of a few squares together was a little messed-up....the stitches are not even and the squares are small and I was thinking, oh no, it would take me months to finish the project and it may not worth the time (I only have one more hook and it's size 12), so when I showed the result to Banu, he felt the same so he asked whether I could make it bigger. Bigger? And my hook doesn't have a comfort grip, something that blocks the thread from going all the way, so it would be tough! 

But I tried anyway. The results, well, not perfect (because of the hook) but it looks pretty nice and Banu likes it. Jagdambaji likes it, too...and even suggested to add a sling to it. 

About the project:

Yarn: around 2 1/4 hanks of yarns (1 1/4 peach and 1 grey)

brand and type, I think it's acrylic. 

                                   Hook: size 10 steel hook (over-the-counter hook)

Instead of 7 chains as suggested in the video, I used 10+2 for this project to make the square bigger. A little tough and need to do adjustments to make the square more even.

Back finish is  7 X 8 squares (each square is around 1 1/2 inches)

Front finish is 7 X 4 sqaures

Edging: single crochet around

Edging of the Front Flap: 2 rows of star stitch with single crochet in the middle of the rows to give room for button holes.

Edging of the Inside Flap: 1 row of start stitch

Buttons: From old clothings, crocheted covering, and I did it this way by artandneedlework. I would have used grey color for the buttons but I ran out of thread.

How I attached the two sides together: by single crochet around together the back or the underside of both sides.

Finish product size: 12"W X 9"L

I did it and in fairness, although it did take me quite a while to finish this project...3 weeks I think, it was worth it!

Make yours now!