Floral Weekend Bag :: Ta-dah!

You might remember me mentioning at the end of last year that I'd made myself a new Weekend Bag? Well yesterday I finally got around to stitching on the magnetic closure so now that my bag is no longer a W.i.P., I thought I'd show it to you and give you some details. This was a very spontaneous project - I turned up at knit and natter one Friday morning with nothing to do, so decided to pull some yarn off my shelf and start making a bag right there and then.  Because......well, why not? A quick, colourful, satisfying project to fill a gap and scratch that creative itch! 

I chose 12 shades of Stylecraft Special Chunky yarn to make this bag, and the colours were chosen at speed with very little deliberation. They came together in such a flurry, quite literally a few minutes to gather them on my table, a teensy amount of rejection and replacement and there you have it - a happy, spontaneous colour palette which is very much Me. 

Here are the twelve colours of Stytlecraft Special Chunky I used in my Floral Weekend Bag ::

Top row, left to right ::

✿ Lavender ✿ Cloud Blue ✿ Aster ✿ Storm Blue ✿ Sage ✿ Pistachio ✿

Bottom row, left to right ::

✿ Pale Rose ✿ Plum ✿ Raspberry ✿ Pomegranate ✿ Spice ✿ Gold ✿ 

I decided to work single-row stripes for this bag, choosing the order of the colours as I went along. At the cafe I managed to follow my Weekend Bag pattern by accessing my blog on my mobile phone, and by the end of the morning I'd completed the oval base and a few rows of the sides.

Once you start working up the sides it's simply a case of whizzing through those half-treble rounds until the bag shape is complete. Using a 5 mm hook with chunky yarn makes for some speedy hooky, and by lunchtime the following day I'd finished making the body of my bag with just the strap and decorative bits still to make. 

I absolutely adore how the colours work together in narrow, single row stripes, the whole thing is so cheerful looking and happy in it's extreme stripy-ness!

If you are familiar with my Weekend Bag, you'll know that the original design was decorated on the front flap with a chunky layered flower. With this new bag, I decided to use some scraps of DK weight yarn and a 4 mm hook to make up some small flowers and leaves - I imagined a little posy of flowers in cheerful colours to go with the stripes.....

....and that's exactly what I made.

The larger flowers are my Teeny Tiny flowers, with a little bit of extra embroidery added to the centres.

✿ Teeny Tiny Flower Pattern ✿ 

The pattern for the leaves is as follows :

✿ Small Leaves ✿

Ch 7; starting in 2nd ch from hook, work (dc; htr; tr; tr; htr; dc); ch 2; sl st in 2nd ch from hook to make a picot point.

Now work the second side of the leaf in the single loops of the foundation chain, mirroring the stitches made for the first side of the leaf, as follows :

(dc; htr; tr; tr; htr; dc); sl st into base of beginning dc to close round. Fasten off and darn in end.

I also made four little "micro flowers" which came out soooooo cute!

✿ Micro Flowers ✿

Chain 5, then make a sl st into the first chain. 

*Chain 4, then make a sl st into the very first chain*

Repeat between ** three more times until you have five chain-loop petals. Fasten off, leaving a tail end for darning.

Just to explain, after each ch-4, you always go back to the very first chain to make your sl st, so in other words, that very first chain will become like a central ring.

These little flowers are quite loopy when you've finished as the petals are just made up of chain loops. So when you darn in your tail end, use your needle and yarn to close up the central ring and close any obvious holes in the petals.

I then used yellow yarn to make some simple embroidery stitches in the centre just to add a little bit of detail.

You can see from the above picture that I crocheted the front flap in Sage (I chose a colour that I thought would look good as a background for my flowers), and Cloud Blue for the strap. And just in case it might be useful, here is the colour order for my cheerful stripes :

Foundation chain and round 1 : Aster.

Base stripes (the increase rounds) : Sage : Cloud Blue : Pale Rose : Lavender : Raspberry

Side Stripes (25 stripes in total) : Gold : Pistachio : Storm Blue : Plum : Spice : Sage : Lavender : Pomegranate : Pale Rose : Gold : Cloud Blue : Pistachio : Aster : Raspberry : Spice : Lavender : Plum : Pomegranate : Gold : Pistachio : Sage : Pale Rose : Raspberry : Aster : Cloud Blue. 

Front Flap : Sage

Edging and Strap : Cloud Blue

I took the above picture to show you how well the Weekend Bag holds it's shape - using chunky yarn and a 5 mm hook makes quite a dense crochet fabric which means the bag will stay firm with only very small holes between the stitches. It will stretch a little over time, but this is a fairly robust bag that will work well for everyday use.

I am so pleased with the way the flowers and leaves look against that lovely Sage green colour - it's just the right amount of pretty. 

Shall I show you how it all looks? 

There you go..........one finished Floral Weekend Bag.........Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really do love my new bag so much, it cheers me up no end when I see those stripes and flowers dancing together. Oh, and the colours too. I reeeeeeeeeeeally adore the colours. It occurred to me while I was making my bag that the colours seemed quite familiar, but it was only a few days ago that I realised why..........

...........they are almost identical to the colours I chose when I crocheted up my stripy planner cover (more about my planner in this blog post).

The stripes in the top bit of crochet are the ones I worked for my planner and were made using Drops Karisma which is a pure wool DK. But the blend of colours I chose for the Floral Weekend bag turned out freakily similar without me even realising it. 

I guess you could describe these colours as "Lucy's Default Mode" - and now my Creative Mind is whirling and I'm wondering whether there might be the start of a blanket idea right there. Stripes and florals, in those cheery shades.....

mmmmmmmm.....

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WEEKEND BAG DETAILS

✿ Design - Weekend Bag Ta-dah post

✿ Pattern - Weekend Bag Pattern and tutorial

✿ Yarn - you will need approx. 400g of chunky yarn to make one of these bags, using a 5mm hook. 

✿ Size - the finished bag measures approximately 26cm x 28cm (not including the handle)

✿ Weekend Bag chunky yarn packs can be found in my shop at Wool Warehouse. These contain 8 x 100g balls of chunky yarn, a magnetic closure and a full printed pattern. There should be enough yarn in each kit to make two bags.

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Comments

[Jane fraser]

I want to make a large weekend bag to hold 15+ balls how much wool I need and how do I increase to make bigger is the starting size same as week end bag or bigger hope this makes sense

[Audrey Evans]

Should read BAGS .

[Audrey Evans]

Hi Lucy , can I make the week ended bag or any other of your bands using Dk wool.
Do I use 2 strands and still a number 4 hook.
Thank you Audrey x

[Nancy Carll]

I would love to order the Floral Weekend Bag as a kit. Will it be available sometime? Thanks, Nancy

[kathleen mckirkle]

Was I glad to see the bag on your blog! I miss all your zany abstract bright colours and quirky makes for your home. I have been following you for a long time, and don't do blankets personally. I can see they are tremendously popular though. For me you are more a blanket blog now. No bad thing, I just miss those cutesy bright thingummy jigs in eye popping colours. Like the bunting across your room, plant covers and those fabulous twigs and sheep as well as the wee rabbits. I'm sure you will include some more though in between the blankets. I live in hope.

[C Cooley (Mrs)]

I wish someone had taught me how to crochet years ago. However, it would not be too difficult to knit a striped bag. Unfortunately I do not have time yet due to other commitments, but if anyone is interested in writing a knitted pattern for the basket, please, it would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance.
My present project is a baby blanket. It is a rather large baby, an elephant or a rhino, so it may be some time before I go onto another project.
Have fun in creative pursuits.

Carol

[Tinke]

Oh, those cute little flowers and the fun this bag radiates Lucy, thanks <3

[Candace]

Oh this really is a lovely project. I wish I had all the time in the world to be able to sit down and craft. I mussing having a regular craft pick me up

[Charlotte.]

Made one of the bags for my granddaughter but may make these colors for me. Really like the flowers on the flap.

[josiekitten]

Oh I love this, it's the perfect bag for brightening up the dismal grey days we're currently having.

[Angela-Southern USA]

It's super cute! I like the change up in flowers too. One of my very first crochet projects as a kid was a purse, they hold a special place in my heart. Have a great day!xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Annette Frater]

I love your bag Lucy. I made one before, using my own colours but although the bag is complete, I haven't made the flower yet, the large flower just didn't work for me i.e. due to my colour choice. However, seeing your lovely spray of little flowers and leaves has given me the inspiration needed to finish off the bag flap with this splendid show, just the push I needed so that I can now make use of my bag. Thank you, as always, for your constant inspiration and excellent instructions & tutorials.

[Nina]

That is SO pretty Lucy, although I don't need it, I think I'm going to have to make it.....
Thought any more about putting together a book idea?

[Crafty Cath]

Aw I like this bag and want to have a go, but daren't stop my 1st of 3 "WIP"s....love the colour scheme of this one and the cute little flowers. You are so clever :)

[Mitzi Trenz-Christian]

Hi Lucy

I just tried the above link to connect to your bag yarn pack, but it ways there are no results. Has it already sold out, or am I doing something else wrong. Thanks so much.

[Louise]

Your bag is gorgeous! I love the one you made for yourself with the bunch of little flowers insteazd of one big one. Super inspiring!! xox

[Ingrid Meecham]

I made your bag with the chunky flower as a birthday present for my niece, she loves it! I adore the colours in this version but think it most unfair of you to show me when I still haven't finished week one of the woodland blanket! I darent start anything else!

[McDulka]

It´s so lovely!
I think this bag is perfect for any season.
I add your tutorial to my list of projects for this year!!!
Best regards from Spain :)

[HooksandNeedles]

Love it Lucy, especially the flowers on the sage flap, Cx

[CJ]

Nicely done, love them. CJ xx

[L'Empreinte de l'Ange]

You're just the best to enjoy my creativity ♥♥♥

[Susan Smith]

That bag is gorgeous & I think I need a Lucy right by my side of a night at the moment, as I'm attempting my first ever flowers & finding them very fiddly & complicated. I am determined to do it & won't give up. Take care.

[Adele O'Leary]

Hi Lucy, Are you selling this as a yarn pack? Would love to make it. Or do I just need to buy the 12 balls individually? Does the Wool Warehouse stock the magnetic closures? Many thanks. Love your work xxx

[Lucy @ Attic24]

Typepad HTML Email

Hi Andrea
✿ The finished bag measures approximately 26cm x 28cm (not including the handle).
You could make it smaller by using dk weight yarn and a 3.5mm hook.
Or you could reduce the number of rounds in the base (make a smaller oval).
Have fun!
xx

[Andrea]

What are the dimensions of the bag? I'd love to make a smaller version for my nieces!