Scrappy Felted Bag Pattern, to Crochet

After knitting several Big Bags. I decided to try a crochet one. I’m not an advanced in the
crochet world. And have trouble following crochet patterns.

I thought that maybe it would be faster to crochet a big bag than knit it. I was inspired by
a girlfriends purse, one of those crochet ones out of the shiny cord. I wanted the bag to be
simple and fast. Sturdy and fun. My first attempt was with a single crochet stitch, later I
frogged this and used a half double crochet. I like this stitch as it seems to be sturdier and
quicker.
This is what I came up with . Any combo of yarn can be used, be creative! The colors and
size of the bag are up to you!

Size 14 L x 11 W inches Size 11 L x 11 W inches

Both of my bags shrank about 1.5 to 2 inches on each side after felting in a top loader
Crochet Hook: I used a size K, look at the recommended size on your yarn label and use
that size or close to it.
Yarn: Any kind of yarn, if you are mixing yarns, and they are of different thickness, hold
the thinner ones double to approximate the size of your thickest yarn, think about holding
different colors together.
Stitches used: chain stitch, and hdc. see links if you need a tutorial on these. Illustrations,
and videos, (for video’s I used mikeyssmail on You Tube, he is a natural teacher) I like the
hdc, because it seems to be thicker and sturdier stitch than a single crochet. But a single
crochet can be substituted in the pattern if you wish.
Crochet felted bag pattern:
Bag is made by casting on a chain as long as you desire your bag to be plus about 4 inches
more in the chain (to allow for shrinkage). Ball park guideline the piece USUALLY (but not
always) shortens lengthwise about 30% more than width-wise, this is in a top loader. If you
are using a top loader my experience is that it felts more in proportion). Of course the
proper way to see how much your bag will felt is to make a swatch (about 8 to 10 inches
square) and felt it, measure, and calculate how much it shrank. I prefer to live
dangerously. To calculate your shrinkage in 10% use this, if I used a 10 tall x 10 wide inch
square and it ended up 8 tall x 6 wide, it would be the following:
8 inches x 100%/10 inches = 80%, 100-80=20, so we had 20% shrinkage Height
6 inches x 100%/10 inches = 60% 100%-60%=40% so we had 40% shrinkage on the width
With this info we can add 20% of your rows to the height to get the approx size you need
(example I like the height at 20 rows of making the bag, I’ll now add 20 rows X .20 = 4, so
I’ll add 4 more rows to my bag.
and add 40% of the number of chain stitches to make to approx the width we need.
(example: I like the width of 22 chain stitches, take 22 stitches X .40 = 8.8, I would round
up to 9 stitches, add 9 stitches to your foundation chain )
1-I used bulky yarn in the bottom of both of the bags shown, and chained 22 stitches for
each one.
2-Hcd in back loop of the 2nd chain from the hook twice, now hdc in the back loops of all
of the chains to the end chain, hdc three times in this one, now turn your chain and hdc
back up the other side of your foundation chain in the other loop of your chain stitch,
place a marker here, I just a regular safety pin.
3-Bag is worked in the round, so continue on around with no break in the rows.
4-You are making the base of the bag, so continue around, at the ends hdc two times in
the end three stitches, hdc all other stitches or, (*hdc x2 in first three stitches of new
round, hdc down the side, and repeat from *) , place marker in the middle of the 2nd hdc
pair, (this should be the edge of the bag, do this on both ends.
5-Continue step 4 until the base looks big enough, remember it is going to shrink some. I
went around 5 times on each of my bags.
6-Now that the base is big enough, continue working in the round in hdc, this will start
your progress up the sides of your bag.
7-Continue this and change yarn colors at will, don’t worry about the knots, we will weave
those in before felting.
8-When your bag is high enough for the handle, (remember felting shrinks the lengthwise
30%, so make it longer than you think you will need, if using top loader to felt)
9-Tall enough? Woo Hoo, stop at one of the markers. OK now to make the handles, lets do
some match and calculate where you need to put your handles. I made my handles 10 to
12 stitches wide, so if you were to use 12 stitches, take your total number of stitches
around your bag, lets say it is 65 stitches around, so 56 stitches around – (total stitches for
handles 12 x 2 = 24), 56 – 24 = 32 (stitches live on the bag excluding the handles), take 32
stitches / 2 = 16. (now divide that in half again 16/2=8 stitches.
10- Using the example stitches, start at marker and hdc 8 stitches, now chain 12 stitches,
(*count 12 stitches on your bag and this is where you will put your first hdc), hcd 16
stitches and chain 12 stitches, repeat*, and hdc to your marker.
11-Hdc all around, taking care to pick up both top loops of your chain stitches on your
handles.
12-Continue for 3 rounds.
13-Now cut your yarn and weave in, weave in ends, and we are ready to felt!
Here are some excellent instructions on felting from About.com from Sarah E. White, and
you can also refer to my how to felt in a front loader post.

Have fun! Please let me know of any mistakes in this pattern!

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