Coral Seas Crochet Bag

Finally, I present to you a new pattern! The Coral Seas Crochet Bag is a fun, easy pattern for summer. I’ve been extremely busy these past few months, first with a bathroom renovation which took all of May! I literally had no toilet for like a week and had to shower at my parents’ house for nearly the entire month. Needless to say that was a bit of an annoyance (okay, a big annoyance). And also, I have this other thing that I do (besides my full time job) which took up some of my time. I released the third book in my fantasy series. Yes, I am an author. Self-published, but still published and it’s a lot of work to put together all the details in a book release. Anyway, if you’re curious about my novels, they’re available at Amazon. My pen name is Joy Demers.

As for the pattern, like I mentioned before, the Coral Seas Crochet Bag is pretty easy to do and you end up with a cute purse for the summer. You will need to know how to crochet in the third loop of the half double crochet, which makes for the beautiful raised loops. You will also need to know how to do a magic ring. It took me forever to get the hang of making a magic ring/loop but once I did, it is easy to do. There are plenty of videos out there if you do need help. I may create a photo tutorial for it one day (if time ever permits).

What you need

2 Lily Sugar ‘n Cream super size (3 oz/85 g) in Coral Seas Ombre
3 cabone rings (2 in/5 cm) (Loops & Threads 5 pack available at Michaels)
5.5 mm crochet hook
tapestry needle, preferably one with a curved end
1 cross-body strap (I used one from an old purse of mine, but they are easily available online, just make sure to get one large enough to hook around the cabone ring)

Gauge

Not important!

Stitches used (U.S. Terms)

ch- chain

sc – single crochet

hdc – half double crochet

hdc inc – half double crochet increase (two half double crochet in the same stitch)

sl st – slip stitch

mr – magic ring

The Pattern

Main body – make 2

Place a stitch marker on first stitch of round to keep track of where you are, and keep moving it after every round.

Rnd 1 Make a magic ring, chain 2, and make 6 hdc in the mr. (6)

Rnd 2 Working in the third loop only (for the rest of the body), make 2 hdc in each stitch around. (12)

Rnd 3 *1 hdc, 1 hdc inc* around. (18)

Rnd 4 *2 hdc, 1 hdc inc* around. (24)

Rnd 5 *3 hdc, 1 hdc inc* around. (30)

Rnd 6 *4 hdc, 1 hdc inc* around. (36)

Rnd 7 *5 hdc, 1 hdc inc* around. (42)

Rnd 8 *3 hdc, 1 hdc inc, 3 hdc* around. (48)

Rnd 9 *7 hdc, 1 hdc inc* around. (54)

Rnd 10 *4 hdc, 1 hdc inc, 4 hdc* around. (60)

Rnd 11 *9 hdc, 1 hdc inc* around. (66)

Rnd 12 *5 hdc, 1 hdc inc, 5 hdc* around. (72)

Rnd 13 *11 hdc, 1 hdc inc* around. (78)

Rnd 14 *6 hdc, 1 hdc inc, 6 hdc* around. (84)

Rnd 15 *13 hdc, 1 hdc inc* around. (90)

Rnd 16 *7 hdc, 1 hdc inc, 7 hdc* around. (96)

Rnd 17 *15 hdc, 1 hdc inc* around. (102)

Rnd 18 sc in third loop around, sl st to first sc, fasten off. (102)

Base/side

Row 1 leaving a long tail, ch 87, sc in back bump of 2^nd ch from hook and across. (86)

Row 2 ch 1, turn, sc across. (86)

Row 3-8 repeat Row 2.

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Fold 5 stitches over cabone ring and secure with running stich using the long tail. Repeat on other end of strap.

See the 5 stitches wrapped around the cabone. Make sure it is only 5 stitches and not more as the stitch count when attaching bag will become wrong and could result in a wonky looking bag.

Flap

Row 1 make a slip knot on your hook and then work 12 sc around the cabone ring. (12)

Row 2 ch 2, turn, 12 hdc. (ch 2 does not count as hdc) (12)

Row 3 ch 2, turn, hdc inc, hdc across. (in each hdc ant not in ch 2; leave the ch 2 unworked) (13)

Row 4-15 repeat Row 3. (at row 15, 25 stitches)

Fasten off, but be sure to leave a really, really long tail (maybe 3-4 times the width of the last row). This will be used to attach flap to bag later on.

Assembly

Line up side/base to one circle like in the picture below (I started where I fastened off on the circle). Going through both top loops of side/base and circle, seam together using single crochet (76 stitches). Repeat with other circle.

Side/base attached. The top has 25 free stitches. This is where the flap will be attached.

To attach the flap, push hook through top loops of first hdc (last hdc worked on the flap) and through the top loops of the rear circle (stitch at far right; see picture). Pull up a loop, yarn over, and pull through (single crochet seam started). Continue across in same manner (25 stitches). Fasten off.