Pattern: Linen Grocery Tote (er ... sort of) via The Purl Bee
Yarn: Louet Euroflax in Melon Mix (I think - it's been "in stash" for a while)
Size: 48 cm / 15" long
Yardage: aprox. half a skein
Hook: 3.75 mm

In the last year or so I've been seeing a lot of fabric produce bags being made up in blog world. I've been a long time convert to the canvas shopping bag but somehow I'd never gotten into sewing my own produce bags. A little while ago I realized that it was because I like to be able to see what's inside and my solution should be a crochet bag instead of a sewn one.

I must have been picking up on some crafty vibes because as soon as I thought "I need to crochet myself a produce bag" a crochet grocery tote pattern popped up on the Purl Bee. Even better, if you check the comments you'll see that Whitney offers suggestions for making a slightly smaller version of the grocery tote. I grabbed the ball of Euroflax that was hanging out in my stash (how often do you already have the perfect yarn when the project you need to make comes up?) and a likely looking hook and jumped in.

It's a funny sort of project. It starts off looking like a wonky doily, moves on to a lacy cloche hat, and finally arrives at a cool stretchy bag. I found the yarn a bit splitty but I think that is just the nature of linen. I wanted to have a drawstring so I made a few alterations to the top of the bag as follows:

Work the smaller bag, as suggested by Whitney in the comments, to your desired length.
Round 1: 2 sc in current 6 chain loop, 3 sc in each 6 chain loop around
Round 2: sc in every sc
Round 3: chain 2 (equals 1 dc), *chain 1, dc in every second sc around.
Round 4: sc in each dc or 1 chain space
Fasten off.

Make two crochet chains long enough to act as drawstrings for your bag. Thread them through your "eyelet" round. Head to the grocery store knowing you won't have to open up your produce bag for the clerk to know what kind of apples to ring in.

This bag wouldn't work for small things, like Brussels sprouts, but is great for apples. In fact it's a little bigger than it needs to be and may be ripped back a little way if I don't have enough yarn left to finish a second one

I don't know what it is about this heat but it makes me really want to sew. I spent Friday night and half of Saturday working on this bag. It's the Day in the Park Backpack Tote by Liesl Gibson (look for it on the left in the sidebar of her blog). I got the pattern and hardware kit last summer through Purl Soho but only recently collected the rest of the stuff I needed to make it. The fabrics are from Amy Butler's Lotus collection. They are home decor weight cottons and I love the patterns. I was a little intimidated by the idea of sewing such heavy weight fabrics (they are sewn together with canvas and interfacing too) but I followed Liesl's instructions carefully and used my walking foot and didn't have any trouble. Even though I was sewing slowly I found the bag came together very quickly. It's given me a bunch of confidence for dealing with heavy fabrics and I will have to try a few of the other bags I really like.

Though the bag came together quickly it took me a long time to choose my button. I'm developing quite a collection of buttons but most of them were too big or too small or completely the wrong colour for this project. I eventually settled on this clay flower and I think it works really well. It stands out just enough to be interesting without taking away from the rest of the bag.

I love the magnetic snap on this bag. It looks so professional - like something I bought - but it was really easy to install. The lining fabric is a quilting weight cotton that makes me think of sweet honey mustard. The patch pocket is so cute and a perfect size. I divided mine up to hold two pens (or pencils), my ipod (mini) and whatever other small things I need to carry. The zippered pocket turned out beautifully; there is lightweight interfacing fused to the back of the pocket opening. When I turned the seams and pressed it everything lay so wonderfully flat.

By far the fiddliest part of this bag was the rivets. I was using my awl to make holes in the straps but a punch would have worked better. There is so much fabric in between the top and the bottom of each rivet that is was quite difficult to get them to match up. They kept popping open while I was working. I ended up hammering them as much as I thought they need plus a bit more and so far the rivets seem to be holding (I tested cautiously).

The really fun part of this bag is that you can carry in as a tote (like the picture above on the doorknob) or wear it as a backpack (hence the name) and free up your hands. I'm really proud of how mine turned out and plan to get lots of use out of it. We're going on a short trip later this week and it will be perfect for taking all the essentials on to the plane (without weighing me down) and still be great for going shopping after we've arrived (thus saving me from having to pack a second bag).

Aside: This entry has been posted a day late. Just as I was getting ready to post yesterday the power went out to herald the arrival of the biggest thunder storm this year. We had lightening that lit up the sky and occurred with such frequency that your eyes could not get used to the dark. Thunder shook the house and on more than one occasion went on for over a minute; it woke us up more than once in the course of the night. Rain pelted down. The power came back up and went down again at least twice more (in the first brown-out we ran around unplugging everything we could). This morning everything was still dripping wet.

I should have been working on my Sassy Apron Swap apron last night ... or folding the laundry ... or emptying the dishwasher ... but instead I was making a handbag. The Charming Handbag from Bend-The-Rules Sewing to be specific. I thought it was cute the first time I saw it and it only got cuter when I saw all the wonderful versions people have made up.

This is my new dressy winter purse - all my other dressy purses are just too summery for the weather we've been having and I don't like to carry a big bag when we're going out for the evening. The outside fabric is a nice wool blend houndstooth with a velvet ribbon and a covered button that matches the cotton lining. It took me ages to make up my mind about which ribbon to use but it was the button that finally decided it - it just popped against the black velvet and at the same time looked very warm and inviting.

I didn't have any flannelette for the interlining so I used two layers of broadcloth (it was handy). They don't provide as much loft as the flannelette would have but the wooly outer layer makes up for that. I think the bag is a little firmer than it's meant to be but I like as it is.  Because of all the layers (and my forgetting to clip the curves before I turned it right side out) the bag has a slightly puckered, squashy look to it. I think it suites the shape and handle style nicely. I'm usually quite particular about how my edges turn out and where my topstitching goes but on this project I didn't mind the little mistakes and now that it's all finished I kind of like them.


Note about the apron: I cut out the front and the pocket and then discovered that the  rest of the green I was using was all in little bits and I don't have enough to make ties. An apron without ties just won't work so I'm going to have to go back a step and get some more fabric - I'd still like a pale green so I will have to drop by the fabric shop.