Flower Bag

Last week my dear husband asked me if I could make a bag for the daughter of one of his friend who was coming today.

Here is the flower bag I made, and this was my first time adding a lining. This was a fun project and I'm happy how it came out. I know I have a lot of progress to make in sewing, but it was a great first experience.
The lessons I learned:
* a sewing machine is climbing at the top of my must have list
* the thread that's needed to sew everything is always much more than what I originally cut
* triple checking dimensions before cutting the fabric is not overkill

I made the bag by first crocheting a double crochet foundation as long as I wanted, added 2 in the turn (for a total of 3 in the last stitch of the foundation), then went the other way of the chain and added 2 stitches in the first stitch of the foundation (for a total of 3 in the turn).
In the second row I doubled each stitch of the turns (6 and 6), then went up all the way, changing color when I wanted to.
I added the flower applique, the straps (foundation double crochet), and the lining and that was it.

Flower fabric for my flower bag

Flower applique for my flower bag

Two monkey bags for two monkey girls.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a post on the crochet subreddit showing a finished bag for a little girl. The bag was a simple rectangle, and the applique was of a doll's face. Really cute!

My little girls being in this i-like-holding-bags-like-mommy-does phase, and loving putting things in and out of containers, I decided to try my hand at a bag.

First question: what applique do I want to make?
Answer: MONKEY! Indeed, the girls love monkeys. From the "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed", to the plush monkey toys they have, from themselves climbing everywhere like little monkeys, this was the answer which came naturally.

Second question: which colors?
Answer: Monkey. Jungle Theme! The Monkey will be brown so let's go green (representing trees) and yellow (representing bananas).

Third question: which shape?
Answer: Let's go for a simple rectangle bag for now, with one strap. First time I was going to attempt a purse, so I tried to keep it easy.

Fourth question: which stitch?
Answer: Puff stitch to give it some texture!

With all these answers, I was ready to go head first in this project.

How is it done

The purse is made out of 2 rectangles, a strap and an applique.

Back rectangle

21 fsc (fundation single crochet), then alterning between rows of [1sc, 1puff, 1sc], and [1sc], with a turning chain 1 at the end of each row.

Front rectangle

It's the same as the back, except that some puff stitches are being removed and transformed as hdc to leave the space flat to sew the applique on.

Then I put the rectangles together, sc all around.

Strap

Chain 60, 3 times (2 of one color, 1 of the other color), then braid them. Attach on both side.

View of the inside.

This was a fun project, and easy to make. It allowed me to try my hand at the puff stitch, and for the next bags, I'll try another stitch to give another texture.

Thanks for reading and happy crocheting!

My cuties discovering their bags.