On The Crochet Menu: Another FBB

What's on the crochet menu today?  Another FBB (Fat Bottom Bag), one I hope to sell very soon.  Many ladies are presenting a great interest in the bags since my friend - who goes to the hospital for treatments for Lupus - brought her FBB I made her to the hospital and the nurses there saw it and wanted to see more of them.  The nurses told my friend they would like to have a FBB like hers, proving my point in my previous post that word of mouth is the best method of advertising.

Here's the latest addition to my FBB inventory (below) and following this post is a quick (and easy) photo tutorial on how I made the handles for it.  Let me know what you think in the comments below, your comments are always welcome!

I made the flowers and leaves using size 3 crochet thread and a size 3 steel crochet hook.  I tend to like the thread flowers better than worsted weight but it really depends on each individual bag that I make.  Each one has a personality of its own.

By luck the lining I chose matches the thread I used for the flowers perfectly.  The purples and blues are really pretty against the black body of the bag.  I found this material at Jo Ann's in the designer area of the fabric section.








I was disappointed in the handles at Jo Ann's that day and was shocked at the prices of them.  They've gone up quite a bit and my little cheapy stand by handle - the unfinished rattan round handles  that were $2.99 are no longer available there.  Only the finished rattan handles were there and priced at $5.99!  I wasn't about to pay that much for a rattan handle so I decided to follow my boyfriend's suggestion, to look for cords or braids in the trims section and make my own handles.  Below is what I did to make a 3/8" cording work as handles for this bag.  If anyone has any better ideas about how to make handles, please do comment below!  Anyway, here's what I did:

 Before cutting your twisted cording wrap scotch tape around the ends and cut in the middle of the tape so both ends of the cut are held in place and will not ravel.  I only purchased one yard of this cording for the handles at a couple bucks a yard.   I cut the cording in half and used half a yard for each handle.

To ensure the cording won't ravel, apply a good amount of glue to all ends and allow to dry well on waxed paper.
This will also make a barrier so when you sew the ends together the stitches won't pull through and come apart.

In a zig-zag pattern, using heavy duty thread and needle, sew the ends together.  Go all the way around the cording with your stitches so it doesn't wiggle with a gap or bend funny.  You won't be able to get the needle through the glue you applied earlier so just stitch on the other side of the glue barrier.  I enlarged the photo so you'd be able to see how I made the stitches for this.  It doesn't look very pretty but it serves a good purpose and it won't be seen when the bag is put altogether.

To make sure the corded handles didn't slip around while being used, exposing the ends stitched together, I tacked the stitched part of the handles to the bag's handle flaps smack dab in the middle of the flap. 

Now all that's left is to secure your handle flaps over the handles and you're done.



Please leave feedback in the comments below.  I appreciate your views and suggestions and conversation more than you know.  Thanks for stopping by, I hope I at least inspired you to make something beautiful today.

God bless you and God bless America - One Nation Under God... United we stand, divided we fall.
Ronald Regan said, "If we forget we are a nation under God, we'll be a nation gone under".

Crochet Pattern: Grandma Rupp's Drawstring Ditty Bag For Little Girls

My Dad's mother, Luella Rupp, born in Louisiana, moved to Los Angeles and died here at the age of 89, was a craftsy gal.  She did everything from making felt lady bug refrigerator magnets, parrot earrings out of tiny little colored shells, to crocheting rope necklaces and button bracelets with tiny beads and antique buttons.  She also crocheted other things, like this cute little drawstring bag that she gave me when I was verrrry young, about 5 years old.  That makes this little bag almost 50 years old.  Wow.  It's pre-antique.  Holy crap!  That makes ME, well, never mind!!!! 
Please note pattern correction, make 12 motifs, not 20.
Thank you Kathy.

This little bag is simple enough for any beginner to make so here ya go, the pattern below:

Start with worsted weight (4) of white (or any color for main color A) and an F hook:

BOTTOM:
ch 5, join to first ch with a slip stitch to form ring
Round 1: ch 3 (does not count as a dc) Make 10 dc inside ring, ch 3,
Round 2:  2 dc in each dc around, (20 dc) until you reach ch 3, then ch 3,
Round 3: (2 dc in next dc, 1 dc in next) around until you reach the ch 3, then ch 3,
Round 4: (2 dc in next dc, 1 dc in next 2 dc) around until you reach the ch 3, then ch 3,
Round 5: (2 dc in next dc, 1 dc in next 3 dc) around until you reach the ch 3 and then join to top of ch 3 with a sl st.  Finish off, weave in ends.


MOTIFS FOR BODY:
(make 12)  <----note been="" br="" corrected="" has="" nbsp="" this="">

With color of your choice as long as it's a worsted weight (4) for "flower middle", and using "F" hook,
ch 5, join with sl st to form ring,
Round 1: (working inside ring:)  ch 3 (counts as first dc) 2dc, (ch 3, 3dc ) three times, ch 3, join to top of beg ch 3 with sl st.  Fasten off, weave in ends.

Attach green worsted weight (4) with sl st in any ch 3 space for "leaves" and still using "F" hook,
((ch 3 (counts as dc) 2dc, ch 3, 3dc )) all in same ch 3 space, ch 1,  **(3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) all in next ch 3 sp, ch 1,  repeat from **two more times.  attach to top of beg ch 3 with sl st.  Fasten off, weave in ends.

Attach Main color A (white) in a corner ch 3 space with a sl st:
ch 3 (counts as a dc), 2dc, ch 3, 3dc all in same ch 3 space.  ch 1, ** 3 dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1, (3dc, ch 3, 3dc) all in same ch 3 space (corner), ch 1;  repeat from ** around, 3 dc in last ch 1 sp, ch 1, join to top of beg ch 3 with sl st.

Fasten off, weave in ends.

JOIN MOTIFS

Lay motifs in two rows of six.  Join motifs using main color, yarn needle, with whip stitch.  Using whip stitch, join motifs at ends to form a cynlinder.  Join bottom of bag to bottom row of motifs using whip stitch.
Weave in ends.

RUFFLE TOP

Join main color (white) to any stitch at top of bag.  Ch 3, 2 dc in same stitch, **dc in next 2 stitches, 3 dc in next stitch; repeat from ** around, join to top of beg ch 3 with sl st.  Fasten off, weave in ends.

DRAWSTRING

Using chain stitch, make two lengths of drawstring measuring 2 feet each.  Weave chained drawstring into top of bag with your hook or a large safety pin.  Tie ends of first drawstring together about three inches from ends and fray the ends to make a tassle effect. 
Do the same with the second drawstring so that when you pull on each drawstring, the bag gathers up and closes.

All done!  Isn't that just the cutest little ditty bag you've ever seen?  I have cherished mine through the years, having gotten it from Grandma Rupp when I was so young.  I used to carry it to church with me as a child.  Now I am going to pass it down to my grand daughter who is just the right age to have one of these.  It's a pretty little bag that can be passed down generation to generation that doesn't take a long time to put together.

Crochet Pattern: Beaded Scallop Earrings

Here's a free crochet pattern for my beaded scallop earrings.  It's been a while since I've made jewelry with thread and beads, this pattern is very easy and satisfying.  You can whip up a pair of these earrings in an hour or less!  I've gotten lots of compliments on them, I'm sure you will too.  They'd also make a great gift for a special friend, just because.

Beaded Scallop Earrings

by Cynthia J Luciene copyright April 2012
You may share this pattern freely using the link to this post, and you may sell anything you make using this pattern.  You may not, however, sell this pattern in any way or form.  Thank you for respecting the copyright and for giving credit where credit is due.

Materials:

Remnant of crochet thread size 10; two yards per earring should be plenty

7 small crystals or beads, 

1 larger bead or crystal (see photos)

1 pair of hoop earrings, approximately 1 1/8" in diameter

Size 6 steel crochet hook

Instructions 

(Note: for help "casting" onto hoop earring with a sc, please see tutorial HERE.  There is a photo tutorial at the bottom of the post at that link).

Before beginning, thread beads or crystals onto size 10 crochet thread in the following order, for each earring:

5 small, 1 large, 2 small  repeat this order for the second earring.  Now you have a total of 16 beads or crystals strung onto thread.

Begin: "Cast onto" hoop beginning with a slip stitch.  (see the tutorial mentioned in Note: above)

Row 1:  12 sc onto hoop;

Row 2: ch 1 turn, working into front loops only, sl st into first sc, Beaded HDC in next, sl st in next, HDC in next, dc, in next (beaded TRC, beaded picot, beaded TRC) all in next st, dc in next, HDC in next, sl st in next, beaded HDC in next, slip stitch in rem st.

Row 3: TURN, ch 3, beaded ch, ch 3, sc into next dc (just before beaded trc), ch 6, beaded ch, ch 6, sc into next dc (just after second beaded trc), ch 3, beaded ch, ch 3, sl st into last st of row 2.

Row 4: ch 1, turn; 4sc, ch 3 past bead, 4 sc on other side of bead (all in the ch 3-beaded ch-ch3 loop); in next ch sp: 2 sc, picot, 5 sc before next bead, ch 3 over bead, 5 sc, picot, 2 sc in ch sp after bead; 4 sc in ch sp before next bead, ch 3 over bead, 4 sc in ch sp after bead.  Join to Row 3 with sl st.

Fasten off weave in ends, repeat for second earring NOTE when making second earring, hold hoop in opposite direction you held your hoop the first time so you'll have one earring for each ear and not two right earrings two lefties - OR you can just pop the crystals or beads through to the other side, it's real easy to do that.

...On my jewelry tree, they fit right in.  ;-)


 Note:  My laptop got dropped ;-( and the screen broke so I'm not able to make a PDF file for this pattern as yet.  I ordered a laptop this morning and ought to be getting it very soon in which case I'll make a PDF file for easy printing, without all the gobbly-goop photos to soak up your printer ink.  ;-)