Hey gang, Jane back with another fun crochet tutorial
Today I'm going to let you come along with me while I assemble a large version of my
easy breezy crochet tote. These crochet totes are so useful for so many things
They make great carryalls when you're out about the town, shopping or just visiting
the beach. The pattern for this bag comes in two sizes, so the small bag can be used as a crossbody
purse and the large tote for shopping or carrying your current crochet project
They're quick and easy to make, they're awesome stash busters and they're perfect on the go
portable projects. And they make great gifts. So what I want to do in this tutorial is to give you a little over the shoulder look while
I assemble one of my large size bags. With a few little animated diagrams to help you follow along
This bag was made using my easy breezy crochet tote bag pattern which is available over on
my shop. It includes a 21 page printable pdf with lots of diagrams, written instructions, charts
and colorway layouts. So this bag is made using, of course, my easy breezy square and I'll drop a link to the
free tutorial for that in the description below. I made this bag using worsted weight yarn
It doesn't take much, in fact the entire small bag takes 150 grams of yarn and the large
bag takes a total of 250 grams of yarn. I suggest having a full 50 grams of your main color or a full ball of it and then small
amounts of your contrast colors. I'll also be using a 5mm hook for the shoulder strap which is the same size as I used to
make the squares and you'll need a pair of scissors and a darning needle as well
You can use these assembly directions with any square of your choosing
Just be aware that the bag size will be different if the square size varies from the original
With the square I'm using, the square sides are 3.5 by 3.5 and the finished size of my
large bag is 15 inches by 17.5 inches. You can find more info about the square sizes and the finished bag sizes over on my blog
Now of course before we can get to assembling our bag, we first have to have squares in
order to do that. So this large bag requires 32 squares and once you've completed those squares, join
me in the next section and we'll start to assemble our bag
Now once we have the 32 squares, we can start laying them out and assembling them
The large bag diagram has the following layout. The squares that I'm using are my Ocean View colorway and I'll use this to represent the assembly
So let's first discuss what the layout is going to look like. For the large bag, we have 32 squares
So this diagram has a layout with all 32 squares numbered. The first thing I do is lay out my squares and see if I like the way that they look beside each other
And if you have my pattern in your following mat, it will tell you where to place each square
Once I'm happy with the layout, I'll start to join the individual squares
First I join the squares in strips. And then I join the strips together to create one large piece
Now you're probably going to ask, how do you suggest I join these squares, Jane? Well, there are many great methods you can use and I've tried a few different ones and
the result actually gives a little extra interest to your finished product
My Sandbanks colorway small tote uses the single crochet method to join the squares
and adds lots of fun color to each of the seams. So for today's assembly, I'm going to show you a simple whip stitch method
So keeping in mind the layout and the method of first joining the squares into strips and
then joining the strips, we're going to start joining our squares. You're going to want to take two of the squares and you'll need a darning needle and a piece
of yarn about 10 inches long. As a rule of thumb, I try to use three times the length of the edge I'm sewing, so this
gives me lots to play with. Place the two squares face up beside each other
Start by inserting your needle underneath the bottom corner, which in this case is a
chain three space, of the left square and bring it through and up
Then back down into the bottom corner of the right square. Then back up one more time on the left, same bottom corner as before
Then to secure our yarn, take your needle under the loop you just created and pull it through
Give it a little snug pull, but not too tight. Now working our way up the squares, insert the needle down into the next stitch front
to back on the right square. Making sure you go under both loops of the edge stitch
Then back up through the corresponding stitch on the left square. Again under both loops
Pull secure, but not too tight. Then repeat this again for each stitch as you work your way up the edges
This seam creates a nice secure join, but no extra bulk. I like to work it in the main color for a seamless appearance, but you can jazz it up
by doing each seam in a different color. You can also try other joining methods to give even more interest to your bags
Continue until you reach the opposite corner, at which point you'll stitch through the chain
3 corner spaces as before, and then secure your yarn by going underneath the last loop
and give a little tug, just like when we started. Using your layout as a guide, continue to join your squares into strips, and once all
your strips are done, then join your strips in the same manner working from one end to
the other. I like to lay my squares out on the floor as I join them so I don't lose track of where
they are in the layout. I also like seeing it come together piece by piece
If you don't have the room to do this, however, because of kids, pets, or just life, you can
pin numbers to each of your squares so that you keep track of where they belong in the
layout without having to lie them all over your floor. This is also handy if you're working on this project on the go and only have your crochet
bag to keep everything in. It's always good to lay out the squares occasionally as it is an odd shape and you want to make
sure you're staying on track and not joining any edges that don't belong together
When you've finished this step, you will have one solid piece and will be ready for the
next step. So once we have all the squares joined together and we look just like the layout that we originally
started with, the next step is going to be folding our bag so that we can continue to
join the rest of the squares to complete the bag itself. This animation helps you understand where to fold your piece
I'll use the square numbers from the original layout to identify what squares you're folding on
First, we'll fold it in half on squares 17 and 21. This edge will be the bottom of your bag
Then we fold the sides of our bags. First side along squares 19, 13, and 7
And then the second side squares are 6, 3, and 1. To do the next set of joining, I'll have to flip my bag over to the opposite side
Now once I have it flipped, I can join the remaining seams as indicated by the solid
red lines on both sides. Once you've sewn those seams, the main section of the bag is complete
Now let's try to use this technique to fold the actual bag
I'm going to stay quiet and just let you watch me fold this
Now we're really seeing the bag come together
We're almost there. The next step is to finish sewing the remaining squares to give our bag its three-dimensional shape
So I've gone ahead here on one side and sewn some of the seams using the same whip stitch technique
The squares fit neatly into each other. So now I'll show you some on the opposite edge of the bag
These squares fold in half to fit neatly into this space like a puzzle piece
It can get tricky here to make sure you're sewing the proper edges together, so check
and recheck your work to make sure the square is in the right place
Now I'll show you here how I actually sew one of these into place. I'm going to be quiet for a minute and just let you watch me sew these sections together
And at the top we fold this one in half and sew it down as well
Once you have all your square seams finished, this is what your bag will look like
Every square is secured in its proper place. It gives a nice subtle rounded edge at the bottom corners and it flows nicely from one
side to the other with no apparent side seam. Feels kind of good to see all those squares take the shape of an actual functional bag
doesn't it? So what's next? Well, now we have to add our shoulder strap
This bag is only going to have the one strap. It'll be long enough you can either wear the bag as a crossbody bag or over one shoulder
The strap will be worked in two halves. We'll start with the front half and then we'll repeat the process for the back half
In the written pattern for the bag, we start with a regular chain foundation, but in this
tutorial I'm going to show you an alternative and faster way by using the single crochet
foundation stitch method. I'll drop a link for the tutorial for this technique below
I like to use the main color of my bag for the strap as well, but this is a personal preference
Now the length of the strap is determined by the number of chains you start with for
your strap. I like my straps to be on the longer side so the bag sits around my hip area, but shorter
straps work well for smaller bags if you want to wear up under your arm
I usually suggest anywhere between 75 and 100 chains to get about a 25 to 30 inch strap
You can check your strap length by laying down your foundation chain, giving it a slight
stretch as it will stretch a bit when you wear it with the weight of the bag, and then
measure that. Once you have your foundation chain finished, we'll start working along the top edge of
our bag. We start by working a single crochet in the top corner chain 3 space, and then continue
working single crochets into each square edge stitch and chain 3 corner spaces until we
reach the center V shape of our bag. At this point we want to work a single crochet decrease over the next three chain 3 spaces
This is to keep our edge lying flat and even without any puckering at the V
We work this single crochet decrease by pulling up a loop in each of the three chain 3 spaces
and then pulling a loop through all three of the loops on the hook to create one stitch
Once we've worked this decrease, we will continue to work up the next edge as we did before
Single crochet into each stitch and chain 3 space until we reach the top corner, working
our last single crochet in the chain 3 space. Now if you did a single crochet foundation like I did, we'll be finished our first round here
If you're following the pattern and did a regular chain foundation, then just continue
to work single crochet stitches along the chains to complete the round at the opposite corner
Once your first round is complete, we just need to work two more rounds of single crochet
making sure we do a single crochet decrease the same way at the center V by working over
the center three stitches. You can work three rounds or four rounds or as many rounds as you'd like depending
on how wide you want your strap to be. Once you're finished the number of rounds that you want, you can fasten off your yarn
Now we want to repeat this for the second half of the strap on the opposite side of
the bag. So starting at the top corner of the bag, join your yarn and work as for the first half
remembering to decrease at the center V and when you get to the strap on your first round
at the opposite corner, work into the bottom loops of the foundation chain
This creates a single strap. Once you've worked the three rounds of single crochet, you can fasten off and your strap
is complete. And finally, you can finish it off with a closure if you want to
I've put a tassel on mine. You can use big buttons or you can leave it without a closure at all
And if you want to, you can go ahead and line it. So now you have the basics of how to put together my Easy Breezy Crochet Tote Bag
So I hope this tutorial has given you some ideas on how to create your own crochet tote bag
You can find more info on techniques I use in this tutorial below and the full pattern
for this bag is available over in my shop. The pattern itself contains 21 pages of detailed directions for both the small and large bag
stitch charts, assembly diagrams, and four different bag layouts and square colorways
Thanks again for joining me in this tutorial. If you enjoyed this video, please give it a thumbs up and remember to subscribe to my
channel so you can catch all the new tutorials as they come out
I'll see you soon. Happy crocheting