Aug 21, 2019
One Skein - Two Crossbody Bags
It's so much fun to be a crocheter if you have a little daughter... well she's not too little anymore. She's about to turn 10 years old. I get to make things she would like. And like me, she loves bags. So I put together this very easy pattern for a crochet crossbody bag that any crochet beginners can do.
In this tutorial, you're going to know.....
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1. Moss Crochet Stitch aka Granite Stitch aka Woven Stitch
2. How to switch yarn colors in Moss Stitch
3. How to crochet a Romanian Cord
4. How to put in fringes
5. How to make tassels
6. How to add a button hook to your bag
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YARN:
Here's the best part of this pattern....
I only used ONE skein of the Caron Big Cakes - Summer Berry Tart!
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Yes, that's right! I made these 2 bags with just one skein! That includes the tassels and the straps. Imagine buying a Caron Big Cakes at Michaels with your 50% off coupon! You're about to make 2 crossbody bags out of a $4.99 yarn! (And a major plus if you have a 25% off total purchase coupon!)
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Cotton yarn would work well for this project. Regular acrylic yarn such as Red Heart, Vanna's Choice, etc, will works well but I would suggest to add a fabric liner inside.
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CROCHET HOOK: H/8 - 5.0mm
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OTHER MATERIALS:
- darning needle (to weave ends)
- scissors
- 4 keychain rings
- 4 cord end caps (optional)
- 2 large buttons (optional)
- sewing needle and thread (optional)
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MEASUREMENT:
- 10" H x 10" W
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Like I said, we are going to do 2 crossbody bags. Caron Big Cakes are self striping yarn, we're going to make one bag without stopping and another bag with numbered stripes. And each bag has a different way to close the bottom.
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First Crossbody Bag
Starting with a new set of color (any color you want). Chain 90 and form a ring connecting it with a slip knot. Make sure your chain is not twisted. If you plan to make your bag bigger or smaller make sure your chain foundation count ends with an even number.
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Start making the Moss Stitch. Once you formed your ring, start with a sc on the first stitch, chain one, skip the next chain then sc into the next. Keep repeating till you reach the next round.
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Once you're on the next round, keep up the pattern of "sc, chain, sc, chain" but you're no longer skipping stitches. You're placing the sc on the chain spaces of the previous row.
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Here's a diagram to better understand.
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Keep repeating till you reach the desired height of your bag. For my bag, I stopped after 10 inches or after I completed the 4th color batch so the stripes will look even.
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Once you decide to stop, end your stitch with a slip knot, cut the yarn and weave the end with a tapestry needle.
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To seal the bottom, turn your bag inside out.With your tapestry needle and using the same yarn color of the bottom, sew the edge closed with a back stitch method and make sure it's nice and tight.
We'll do the strap and everything else after the second bag for it will be the same process for both.
Second Crossbody Bag
This time we're going to make the stripes thinner. So we're going to have to switch yarn after 6 rows to give it a different look. But before we start, we need to separate the remains of the Caron Big Cake skein. Carefully separate the color batches and cut them off.
With these colors, decide your stripe color palette. After doing the first bag, we found out that one batch makes 12 rows. So we're going to make 6 rows in each stripe until we reach 10 inches. While you're deciding you're palette, keep note of the color of your fringes. We need to make sure we have enough yarn for the fringes, that is if we're going to to do it the same color.
To start this bag, follow the same beginning process as the first bag. I would suggest to keep the tail of the chain foundation. That will be your marker to know that you're reaching the next row. Like I mentioned earlier, we will switch colors after the 6th row.
To switch yarn colors in Moss Stitch...
On the last sc stitch of the 6th row, pause and grab the new yarn color.
Wrap the new yarn color over the hook.
Pull the new yarn through both loops completing the sc stitch.
Do a chain afterwards and continuing the process of the moss stitch - sc, chain, sc, chain.
When I switch yarn colors, I usually would crochet over the other colors but on Moss Stitch, I would leave the tail ends of both yarn, knot it first and weave them in with a tapestry needle. Trust me, it will make the inside neater and no one will notice the yarn change.
Whenever you're switching your yarn colors, try to keep them in line. That's why I suggested to keep the tail from your chain foundation as your marker. We will fold the bag making this linn the side fold. So it won't be obvious and both sides of the bag will show even stripe lines.
Once you reached the 10", cut off yarn and weave it in.
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Then flatten your bag making sure the "switching yarn color rows" are on the folded part of the bag.
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Turn your bag upside down and close the bottom. Grab the same color of yarn of your first stripe and do sc crochet stitch.
Continue the sc stitch all the way to the end.
Since we only did one stripe of the yellow, we will use the rest for the fringe.
Cut strips of the yarn 10" long.
To attach the fringe, get 3 strips of yarn, fold them in half. Insert your hook through the first stitch
Grab the folded yarn and pull it through to form a loop. Make sure you pull through all the strands. Pull the end of the fringe through with your finger or the hook. Even it out and pull tightly to knot it. Lay it flat and even out strabgly ends with scissors.
The next step is to make the strap. This will be the same process for both bags. I used 1" keychain rings. If you don't have any keychain rings lying around, you can purchase them in any hardware and craft stores. Or at Amazon, $6.00 for a bulk (100 pieces). Perfect if you're planning to make a lot of bags for gifts or craft fair.
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With your tapestry needle and the same color of yarn, sew in the ring on the top side of the bag. Sew it in the inside of the bag.
For the strap, we're going to do a Romanian Cord. This is a very popular craft in jewelry making such as necklaces and bracelets. I thought it was a perfect cord for this bag and especially that we're adding some tassels at the ends. It doesn't stretch much, not like when you crochet with plain sc stitches. But I find that if you crochet this with 100% cotton yarn (such as Lily Sugar N' Cream or any Caron Cotton Yarns), it will not stretch at all. But since we are using an acrylic yarn, it will stretch... but just a little bit.
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I crocheted my Romanian cord 8 feet long. I decided to double strap it. It's the only way I can think of to put the strap in the rings... by wrapping it around. I crocheted with the pink yarn and when I ran out of that, so I added in the lighter shade of pink. We'll use the rest of the lighter shade of pink for the strap of our second bag.
For the end of the strap, I put in a cord end cap. To make it pretty and also easy for us to tie in the tassels. I purchased the cord end cap at Amazon and the wire hoops at Michaels ($3.15 package of 50 pcs.) This is optional. You can still put in the tassels without an end cap by sewing it in.
Put the wire hoop through the end cap and pin in through the end of the cord. Using a small plier, bend the end of the wire hoop by wrapping it through the cord and cover it with the yarn to hide it.
To make the tassels:
I used my daughter's iPod touch to wrap my yarn because it's a perfect size. You can use any rectangular shape (i.e. cardboard) to wrap your yarn in.
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Then tie that in the small hook of the end cap. If you didn't put an end cap, just sew in the top tail of the tassel to the end of the cord.
Put one end of the cord through the bag ring and with the same end, put that through the other bag ring. Get the other end to the cord and tie a knot. Locking it with the ring.
To put in closure to your bag, just sew in a button in the middle of the top part of the bag. Here's quick video on how to crochet a button hook.
From our Caron Big Cake skein... after crocheting 2 bags, 2 tassels, 8 foot Romanian Cord, this is what was left. Enough to make another 8 foot cord and 2 more tassels for the other bag.
I hope you're able to follow this pattern easily. It's a very easy project. This bag is a perfect gift to any little girl. Even a teenager would love this bag. Crochet it a little bigger and you can give it to any woman you know.
Feel free to contact me if you have any question or any issues with this pattern.
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Thank you so much!
Happy Crocheting!
Thank you for visiting Anna B. Crochet! If you love this pattern, feel free to use it in your own crochet creations, whether for gifts or sale, with an attribution link to this page when posting online. Please do not resell or distribute this pattern in physical or digital form, and make sure to tag me on Instagram so I can check out what you made!