Can You Have Too Much ‘Purse’onality?

I finished this bag in greys, white and black awhile ago.

I love crochet bags and I now have quite a collection. It seems when ever I want to use up yarn I end up making another bag.

black and grey 'purse'onality tote bag - craftygardener.ca

This pattern is for a bag made out of granny squares a few years ago. It’s called Inga’s crocheted bag. I just tweaked it a bit and took out the squares that formed the bottom. In total you need 13 granny squares and then some yarn to join them together and made the straps. It is great for using up odd bits and pieces of yarn.

I also love to line my bags, with inside pockets, so that smaller items don’t poke through the crochet. I also line the straps as this stops them from stretching out.

I lay the bag on top of the lining fabric and trace around the outside, adding enough for the seams. A square of fabric is stitched to one side first and this will form the inside pocket.

lining the black and grey 'purse'onality tote bag - craftygardener.ca

I always line the straps as I find they will stretch out after using a few times. You can see from the top right photo how the lining helps to straighten out the strap as well. The lining is seamed up the sides and turned so the right sides are together. Then it is slipped into the bag and pinned around to top edge. Once it all fits I stitch around the edges.

I frequently wonder if a person can have too many bags.

I love 'purse'onality tote bag - craftygardener.ca

I certainly have my choice of styles and colours.

I don’t think you can ever have too much ‘purse’onality.

I did some adjusting on this bag recently. It is my favourite pattern for bags but it just came out a bit too big, probably used a crochet hook one size too big. So a rainy Friday evening and Saturday morning it was the perfect time to take out the lining and remove one round off of each square. It sounds like a lot of work but it really wasn’t.

After the adjusted squares were crocheted together it was time to adjust the lining. You can see from the bottom left photo that about an inch had to be trimmed off on all sides. I’m much happier with the size of this bag now and it will get much more use.