My favorite purse in my early 20’s (the Y2K era) was orange and almost triangle shaped. I remember buying it from a thrift store. I wore that thing out!
Recently I’ve wanted to recreate that bag, crochet style. Maybe not orange, though. I knew it had to be cotton so it would keep its shape and be washable. I also wanted to double-strand the bag for more structure.
- Loops and Threads cotton yarn
- 5mm and 5.5mm hook
- My own pattern
(The work-in-progress photos look dull because the lighting in our bedroom is, well, dull. I mainly worked on this bag at night in bed. You’ll see the true colors of the yarn in the final photos, which were taken at my desk near natural light.)
I needed to start with a slim base so the purse wasn’t completely flat. I worked in the round until I had a 1.25 inch base, then I stitched in the BLO (back loop only) for one round to build the purse up and create the body. All stitches are SC (single crochet).
After crocheting a few rows of the purse’s body, I remembered I wanted this to resemble my Y2K era purse. I frogged (pulled out) all but one row and started again, this time decreasing each row.
I was combining the rainbow cotton yarn with the teal cotton yarn for a few rows. I knew I wanted to incorporate purple, but how?
That’s when the idea hit me. Switch to rainbow and purple for the bag’s mid section! I could see my design coming together.
The switch from teal to purple for the rows in the middle was subtle, so I wanted to add more purple to the top of the bag for a pop of color. But first, I needed to think about the purse strap. I didn’t want the basic four row SC shoulder strap. That would stretch out over time. I wanted a solid, thicker strap that would last.
The Russian cord stitch would be perfect! I combined the rainbow and purple yarn again, since most of the bag looked teal blue, and I made the strap long enough for larger arms.
Big armed ladies like satchel purses, too, and straps that fit my arms are so hard to find in stores!
I watched a LOT of tutorials for this cord on YouTube, but this was the video I saved to my crochet pattern watchlist.
This is what happens when you put your hook down for a few minutes to watch video tutorials.
Yeti is lucky he’s so cute!
I added the purple border on the top, then I sewed in the cord ends to the inside of the bag with purple yarn to match the top rows and better hide the attached yarn ends.
I briefly thought about using metal hardware on this bag, but I didn’t want to take away from it’s simplicity. I also wanted to keep the cost down so I could sell it at a reasonable price.
It’s so satisfying when you can see your vision in real life.
I decided to list this one for sale. I will make another one while writing my own pattern down in the future. I might even do a pattern tester call.
The materials for this purse cost $9. It took me approximately four hours to design and complete this project. I’m charging 34.95 for this purse.
I used a ball and a half of rainbow yarn, half a ball of purple yarn, and almost a full ball of teal yarn to complete this project. Michael’s Craft Store sells these for $3 each.
If you’ve read my previous blogs, you know I usually charge roughly three times the material costs. Cotton is hard on my hands, and I have to be careful with my nerve damage disease. I also wanted to cover the fees Etsy charges.
Please leave a comment below and tell me what you thought about this Y2K purse I designed and if you’re excited for the pattern release!
Stay crafty, friends.
Melissa Jane
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