Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I was thinking of making a free Irish Crochet Pattern to celebrate this day but due to lack of time, I thought I’d make this purse pattern “A Beautiful Belly” a free gift to all ye beautiful crocheters!

And as usual, don’t hesitate to email me at fats.lasay@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments or problems with the pattern. If you spot any errors, please let me know as soon as possible. Also, if you’re on Ravelry, please join the Crochetology Group on Ravelry.

Happy crocheting!
Fatima

A Beautiful Belly - crochet purse

A BEAUTIFUL BELLY

Design Notes: The strap of this purse goes across the torso and lets the purse lie over the stomach. A large belly is perfect for this purse as the curve of the belly pushes against the purse to keep its contents in place and the flap pressing down with one corner sewn to the front panel of the purse. The purse may be made left-handed or right-handed depending on the wearer. Lengths of gusset/strap are given for small and large size. Take your own measurements for a better fit bearing in mind that the wool will stretch and the design works better if it fits snugly to the body.

Skill Level: Easy
Terminology: Pattern is written in US Crochet Terminology
Finished Measurements: Approximately 8” wide x 5” high
Yarn: Worsted weight yarn (This project uses 65 grams of Patons Classic Wool in Olive color)
Hook: Aluminium crochet hook size Japan 8/0 or US H/8 (5mm)
Gauge: 16 sts and 19 rows in sc = 4”
Notions: Tapestry needle, sharp scissors

Instructions:
Special Stitches:
Back Loop Single Crochet (BLsc): Work sc as normal except that you insert the hook not in both loops of the st, but the loop that is further away as you look at the work. The result is a softer, stretchier fabric that looks very different from stitches worked in front loops only or in both loops.

Purse:
Notes: From Row 1-46, the entire purse body is crocheted. From Row 47-64 is the flap of the purse.

Ch 27.
Row 1 (RS): Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across, ch 1, turn.
Row 2-46: Sc in first sc and in each sc across, ch 1, turn.
Row 47 (Flap of bag begins here): BLsc in first sc and in each sc across, ch 1, turn.

Row 48 (Dec row for Right-handed purse): BLsc in first sc and in each sc across leaving last 2 sc unworked; now insert hook in BL of next sc, pull up a loop, insert hook in BL of last sc, pull up a loop, yo and pull through all 3 loops on hook (sc dec made). Ch 1, turn.

Row 48 (Dec row for Left-handed purse): Insert hook in BL of first sc, pull up a loop, insert hook in BL of next sc, pull up a loop, yo and pull through 3 loops on hook (sc dec made), BLsc in next sc and in each sc across. Ch 1, turn.

Row 49-63: Rep rows 47-48.
Row 64: Sc in each sc across working in both loops of each st. Fasten off.

Strap/Gusset:

Ch 5.
Row 1: Ch 1, sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 4 sc, ch 1, turn.
Row 2: Sc in first sc and in each sc across, ch 1, turn.
Next rows: Rep row 2 until strap/gusset measures 42” long (58” for large size). Fasten off.

Assembly/Finishing:
With right sides of purse facing tog, fold purse with row 1 reaching to row 46 just before the flap begins. Sew gusset to sides.

To make the fringes, cut 4 strands of yarn 12” long. Fold in half and, using crochet hook, draw the folded end of the yarn through corner of flap. Slip the ends of the yarn through the loop and gently pull to tighten the knot. You should now have a long fringe. Make 3 fringes for each corner of the flap. Trim ends of fringes with sharp scissors.

Weave in ends and block.

Sew corner along straight edge of flap to front panel of purse to close the purse. To open the purse, simply lift the flap at the diagonal edge.

A BEAUTIFUL BELLY in Crochet Cotton 8

The purse worked in cotton thread size 8.

This green purse is crocheted in cotton thread #8 and measures approximately 5.25” x 6”. The strap is a long braid sewn along the sides of the purse. The entire purse is worked in sc, with back-loop sc for the flap. Fringes are added along the diagonal edge of the flap. Sewn along this edge are large seeds, stones and gold colour beads.

The purse flap opens this way.

June Bride? Better start crocheting now! This is one of Crochetology’s free offers to that delightful wedding. And as always – please feel free to send me your comments, feedback, pattern suggestions and corrections. I’m just an email away!

SKILL LEVEL
Intermediate
Warning: Sewing Skills Needed!

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Finished purse measures approximately 4.5 inches wide and 5.5 inches tall

YARN
Cannon Mercerised 4-Ply Cotton Thread size 8
OR any crochet cotton thread size 10, size 8 or light fingering (4-ply)
Choose White or Natural

CROCHET HOOK
Aluminium Crochet Hook size 3/0 (2.20mm)
OR size required for gauge

GAUGE
25 sc = 4 inches

TERMINOLOGY
Pattern is written using US crochet terminology

NOTIONS:
Sewing needle and thread of matching colour
10 pcs Pearl Beads – 10mm
Satin Cord for purse drawstrings

DESIGN NOTES:
The mesh body of the purse and the individual motifs are crocheted first, then they are blocked and starched lightly. The leaves and large flowers are then sewn onto the mesh. The side seams of the purse are sewn and then the small flowers are added. A trim is crocheted along the opening of the purse. Satin cords are woven through the spaces along the opening of the purse to make a drawstring. Beads are then sewn onto the centres of the flowers.

INSTRUCTIONS
BRIDAL PURSE

MOTIF #1 The Flower with Curly Petals (Make 4)

Ch 4, sl st in 1st ch to make ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 1, 12 sc in ring, sl st in 1st sc to join.

Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in 1st sc, *ch 2, dc in next sc, ch 1, 6 sc around stem of dc, sc in next sc, rep fr * to make 6 petals ending the last rep with sl st in 1st sc to join.

Rnd 3: Ch 1, working from behind the petals, make a sc in ring through the space in the centre of the first petal, *ch 3, tr in same sp, ch 3, around same stem make (4 dc, 2 hdc, 2 sc), sc in space in centre of next petal, rep fr * to make 6 petals ending with sl st in 1st sc to join. Fasten off with a long tail for sewing.

MOTIF #2 The Flower with the Rounded Petals (Make 2)

Special Stitch:
Back Post Double Crochet (BPdc): Yarn over hook, keeping hook in back of work, insert hook from right to left around post of stitch indicated and pull through loop; *yo, pull through two loops on hook; rep fr * once.

Ch 4, sl st in 1st ch to make ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 1, 12 sc in ring, sl st in 1st sc to join.

Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in 1st sc, *5 ch, sk next sc, sc in next sc, rep fr * to make 6 5-ch loops, ending the last rep with sl st in 1st ch to join.

Rnd 3: In 1st 5-ch loop make (sc, hdc, 5 dc, hdc, sc), and make the same for the remaining 5-ch loops, ending the last rep with sl st in 1st sc to join.

Rnd 4: Ch 2, BPdc around sts between two petals, *ch 7, BPdc around sts between next two petals, rep fr * to make 6 7-ch loops, ending the last rep with sl st in top of 1st BPdc to join.

Rnd 5: In 1st 7-ch loop make (sc, hdc, 7 dc, hdc, sc) and make the same for the rest of the 7-ch loops, ending the last rep with sl st in 1st sc to join. Fasten off with a long tail for sewing.

MOTIF #3 The Small 5-Petal Flower (Make 2)

Ch 4, sl st in 1st ch to make ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 1, sc in ring, *ch 2, 3 dc in ring, ch 2, sc in ring, rep fr * to make 5 petals ending the last rep with sl st in 1st ch to join. Fasten off with a long tail for sewing.

MOTIF #4 The Small 5-Petal Star Flower (Make 2)

Ch 4, sl st in 1st ch to make ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 1, sc in ring, *ch 3, sc in ring, rep fr * to make 5 3-ch loops ending the last rep with sl st in 1st sc to join.

Rnd 2: In 1st 3-ch loop make (sc, hdc, 3 dc, hdc, sc) and make the same for all remaining 3-ch loops, ending the last rep with sl st in 1st sc to join. Fasten off with a long tail for sewing.

MOTIF #5 Small Leaf (Make 4)

Ch 11.

Rnd 1: Sc in 2nd ch fr hook, hdc in next ch, dc in next ch, tr in each of next 4 ch, dc in next ch, hdc in next ch, sc in last ch, ch 1.

Rnd 2: Now working along the other side of foundation ch, sl st in each ch across, sl st in ch at tip of lead. Now work sl st in each st across the other side of the leaf, ending with sl st in base of leaf. Fasten off with a long tail for sewing.

MOTIF #6 Leaf (Make 6)

Ch 15.

Work the same as Motif #5 Small Leaf but make 8 tr instead of only 4. Fasten off with a long tail for sewing.

PURSE BODY

Special Stitch:
Double crochet 2 together (Dc2tog): Keeping last loop of each dc in hook, make dc in next st, sk 2 ch, dc in next st, yo and draw through all 3 loops on hook.

Finished rectangle should measure approximately 10″ x 4″

Ch 38.

Row 1: Keeping last loop of each dc on hook, make dc in 7th ch fr hook, sk 2 ch, and in next ch, yo and draw through all 3 loops on hook, *ch 2, sk 2 ch, in next ch make (dc, ch 2, dc), ch 2, sk 2 ch, dc2tog, rep fr * two more times, ch 2, dc in last ch, ch 8, turn.

Row 2: * Sk (1st dc, 2 ch, dc2tog, 2 ch), dc in next dc, ch 2, sk 2 ch, dc in next dc, ch 5, rep fr * two more times, sk (2 ch, dc2tog, 2 ch), then make dc in 4th ch of 6-ch at end of row. Ch 3, turn.

Row 3: Sk 1st dc and 2 ch, * in next ch make (dc, ch 2, dc), ch 2, sk 2 ch, dc2tog, ch 2, sk 2 ch, rep fr * two more times, in next ch make (dc, ch 2, dc), sk 2 ch, dc in next ch, ch 3, turn.

Row 4: Sk 1st dc, dc in next dc, ch 2, sk 2 ch, dc in next dc, *ch 5, sk next 5 sts, dc in dc, ch 2, sk 2 ch, dc in next dc, rep fr * two more times, dc in top of turning ch, ch 5, turn.

Row 5: Sk 1st dc, *dc2tog, ch 2, sk 2 ch, in next ch make (dc, ch 2, dc), ch 2, sk 2 ch, rep fr * two more times, dc2tog, ch 2, dc in top of turning ch, ch 8, turn.

Rows 6-21: Rep rows 2-5 four times.

Rows 22-23: Rep rows 2-3. Fasten off with a long tail for sewing.

BLOCKING
Block the mesh and motifs. Lightly starch to stiffen and protect the fabric.

ASSEMBLY
Refer to the diagram above showing the position of the motifs on the purse, sew the motifs onto the mesh carefully.

The leaves are sewn onto the mesh with Row 12 of the mesh as center line.

Try to sew the motifs onto the stems of stitches while keeping the shape of the mesh. Be careful not to close the meshes.

The larger flowers are sewn onto the mesh.

Now working on the wrong side of the purse, sew the side seams together taking care not to sew in the motifs along the sides.

When done, inspect the purse and carefully sew on the smaller motifs on the purse. I selected open areas near the base of the purse. This will provide some coverage and also add weight near the base of the purse.

Detail of the motifs.

Sew the beads onto the center of the flowers.

Join thread with sl st to sp at the opening of the purse. In each sp make 4 sc, ch 3, sl st in 3rd ch fr hook. Work this trim all around the opening of the purse. Fasten off. Weave in all ends.

Cut two strands of satin cord about 16 inches long Weave through the spaces along the top opening of the purse to make a drawstring. Knot ends of satin cord to secure.

The coin purses are now labelled and ready to go. I made enough for family in Manila and here’s a photo of some of the purses. Two are already on their way to Amsterdam for my husband’s grandchildren.

The funny farm is ready!

All these purses are worked in acrylic yarn of worsted weight although some feel like they are fingering weight yarn. In these cases I usually work with two hook sizes, aluminum 3/0 (2.2mm) and 4/0 (2.5mm). For closure, I just use velcro.

A velcro for enclosure.

The only problem with velcro and yarn is that the velcro can felt the yarn through use. To minimize this problem, a fabric backing can be sewn around the area where the velcro will be sewn on or – as in my case – one can just try to use a small amount of velcro that fit each other and to apply the hooked portion of the velcro in that part of the crocheted item where there is less tendency to stick to other bare part of the crochet. For the purse, the hooked part of the velcro is sewn onto the body of the purse.

Apart from these coin purses, I plan to send other stuff to family in Manila. I have been trying to design some hairbands the past several weeks now and last night I thought about using acrylic yarn instead of thread.

Duplet crochet fashion magazine in Russian language.

This issue 76 of Duplet magazine has Irish crochet patterns and the leaves caught my attention. All worked in thread and by crocheting over padding yarn, I didn’t follow the patterns exactly but rather just took the general idea of how the leaves were made.

I stuck with the basic leaf and made them in two sizes – the larger one starts with 14+1 chains and the smaller one starts with 8+1 chains. The corrugated surface of the leaf comes from back-loop single crochet.

A page from Duplet Issue 76 showing Irish crochet patterns in symbol and Russian language.

I arranged the leaves into the desired layout and then sewed them together at the back. It is this process of arranging and sewing that is the most difficult. The leaves need to be arranged in such a way that they will keep their shape when worn – that is, when they get stretched. The leaves also need to be sewn in such a way that they get reinforced.

The garter for the hairband is this black 1 inch wide garter. I got this garter especially for the purpose of making hairbands.

I used a 1 inch wide garter for the hairband.

Trying on the hairband it seems to work well. The typical problem with crocheted hairbands is that they fold near the back of the head under the hair or near the ears. They also tend to stretch and loose their shape and elasticity. Garters can also look unsightly.

The leaves and garter work well for hairband.

Anyway, I really like how the acrylic yarn leaves turned out. I tried them on as a scarf and it feels soft and warm around the neck, perhaps better if worked in wool or mohair. The crocheted leaves also have a shape that is quite easy to work with when joining together, and they have a very attractive texture.

I guess acrylic yarn is also a good way to experiment with new stitches, motifs and techniques. They are easy to work with, don’t demand too much detail like thread, and they’re inexpensive. They also seem to be a good substitute for thread in certain Irish crochet patterns that exploit bulk and padding rather than fine detail.

I’m not yet ready to turn back to thread at the moment so I think I will spend a bit more time working in yarn and wool.

I completed another mesh and motif purse a few days ago. I used a strip of brugge lace for the rim of the purse, then a mesh for the purse body. I followed one of the mesh patterns on Duplet 127.

Plenty of mesh patterns to choose from and to improv in Duplet.

This time, I sewed the brugge lace to the zipper first, then made the mesh all around. Here is the purse with the completed mesh body.

The mesh body of the purse.

I made several flower motifs all of them from Duplet 112 (pages 10-11), and sewed them onto the mesh. I tried adding acrylic pearl beads (with a very light golden tinge) to the purse, and here is the finished item.

The motifs-on-mesh purse decorated with pearl beads.

After that, I made several more motifs and joined them together by crocheting with a thinner thread. Below it is possible to see the difference between the thread sizes as well as the color: the motifs are in natural cotton thread size 8 and the joining mesh is in white crochet cotton thread size 10.

I was able to finish this purse but I'm not happy with how it turned out.

This purse took much effort to finish and I don’t feel very happy about it. I feel that I am employing a particular technique not suited for the purpose. That is – I seem to be using a wholly free-form method to make a fixed and pre-determined shape.

For some reason I have always detested the use of the basting board for joining motifs with the free-form mesh. Here certainly, the basting board would make certain that I have that degree of control over determining where motifs should go and in which shape the piece should take.

Until I learn to feel better about working with a basting board or a similar set-up, I should take into account the advantages and disadvantages of the various crochet techniques I have been exploring.

To get over the frustration, I started working on some coin purses last night, having in mind my sister and my nephews. I finished two purses last night – one with Edward’s face on it and the other with Kitty 2. The faces close the purse with a velcro.

My comfort crochet in yarn.

I am making more to give away for Christmas. Whenever I feel frustrated in crocheting with thread, I always find comfort when I turn to acrylic yarn and make fun things like this. So I feel better now.

Two weeks ago, I started working on a purse and left it in this state (photo below).

Start with a zipper and a lace edging.

My intention was to sew the two lace edgings onto the zipper and then build up the body of the purse by joining flower motifs of various sizes either by crocheting or by sewing.

When I returned home from Manila four days ago, I took some time browsing the two other Duplet Magazines that I ordered and had shipped in Manila several months earlier.

Duplet Crochet Magazine Issue #127

From one of the magazines, I found several wonderful mesh patterns and decided to use one. On page 47 of the magazine is some photos and charts for bruge lace. I am experimenting with bruge lace now but for the purse, I decided to use one of the mesh patterns used with bruge lace.

Page 47 of Duplet Crochet Magazine Issue #127

And here is my finished purse!

The finished purse.

I am very happy with the result of this experiment. Although I intended to crochet the motifs together, the shift to sewing the motifs onto a mesh worked very well.

The finished purse.

The hardest part in completing this purse had to do with design decisions – the arrangement of the motifs on both sides of the purse.

The zipper is sewn by hand.

Technically, I also had difficulty sewing on the zipper. I don’t have a sewing machine (which will definitely make life easier) and so I do all of the sewing by hand. I have been thinking of getting a sewing machine but perhaps later when there is much greater need for such.

Here I use the purse to hold a small notebook and a mobile phone.

The purse is not lined. I couldn’t find the suitable lining for it. Nevertheless, the purse is to be used for keeping larger objects and not for tiny things that can fall through the lacy holes.

Here is one side of the purse.

One side of the purse showing the motifs.

The other side has a different arrangement of motifs.

The other side of the purse showing an arrangement of flowers with leaves.

I enjoyed sewing the motifs onto the mesh. It can be a bit hard and the mesh needs to be blocked into shape before sewing.

Also, how the motifs are sewn determine the appearance and texture of the fabric. If sewn too flat, the fabric can look dull and uninteresting.

I was tempted to cover the entire purse with motifs since that would also cover the holes of the mesh, but I decided not to do this for now. I wanted the mesh to show through since it has a very pretty pattern.

I will try to make another one later, this time maybe with color.