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One of my favourite things to crochet is bags because they are so versatile. Therefore, I’ve made SO MANY bags for my daughter to carry her fidgets around, bags to keep notebooks in, bags for all of my crochet and knitting tools, and bags to put on display because they’re just so pretty! This Sweet Stripes Pouch FREE crochet bag pattern will be the go-to bag you make for all of your storage needs!

Sweet Stripes Pouch Free Crochet Bag Pattern

This pattern originally appeared in Happily Hooked Crochet Magazine, which is a monthly digital magazine assembled by makers for makers. For only $49.99US per year, you’ll get a magazine each month that contains 12+ patterns. There are tons of courses and tutorials AND a great crochet community to chat with.

What is a crochet bag? How do you make one?

Crochet bags are ridiculously easy to make. SO easy, in fact, that if you’re a crocheter and only know simple stitches, you can still make a bag! A lot of the time, crocheting a bag means either joining your initial chain, making a circle, and then crocheting round and round to form your bag, and then seaming the bottom. OR, you might crochet two flat pieces and then seam them together. It really is SO easy to crochet a bag.

What type of yarn is best to make a bag with?

While you can use any type of yarn to crochet a bag, my personal favourite is cotton because it provides durability that acrylic does not. I really like the stitch definition that cotton has, and with so many different colours available in cotton and it being readily available at craft stores, it’s a great choice. Of course, you can still use any type of yarn to make your bag – it’s your project!

Can I put a lining in a crochet bag?

Linings aren’t necessary for crochet bags, but they do make your bag look amazing! If you go to your local craft store, you can usually find affordable fat quarters of fabric that are so easy to put together for linings. The Crochet Crowd has a great tutorial on lining your crochet bags – you can find it here.

Are there any special stitches in this pattern?

There are two stitches that aren’t common stitches in this pattern. The written instructions are below, and if you click on the links, you will be taken to a video tutorial from a trusted crochet source.

dc3tog = (yarn over, insert hook in indicated stitch, yarn over, pull through, yarn over again, pull through 2 ch on hook) 3 times, yarn over, pull through all 4 loops on hook.

crab stitch = without turning your work, insert your hook from front to back into the first sc, yarn over and draw up a loop, yarn over again and pull through the two loops on your hook. For the next stitch, insert your hook from front to back into the stitch to the right of the last stitch worked, yarn over and draw up a loop, yarn over again and pull through the two loops on your hook. You will continue to work clockwise around.

Sweet Stripes Pouch Free Crochet Bag Pattern

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Materials needed:

Bernat Handicrafter Cotton, worsted weight #4 (100% cotton; 573 yards/524 meters per 340 gram/12 ounce skein)

1 skein Floral Prints (A)

Lily Sugar’n Cream, worsted weight #4 (100% cotton; 120 yards/109 meters per 70.9 gram/2.5 ounce skein)

1 skein each of Hot Pink (B), Hot Orange (C), and Soft Violet (D)

Hook & Other Materials

US Size H/8 (5.0mm) crochet hook
4 1-inch buttons
Measuring tape
Yarn needle
Scissors

Instructions

Using A, ch 41.

Row 1 (RS): Working down one side of the chain, sc in 2^nd chain from hook, sc to last chain, 2sc in last. Turn to continue working up opposite side of beginning chain. 2sc in first chain, sc to last, 3sc in last, join to first sc. (84 sc)

Rows 2-6: Ch 1, hdc around, join. Drop A, but don’t fasten off. (84 hdc)

Row 7: Using B now, ch 3, dc3tog in same, ch 1, skip 1, (dc3tog, ch 1, skip 1) to end, join to first dc3tog. Drop B, but don’t fasten off. (42 dc3tog clusters, 42 ch-1 spaces)

Row 8: Ch 3, rejoining A, skip the first dc3tog cluster, dc3tog in the ch-1 space, (skip 1, dc3tog in space, ch 1) to end, join to the first dc3tog. Drop A, but don’t fasten off. (42 dc3tog clusters, 42 ch-1 spaces)

Row 9: Ch 1, rejoining B, hdc around, join to the first hdc. Fasten off B. (84 hdc)

Rows 10-15: Ch 1, rejoining A, hdc around, join to the first hdc. (84 hdc)

Row 16: Using C now, ch 3, dc3tog in same, ch 1, skip 1, (dc3tog, ch 1, skip 1) to end, join to first dc3tog. Drop C, but don’t fasten off. (42 dc3tog clusters, 42 ch-1 spaces)

Row 17: Ch 3, rejoining A, skip the first dc3tog cluster, dc3tog in the ch-1 space, (skip 1, dc3tog in space, ch 1) to end, join to the first dc3tog. Drop A, but don’t fasten off. (42 dc3tog clusters, 42 ch-1 spaces)

Row 18: Ch 1, rejoining C, hdc around, join to the first hdc. Fasten off C. (84 hdc)

Rows 19-21: Ch 1, rejoining A, hdc around, join to first hdc. Fasten off A. (84 hdc)

Row 22: Using D, ch 1, sc around, join. (84 sc)

Row 23: Ch 1, without turning your work, insert the hook from front to back in the first sc stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through both loops on your hook. Working clockwise, continue working in crab stitch all the way around, join. Fasten off. (84 sc)

Weave in all ends.

Straps (Make 2)

Using A, chain 51.

Row 1: Sc in the back bump of the 2^nd chain from the hook, sc to end, ch 1, turn. (50 sc)

Row 2: Sc in first 5, hdc to last 5 stitches, sc to end, ch 1, turn. (10 sc, 40 hdc)

Row 3: Sc in first 2, ch 2, skip 2, sc to last four stitches, ch 2, skip 2, sc to end, ch 1, turn (46 sc, 2 ch-2 spaces)

Row 4: Sc in first 2, 2 sc in ch-2 space, sc in next, hdc to the last stitch before next ch-2 space, sc, 2 sc in ch-2 space, sc to end. (10 sc, 40 hdc)

Row 5: Sc across. Fasten off. (50 sc)

Weave in all ends.

Assembly

Lay your tote on a flat surface. On the first side, measure 2 inches from each edge and sew on your first two buttons on row 20. Flip over and sew on your last buttons the same distance apart so each side matches. Attach your straps, and you’re done!

Are you looking for more FREE crochet patterns?

I hope you enjoyed making my Sweet Stripes Pouch! If you enjoyed making this FREE Crochet Bag Pattern and want to share your creation, please add your project to Ravelry! You can find my designer page for more FREE patterns!

Book review for The Little Stranger, a spooky, gothic mystery that will have you questioning the characters’ sanity.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the provided links, this blog will receive a small commission to put towards the maintenance of this blog. All thoughts are my own.

510 pages / published April 30, 2009 / Goodreads: 3.56 (out of 5) / Amazon

One postwar summer, in his home in rural Warwickshire, Dr. Faraday is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for more than two centuries, the Georgian house, once impressive and handsome, is now in decline. Its owners–mother, son, and daughter–are struggling to keep pace with a changing society. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr. Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his.

Book Review of The Little Stranger:

The Little Stranger was a reread for me after I had been searching for something gothic and scary to read in the month of October. Though I have plenty of new Halloween-ish books to read, a journey back into Hundreds Hall was calling to me, and I just had to give this one a go again and let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

Sarah Waters is a master of words. This story is so terrifyingly scary, but the build-up is amazing. It’s worth it to take your time to really visualize the scenery Waters details in the story, to really see Hundreds in your mind. To some, it might seem like a slow build, but for me, those are the best. I love a story that gives plenty of detail that really fleshes out the characters and the setting before getting into the creepy.

“The subliminal mind has many dark, unhappy corners, after all. Imagine something loosening itself from one of those corners. Let’s call it a–a germ. And let’s say conditions prove right for that germ to develop–to grow, like a child in the womb. What would this little stranger grow into? A sort of shadow-self, perhaps: a Caliban, a Mr Hyde. A creature motivated by all the nasty impulses and hungers the conscious mind had hoped to keep hidden away: things like envy and malice and frustration…”
Sarah Waters, quote from The Little Stranger

But even though The Little Stranger is quite scary, it’s not your typical horror novel. You can’t go into this book expecting lots of blood and gore and scares on every page; rather, you get to dive into the lives of a family who used to be quite high society but has since declined along with their home. In a way, it made me think of Grey Gardens, but not quite that level of deterioration of the home. We see how they manage and struggle with this change through the eyes of Dr. Faraday, who becomes a frequent visitor to Hundreds.

Another thing I really liked was the debate between what is real and what is otherworldly. It was interesting to get so many perspectives to the point that, as a reader, you might not be able to put your finger on the real answer.

Would I Recommend The Little Stranger?

If you love historical fiction with subtle but terrifying horror, or if you’re a fan of books similar to The Haunting of Hill House or Picnic at Hanging Rock, then The Little Stranger is for you. Sarah Waters has an amazing imagination and the ability to really pull the reader into the story. You won’t be able to put this down.