First we’re going to attach the main bit of the bag to the strap and edge the strap. First, position one of the short edges of the strap next to the end of the gusset with wrong sides together, and strap facing you.
Pinned in place
Then, starting at the corner, work across the end of the strap and the gusset in double crochet catching one loop from each side for each stitch as before.
Double crochet across the gusset and strap end
At the corner, turn your work
Here I’ve turned the work and am starting to work along the side of the strap
and with the right side of the strap still facing you, work all the way along the edge of the strap. You’ll be working 1dc each corner space of a small square and 1dc in each stitch until you get to the end of the strap – so for each square, that’s one dc in the corner space, 9dc in stitches along the edge of the square and one dc in the corner space.
Here’s the side of one square completed
Now position the short end of the strap against the gusset, again with wrong sides together and the strap still facing you,
One side of the strap completed, turned again and ready to dc the other short end to the gusset
work across short side and the gusset, then along the other edge of the strap as before. Join with ss to first st. Fasten off.
Here’s the strap attached and edged
Final touch!
Finally, edge the tops of the sides by joining yarn in corner sp of gusset and with right side of bag facing, work in dc across the top edge (ie along the top of the small squares), finishing with a dc in the space on the gusset again. Complete other top edge to match.
Start in the corner and make sure it’s secured to the gusset corner tooOnce the ends have been sewn, the bag’s finished
Ta-da! You have your spring bag!
Your bag is ready to go, but if you like, you could add a lining. There are instructions how to do this here.
I hope you’ve enjoyed following along and maybe learned some new techniques along the way. If you’ve made a bag, please send me a photo, or share one in the comments here, or post it on my Picking Up Stitches facebook page as I’d love to see them.
Make 12 or as many as you prefer for the length of the strap)
These are like mini granny squares, worked in groups of half trebles. There are only three rounds, the first two are regular rounds and then the third round is used to join a square to the next one – it’s a method called JAYG which stands for Join As You Go
Round 1: In a magic circle, work 2chain [counts as htr], then work 2htr, now a bit to repeat three times: (2ch, 3htr). Finally, work 2ch, and join with ss to top of the second chain. Fasten off. As usual you can start with a ring made up of 4chain stitches slip stitched together instead if you can’t do the magic circle.
How cute is that little square!
Round 2: Join yarn in a 2ch-space, and work (2ch [counts as htr], 2htr, 1ch 3htr), * in the next corner 2ch-sp work (3htr, 1ch, 3htr), rep from * twice, join with ss to 2nd ch. Fasten off.
The next round is only done on the very first square you make.
(For first square only) Round 3: Join yarn in a 1ch-sp in a corner, now work (3ch [counts as tr], 2tr, 2ch, 3tr) – this is the corner, * in the next space (ie between two groups of three trebles, on the side of the square), work 3tr, in the next corner space work (3tr, 2ch, 3tr), go back and repeat from * twice, then to finish, in the next side space work 3tr, join with ss to the 3rd ch. Fasten off.
The first square looks like this..
Now comes the clever round that you work on each square you make from now on – it sounds a bit complicated, but as long as you remember that you’re aiming to join along one side of the square to the one you’ve already made, it should make sense. And I’ve included lots of pictures to help. But if you do find it too complicated (which I’m sure you won’t) then you could just make the squares all as the first one, then sew or crochet all the individual squares together. However, give the JAYG method first, you’ll be glad you did once you get the hang of it!
(All subsequent squares) Round 3: Join yarn in a corner space, and work (3ch [counts as a treble], 2 more trebles, 2chain stitches and 3 trebles),
* in next space between groups of stitches on the side, work 3trebles, in the next corner space, work (3tr, 2ch, 3tr),
in next sp work 3tr.
Now comes the joining bit – you’re going to need to place your completed square next to the one you’re working.
In the next corner space work 3tr, then 1chain.
You need both squares together for this bit
Now put your hook from front to back through the bottom right corner of the completed square making sure the right side of that square is facing you (see the picture below).
and work a slip stitch, which attaches the two squares together.
Here I’ve worked a slip stitch and you can see that the two corners are joined
Now work 3tr in the corner space on your current square,
inset the hook into the space between groups of trebles on the completed square
and slip stitch here to join at this point too,
Here’s the beginning of the slip stitch – just need to pull it straight through the loop on the hook nextSlip stitch completed
then 3tr in the next space between groups of trebles on current square,
slip stitch through the next space on completed square again,
Hook through the space…and slip stitch the squares together
work 3 trebles in corner space on the current square,
then 1ch, now slip stitch through the corner space on completed square,
hook through the corner space…and slip stitch together
then 3 treble in corner space on current square.
Three trebles to complete the corner
– that’s the joining bit completed, so now just work 3 trebles in the final space on the current square,
and join with a ss to the 3rd ch.
Fasten off.
Now attach another square that you’ve worked two rounds on to the strip in the same way.
I’m sure you’ll soon get the hang of it once you’ve made a few.
You can make as many squares as you like depending on how long you want your finished strap to be.
Once that’s done, block your strap out, and you’re ready to complete the bag in the next part – part 9, which is here.
If you get stuck, just email or contact me on facebook, instagram or twitter and I’ll try to help. And don’t forget to share all your pictures on social media! #SpringBagCAL
Part 7 doesn’t seem to have many instructions, but there’s quite a lot of crocheting involved!
Gusset
Work 10ch, turn.
The initial chain stitches
Miss the chain nearest your hook and start in second ch, work 1dc in each chain stitch, turn. You’ll have 9 double crochet stitches.
The first row
Next row: 1ch, dc in each st along, turn. (Make sure you remember to do the double crochet in the first stitch after you’ve done the initial chain stitch – you should always have 9 dc in a row.)
Here, I’ve worked a few rows
Repeat last row until gusset is long enough to fit down one side, across the bottom and up the other side. Measure it against the bag side as you go, and don’t finish off at the end. You may need to adjust the length as you start pinning it.
Here’s mine when I’d worked 44 rows – this was long enough to fit down one side…
And here it is when I’d done 88 rows…
This is mine when I’d worked 126 rows.
I decided that was enough to start pinning in place. I’d then add more rows or take a few back when I’d pinned it all the way round, as then I could judge what fitted exactly.
Attaching the gusset
Pin one long side of the gusset around the main square with wrong sides together – going down one side strip, across the bottom and up the other side strip. Ease it round the corners when pinning.
Now you should be able to see whether the gusset is the correct length, so adjust slightly if you need to – either add a few more rows, or take a few rows back – and then finish off and cut the yarn. Here you can see I needed to add a few extra rows – you can see I’ve left the loop so I could just insert the hook again and do a few more rows.
Here, I’ve worked the extra rows to fit exactlyIt’s then pinned in place
Now starting at a top corner, work 1dc in each st and edge of gusset along the side, again catching one loop from each piece as before.
Here’s the starting point for your joining double crochet stitchesHere’s how the edge looks as you go along
When you get to a corner, work 3dc in the same place, then continue along the bottom to the next corner, work 3dc in the same place again and up the other side.
Here’s the first side attached to the gusset
Now attach the other side of the bag to the gusset in the same way, being careful when you pin it that it doesn’t distort – make sure the place you pin the corners at the bottom correspond with the same points of the gusset as the corners you’ve already joined.
Pin the other side to matchMake sure the corner points matchOnce you’ve completed that side it should look like this
Now go on to Part 8 to find out how to make the strap…
Share your pictures with the hashtag #SpringBagCAL and get in touch if you need any help.
