Easy Granny Square Bag

Today I am sharing another free tutorial for a crochet Granny Square WIP Bag.

Wanna see my Easy Granny Square Bag? scroll down for the FREE pattern.

Inspiration & Design

My ‘go to’ chill project is a good ol’ granny square, I love the simplicity of a granny square & often make them in-between designs, to allow new ideas to come to me. This was never destined to become a WIP (work in progress) bag, in fact I made them to play with a joining technique that I hadn’t yet tried. The idea of a bag came to me, when I started to run out of yarn!!

Going back to the joining method……join as you go or JAYG was completely new to me, I had always admired an Insta friends squares, Amanda of @eightbysix has a feed of dreams, she very kindly talked me through how she joins her squares & I don’t think I will join them any other way now! ………….find my tutorial on the join-as-you-go method here.

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Yarn

This is a fab stash busting project, or use your favourite colours….I used Deramores Studio DK.

For this pattern I used

Yarn A – Ocean

Yarn B – Dusky Lilac

Yarn C – Mustard

Yarn D – Smoke

Yarn E – Slate

Description

This pattern is suitable for beginners.

You can customise the bag to suit your needs, I wanted a sturdy bag, so inserted cardboard in between the squares and the lining fabric.

Of course this bag can be adapted to any size (more or less squares) it also doesn’t have to be a WIP bag, feel free to use it as a handbag, omit the cardboard, forget about the lining……but for me it will be a WIP bag, it is the perfect size to fit on the seat of my sofa, right next to me!…. where I need it.

Materials

Your chosen DK yarn

Hook – 4 mm

Tapestry Needle

Scissors

Cardboard (optional)

Fat quarter of fabric (optional)

Sewing Machine or a needle and thread

Finished Measurements

One Granny square = 10cm x 10cm (4″ x 4″)

Width 10 cm (4″) x length 40 cm (16″) x height 18 cm (7″)

Notes

The bag is made up from 24 (5 round) granny squares, seamed using the JAYG method. The bag doesn’t need seaming up, the bag takes shape as you join the squares, I added cardboard for stability, a lining and lastly the handles.

Granny squares can be made in so many different ways, some people chain 1 in-between clusters, some don’t……. some people chain 1, 2 or 3 on a corner…….. some people turn their granny square over and crochet the opposite way, some don’t……ultimately all granny squares are the same, there is no right or wrong, it is all down to personal preference.

The pattern I have shared today is my preferred granny square technique.

This pattern is written in US crochet terms

Abbreviations

Ch – chain.

Sl st – slip stitch.

St – stitch.

Sc – Single Crochet (UK – Double Crochet/Dc) – insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch
(two loops on hook), yarn over and pull through both loops.

Dc – Double Crochet (UK – Treble crochet/TR) – yarn over, insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch
(three loops on hook), yarn over and pull through two loops (twice).

Granny Square Pattern

Ok let’s start!

Round 1: Make a magic circle, ch3, 2dc, ch2, 3dc, ch2, 3dc, ch2, 3dc, ch2, sl st to the tp of the ch3 to join. Fasten off.

Round 2: Join a new colour to a ch2 corner space. Ch3, 2dc in the corner space, *(3dc, ch2, 3dc in the next ch2 corner space), rep from * twice more, 3dc in 1st corner, ch2 and sl st to the top of the ch3 to join. Fasten off.

Round 3: Join a new colour to a ch2 corner space. Ch3, 2dc in the corner space, *3dc in next space, (3dc, ch2, 3dc in the next ch2 corner space), rep from * twice more. 3dc in next space, 3dc in 1st corner, ch2 and sl st to the top of the ch3 to join. Fasten off.

Round 4: Join a new colour to a ch2 corner space. Ch3, 2dc in the corner space, *3dc in each space across, (3dc, ch2, 3dc in the next ch2 corner space), rep from * twice more. 3dc in each space across, 3dc in 1st corner, ch2 and sl st to the top of the ch3 to join. Fasten off.

Make 23 squares up to round 4 and just ONE complete square up to round 5.

Round 5: Repeat Round 4.

If you’re enjoying this pattern so far, you’ll love these:

1. Summer Granny Cushion 2. Summer Breeze Beach Cover Up 3. Fabulous Flamingo Bag

Assembly

For the Join-as-you-go (JAYG) method please see my – How to join a granny square JAYG tutorial, you can find it here…..

This is the shape that you need to join your 20 squares (large rectangle in the middle). Make the remaining 4 squares up to round 4 & layout as the above picture. (these are the ends of your bag).

The zig-zag lines show where to join (still using the JAYG method) This forms the bag shape.

Crochet one side only, on a working square (one of the sides) looking at the right hand side of the picture above, this will be the edge in-between the mustard & ocean (teal) squares (take the teal square away for now we will join that one in a minute!), now using the JAYG method join the working square to the mustard square (4 along, 2 down) join along the bottom of the bag (mustard to grey), then back up the side (mustard to mustard – 4 along, 4 down)

Now do the same for the far right ocean (teal) square. Work one edge, join the sides, then the bottom, lastly the side. One end of your bag has now taken shape, repeat for the other end.

The next step is to make a lining (you don’t have to, but granny squares have holes!) for this I used a fat quarter of fabric (approx 50 x 55cm). I cut the piece of fabric to match the photo of my squares above – front, base, back all one piece and then just sew on the sides.

(sizes are approximate, please take into account for seam allowance and making the lining slightly smaller in height and width than the bag itself.)

Finished size:

Front & Back = 40cm x 18cm (16″ x 7″)

Ends x 2 = 9cm x 18cm (3.5″ x 7″)

Base = 40cm x 9cm (16″ x 3.5″)

Machine or hand sew the ends to the sides, to form the lining.

I wanted a sturdy box bag so added a piece of cardboard….(again, you don’t have to do the same) I found the perfect size was the inside of an empty washing powder box (5200g), the front, side, back had folds that fitted my bag perfectly, all I had to do was trim the height to size.

Front & Back = 40cm x 15cm (16″ x 6″)

Ends x 2 = 9cm x 15cm (3.5″ x 6″)

Base = 40cm x 9cm (16″ x 3.5″)

Insert the cardboard into the bag and then the lining, pin in place. I used the bottom of a line of clusters as my guide for a straight line.

Machine or hand sew in place, if using a sewing machine, go slow and take your time to carefully maneuver the cardboard inside the bag.

For my handles I crocheted two tiny tubes, using the Sewrella tutorial which you can find here.

You simply….. chain 6, single crochet into the 2nd chain from the hook, sc in each ch around, then without joining at the end of each round you sc in a spiral until the tube reaches 33cm (13″).