Crochet bag, lined

My sisters' birthdays are coming up so I decided to make pretty things for them. My older sister, Constanza (Cons, for short) is a (good) witch, living the in the south of Chile. She's always on the go and loves summer so I wanted to make her something useful and bright. I decided to use "Inga's Crocheted Bag" as a starting point for a cute personalized present. 

I used Lion Brand 24/7 cotton in jade (a gorgeous teal shade) and a 3.5mm (size E hook) for the bag itself. I then lined it with handprinted Indian cotton and added a zipper. 

Here's the link to the original pattern. What I modified:

1. The original pattern calls for 16 granny squares. The advantage of the granny square is that you can be as intricate and imaginative as you want with tis design, so the possibilities are endless. I made these squares as the pattern suggests; I wanted the bag to be rather sturdy and structured. 

2. I didn't like the original shape of the bag, I wanted something rounder and softer in look, so I made fewer squares (13 instead of 16) and distributed them like this. The five squares that can be completely seen have another underneath. There are three that are folded in half to finish the shape of the bag. I like setting them up like this to have an idea of what the final product will look like. 

Before you assemble them, block the squares. This will make it easier to sew them together. Steam block with your iron, and remember to protect the square with a piece of cloth. 

 

To put the bag together, you can use different types of stitches (you can find some cool ideas here). I went with a simple needle and thread diagonal stitch.  

3. I wanted sturdier straps than the ones in the original pattern. I find that crochet sometimes prevents bags to have straps that are even. One side is usually a tad larger than other because the construction is stacked horizontally (around the bag) instead of vertically. To fix this I did the following. After sewing all the squares together I finished the top part without making straps, just three rows of single stitch (marked in red). I broke the yarn and then proceeded to make the straps separately. 

4. The straps in my version are wider, even in length (right and left borders) so they don't dig into the shoulder. I also decided to reinforce them with a flat slip stitch to reduce stretch as much as possible. 

I started on the left side (but this does not matter). Because the strap will sit on a vertex (the corner of a square), the stitches on the sides of the strap must be longer than those in the middle, otherwise, this part of the bag would not lie flat. The fix is super simple, join yarn and do 2c (as 1dc), 4sc, 1dc. After that, continue with: 1c, 5sc until you have reached your desired length. For the final row, repeat the first: 2c (as 1dc), 4sc, 1dc. Leave a few inches of tail, cut yarn and attach the strap with a simple sewn stitch. Repeat the process for the second strap.

Left front of the strap             Right front of the strap

Both outer borders of the strap have been reinforced with
a flat slip stitch chain to reduce stretching. 

Finished Inga bag!
 

How to line a crocheted bag

 The last modification I did was adding a zipper, lining, and an inner pocket. I think this takes that bag to a whole new level. Also, my sister tends to lose things, so I wanted to make sure they would be safe and sound. 

My choice of lining: hand printed cotton.

The first thing to do is cut the fabric for the lining. To do that, I laid the finished bag on top of the fabric. I previously folded the fabric and matched this fold with the bottom of the bag. I did this to avoid having a seam at the very bottom of the lining (which is where lint and other little things would get stuck). Then, I cut around the fabric leaving about an inch around the bag, enough extra fabric to allow for any further cutting and seaming. The fabric measured 16 x 11in. I used pinking shears to cut it.  

I wanted the bag to have one large inner pocket, so I started by making that. This pocket is 5 x 8in, so I cut an 6.5 x 9.5in rectangle. I used regular scissors for this. 

Fold and press each side so you can see how big your finished pocket will be. By doing this, you can also skip the step of hemming the borders.

When you're satisfied with how your pocket will look, open it back up and cut the corners. This helps reduce the bulk when you sew the pocket onto the lining. DO NOT cut beyond the inner-most lines (you'll have to start over if you do as you will have cut off part of the pocket).  

Fold the sides back up and iron again. Then, sew the side that will correspond to the top of the pocket. I made two single lines to keep the fold down (you can use a double needle, zigzag, or one line, depending on your preference).

Sew the three remaining sides onto the lining. Make sure it is straight!

 To add the zipper: put the zipper face down on a surface and then line the top of your fabric (also face down) with it. Pin it and sew. Iron to flatten when done. 

pin

sew

iron

To sew the second side of the zipper, double check that your fabric is the right size for the depth of the bag by placing the lining on top and aligning with where the zipper should sit. Take the time to also double check the width for the sides that are still open. 

Sew the other side of the zipper and the sides of the bag. I went all the way up to the teeth with the stitching to make new stopping point for the zipper.

The last part was done by hand. It was the only y found to make and invisible line and to prevent any puckering. I first aligned and pinned the seamed sides of the bag and then continued pinning all the way across the front and back. I used tiny, tiny stitches (about 2mm or a little more than 1/16th of an inch). 

Pin seamed sides to the sides of the crochet bag first. Then, pin
the sides of the bag by working your way across.  

Tiny stitches will make the lining sturdy and invisible. 

I thought I was done but encountered one huge problem at the very end. Even though I ironed the entire bag when I was done, the zipper was eating up fabric when opening and closing it. To correct this, I did a second round of tiny stitches to pull down the fabric and fix it in place, thus preventing it from riding up and getting caught in the zipper. The stitch is almost invisible, just dots on the fabric, about 1/4in below the zipper.