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Here’s how easy it is to crochet a gorgeous summer bag

26.7.2022

Translation: Katherine Martin

Whether it’s at the poolside, on Insta feeds or on Pinterest boards, I’ve been seeing an increasing number of candy-coloured crochet bags hanging from sun-kissed arms. Obviously, I want one for myself. And a homemade one, no less.

If you’ve read any of my pieces, you might be aware that I love the lido life. It’s the tanning, the water, the reading, the snoozing. And the people watching! I could sit there on my towel for hours at a time, sunglasses on, simply observing. Not because I’m creepy, but because there’s plenty to discover. Pretty bikinis, whose origins I glean from the women wearing them. Promising book titles that I immediately google. Poolside snacks which subsequently end up in my picnic repertoire. This year, however, one thing in particular catches my expert eye: crochet hooks. A colourful hive of activity, the hooks wind their way through even more colourful yarn. Pulling loop after loop from the ball, they weave together chequered, striped or patterned bucket hats and small bags as if by magic. I want to do it too! But can I?

My own attempt at a crocheted bag

You could say I’m a bit of a dab hand at arts and crafts. I’ve baked coasters out of FIMO, moulded candles into new shapes with my fingertips and strung countless little beads onto necklaces and bracelets to spruce them up. If I’m honest, though, that was all primary school stuff, really. To me, the crochet bag seems to be next level. But that doesn’t matter. As they say, she who dares, wins. Filled with determination, I select a crochet hook, stack my shopping cart with colourful cotton yarn and click Order. I then scour Pinterest for inspiration, before searching YouTube for just the right tutorial.

Yellow? Purple? Green? I just ordered a bit of everything.

You’ll need

Yarn in your favourite colours (lots of it)
1 crochet hook (each ball of yarn indicates the suitable size)
1 pair of scissors
Nimble fingers

Thread + yarn

Quantity discount

CHF9.90 per piece for 4 units CHF0.18/1m

DMC Eco Vita 12

55 m

Thread + yarn

Quantity discount

CHF9.90 per piece for 4 units CHF0.18/1m

DMC Eco Vita 12

55 m

Needles

Quantity discount

CHF7.90 per piece for 3 units

Iris Crochet hook

Quantity discount

Thread + yarn

CHF9.90 per piece for 4 units CHF0.18/1m

DMC Eco Vita 12

Quantity discount

Thread + yarn

CHF9.90 per piece for 4 units CHF0.18/1m

DMC Eco Vita 12

Quantity discount

Needles

CHF7.90 per piece for 3 units

Iris Crochet hook

As the candy-coloured balls of yarn come tumbling out of the package towards me, I’m emboldened by the fact that my colleague Natalie recently managed to make a strap for her yoga mat. Did I mention that I have zero crocheting experience? I once knitted a very long scarf in a single colour. As far as I can recall, I’ve never crocheted anything.

What does the scrupulously chosen YouTube tutorial (available in full here) teach me? I only really need to master four stitches: the slip knot, the chain stitch, the single crochet and the slip stitch. Time to get started. I pull the yarn into a slip knot, which, by the way, anyone can do. Then, as demonstrated in the video, I create a whole row of chain stitches, dictating the length of my bag. Easy.

A row of chain stitches forms the basis of the bag. — It all starts with the slip knot.

I’m now supposed to put a single crochet into every individual chain stitch, all the way around, until I arrive back at my slip knot starting point. What sounds slightly complicated is quickly made understandable by the video, and is scarily easy to put into practice. So, that’s crocheting. Cool! I pull loop after loop, keep threading everything in circles, throwing in a slip stitch here and there to start another round as usual. It’s going like clockwork and I can already envision myself at the helm of a mass production operation. Lido, here I come! I won’t be lifting a finger for the rest of the summer. But then, uh-oh. I make a classic rookie error after all: the yarn is finished, my bag unfinished.

The lady in the video cheerfully goes on crocheting, already starting to talk straps and handles. I, on the other hand, have a problem. Time to press pause. Do I really have to order another roll of orange and ... wait?! I was so in the zone! What would MacGyver do? Casting an eye over my selection of yarns tells me he’d go on crocheting with a different colour.

A two-tone bag it is, then. — Oops! I’m all out of yarn. What now?

Crisis quickly averted, I’ve learned a lesson for my future craft career: a bag that’s roughly 30 cm long and 22 cm high requires about 80 metres of yarn. Good to know. Moving on,

I simply weave in the purple, crochet a few more rounds in a circle, then it’s onto the dreaded handle. In the end, the fact that the handle, like the very first round, consists solely of chain stitches, makes me a fan of the whole procedure. Stop the current series of single crochets, separately thread the number of chain stitches you need for the handle, then weave the whole thing into the single crochets at the other end. Once it’s all done, the thread is cut with enough wiggle room to be criss-crossed through a few loops inside the bag, which allows you to attach it securely. Yep, it really is that simple.

It was lucky I ran out of yarn – I love the improvised combo of orange and purple.

I’m more than happy with my very first crocheted item. I’m even glad that my plan to make a bag in a single colour didn’t work out, and that I’m now carrying round a pretty combo of orange and purple. I’ll definitely keep at it – my next creation is already in the works – and from now on, I’ll always have a ball of yarn and a hook in my (perhaps soon-to-be crocheted) swim bag. After all, I’ll be in good company at the lido.

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Laura Scholz

Senior Editor

Laura.Scholz@digitecgalaxus.ch

Always in the mood for good hits, great trips and clinking drinks.

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Here’s how easy it is to crochet a gorgeous summer bag

My own attempt at a crocheted bag

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