Crochet Messenger Bag + Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton in Navy

At the end of March, I finally completed the crochet messenger bag for Hubby. Some may call it a man purse; there's no shame in that! It turned out to be a belated birthday present in the end. Could've completed it on time for his birthday but ran out of yarn just as I was halfway through the bag strap! This crochet pet peeve also dogged me for my other crochet project, the Rosewood Cardigan (post pending).

My labour of love for Hubby. (・ω<)☆

Crochet Man Bag for Hubby

It is not a large bag but still took 3 skeins of 100g Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton yarn. I chose navy because Hubby's favourite colours are navy blue, Cambridge blue, and light blue. (Yup, they're all shades of blue!)

This bag was made with no pattern. I did do some planning beforehand. Although by "planning" I meant visualising the parts and construction. The bag is just made up of panels of similar sizes and joined together.

The main body is made up of 6 panels: 1 narrow panel for the base gusset, 2 narrow panels for the side gussets, 1 panel for the front of the bag, 1 panel for the divider inside the bag, and 1 continuous panel for the back of the bag and the flip-over cover. All 6 panels comprise of rows of single crochet stitches.

The panel for the inner divider is whip stitched onto the back sides of the base and side gussets. The panels for the bag's exterior are joined together with the reverse crochet stitch (aka crab stitch).

In principle, the bag can be of any size or width by making the panels as large or small, narrow or wide as one pleases. The generally rule of thumb for the bag's construction is that the corresponding edges of the panels match up.

Front panel, base and side gussets

At the last minute, because I was going to attach a zipper closure to the bag, I decided to make a small panel to frame the zipper. Not my neatest work, nor my proudest, but my dearest husband gave me loving praise nonetheless, and said he appreciated the fact that I knew he preferred bags with zip closures.

Zip closure for the bag

The bag strap is a 140m long cross-body strap that was made as one single piece, then attached to the bag's hardware. The strap was made with rows of Tunisian simple stitch, a stitch that I worked with for the first time in my crochet journey.

I love the Tunisian simple stitch: how it looks, how it feels, how it is an easy crochet stitch technique. But I won't lie and say it was easy working the Tunisian simple stitch. It was very taxing on my wrist, and I had to adjust and relearn a few things. It was a fun and yet torturous learning experience. Frankly, I have contradictory feelings about my decision to make the strap with the Tunisian simple stitch. Sticking to that decision, and powering through it was a labour of love.

The bag strap is made with Tunisian simple stitches.

So, all this time in my crochet journey, I've only been using ergonomic crochet hooks (Clover, Tulip). But my Clover Amour hook was too short to work the Tunisian simple stitch for the bag strap. So I used a standard, straight crochet hook. For the first time. Crocheting with a thin, straight crochet hook for an extensive length of time is painful. After a few days, my fingers cramped and my wrist ached so badly that I had to stop. Even though I took some steps to avoid or relieve the pain.

I also had to change my grip from my usual pencil grip to the knife grip. Working the Tunisian simple stitch with the straight crochet hook, I had more control using the knife grip. This took quite a bit of adjustment too. And at the beginning, I couldn't get the tension right, so the strap skewed terribly toward the left, something that only became really clear 50 rows in. So, frog and redo.

Crocheters say it all the time: crochet is tiring and sometimes painful work. It also requires a lot of patience. So, you know, when someone gives you a handmade crochet blanket, shawl, scarf, bag or something that they personally crocheted for you, that's a gift into which they have put in a lot of care, time and effort.