Crochet is very on trend, with the high street even jumping on the bandwagon! You can now find clothes, jewellery and bags in most high street shops at the moment. Unfortunately, these are generally mass produced, and the labour cost is pennies for the hard work that is put into the items which are being produced in China, India and often made by children.
Being crafters, we know how much work and effort goes into handmade items as well as the actual cost of materials and we cannot compete with the high street or supermarket mass produced items. Having said all the above we do get a great sense of satisfaction from making something ourselves and also being able to give handmade gifts to those that appreciate such things.
I decided I wanted to crochet myself a bag to take on my holiday with me, I didn't want it too big but big enough for a book, sun cream, hat, ect etc. you get my drift.
I'm not the best at following patterns, I often go off plan and end up with something completely different to the photo that's on the pattern. This bag was no exception!
I decided to use a different size hook to that of what the patterned called for and also a different size yarn hence the change in hook size. Doing so made the bag come up so much smaller (obviously) Which then was no good, so I had to undo it and start again. I used a size 4mm hook and a classic DK cotton yarn.
After undoing another 2 times, I was happy with the size. The bag has several stitch changes creating a pattern, I got to the 4th stitch change which made the bag go really small so you wouldn't be able to get your lipstick in let alone everything I would need to have for the beach or by the pool!
I had to undo it several times and kept changing the stitch until it worked and looked how I wanted it too.
When it came to the handles, again I wanted to do them differently to the pattern. So, I made 2 strap handles which I then crocheted to attach on to the body of the bag.
I decided to line the handles to give it strength and also, so it does not stretch. I lined the interior of the bag too for the same reason.
I have lost the link to the bag pattern that I very loosely followed, but I did find these amazing patterns which many are free to download. There are lots of different patterns for bags available online, from easy to follow for those new to crochet to the more difficult for the more advanced. Or you can be like me and make up your own pattern!
