Crochet Your Own Chic Striped Tote Bag

Are you ready to dive into a fun and rewarding crochet project? Today, we’re going to make this absolutely adorable striped tote bag! This project is perfect for beginners who are eager to develop their skills and fashion something beautiful and practical. Imagine strolling around with your own handmade tote – how wonderful is that? Let’s get started on this exciting journey of stitches and stripes!

Materials You’ll Need to Get Started

Before we begin, let’s gather all the supplies we need. Having everything ready will make the process smooth and enjoyable. For this project, you will need:

• 🧶 Yarn: You’ll need medium-weight cotton yarn (e.g., Aran weight) in several colors. For a bag of this size, you will need approximately **400-450 grams in total**. A suggested breakdown is:
  • Main Color (Pink): 100g (for base and top border)
  • Stripe Color 1 (Creamy White): 100g
  • Stripe Color 2 (Yellow): 50g
  • Stripe Color 3 (Mint Green): 100g (for stripes and handles)
  • Stripe Color 4 (Turquoise): 50g

  Choose colors you love that evoke a similar pastel palette!

• 🪡 Crochet Hook: A 4.0 mm crochet hook is a great size for medium-weight cotton yarn. This size will help you construct a fabric that is dense enough to hold its shape but still soft and pliable.
• ✂️ Scissors: For snipping yarn ends.
• 🧵 Yarn Needle: Also known as a tapestry needle, for weaving in loose ends neatly. This is essential for a polished and professional finish to your crafted tote bag.
• 📌 Stitch Markers (optional): These can be helpful for marking the beginning of rounds, especially if you are new to working in the round.

Getting Ready: Understanding Basic Crochet Stitches

If you’re completely new to crochet, don’t worry! We’ll go through the basics. Think of crochet as building fabric using yarn and a hook. We use different types of loops, called stitches, to achieve different textures and patterns. For this tote bag, we’ll mainly use a very simple stitch called the single crochet.

Imagine you’re forming a chain of loops – that’s the very first step in crochet, called a chain stitch. We’ll use this to start our project. To make a chain stitch, you first fashion a slip knot on your hook (like a loop that tightens). Then, you use your hook to catch the yarn and pull it through the loop on your hook. That’s one chain stitch! Repeat this to build a chain of the desired length.

The single crochet stitch is our main stitch for the bag. It’s a short, dense stitch that produces a sturdy fabric. To craft a single crochet, you insert your hook into a stitch from the previous row or round, catch the yarn with your hook (this is called yarn over), pull the yarn back through the stitch (you’ll now have two loops on your hook), yarn over again, and pull through both loops. Congratulations, you’ve just made a single crochet!

Another stitch we will use is the slip stitch. This is a very simple stitch used to join rounds together and move yarn without adding height. To form a slip stitch, insert your hook into the stitch, yarn over, and pull the yarn directly through both the stitch and the loop on your hook.

These are the basic stitches we’ll use. As we go through the steps to make the tote bag, we’ll explain exactly when and how to use each stitch. Don’t be intimidated, it’s much easier than it sounds once you get started!

Let’s Make the Tote Bag – Step-by-Step

Now for the fun part – actually making our striped tote bag! We’ll start from the bottom and work our way up, building the base, then the body, and finally adding the handles. Refer to the image to see how the different parts come together.

Forming the Base

The base of our tote bag is a solid **rectangle**, fashioned in single crochet with soft pink yarn. This forms a sturdy bottom for your bag.
Row 1: Using your soft pink yarn, chain 46. Starting in the second chain from the hook, work one single crochet (sc) in each chain across. You will have 45 stitches.
Row 2: Chain 1 (this does not count as a stitch) and turn your work. Work 1 sc in each stitch across. (45 stitches)
Rows 3 – 14: Repeat Row 2 for a total of 14 rows. Do not fasten off. You should now have a solid rectangle.

Building the Bag Body

Now we will construct the main body of the tote bag, working in rounds and developing the striped pattern. We’ll attach the creamy white yarn and begin working around the rectangular base we just fashioned.

Round 1: Do not turn your work after the final row of the base. Chain 1. Switch to your creamy white yarn. We will now work around the entire perimeter of the rectangle.

• Work 1 sc in each of the 45 stitches along the long top edge.
• Work 14 sc evenly down the short side (placing one sc in the end of each row).
• Work 1 sc in each of the 45 stitches of the starting chain on the other long side.
• Work 14 sc evenly up the other short side.

Join with a slip stitch to the first sc. You should have a total of **118 stitches** in this first round.

Tip: To prevent the corners of the base from curling upwards, you can place 2 single crochets (instead of 1) into each of the four corner stitches as you work your way around. This will help the base lay perfectly flat. This small change will not significantly alter the overall size of the bag.

Round 2 – 5: Continue working in rounds of single crochet with the creamy white yarn. We will now work in a spiral to avoid a seam line. Place a stitch marker in the first stitch of the round. Instead of joining at the end of each round, simply continue crocheting into the first stitch of the previous round. Remember to move your stitch marker up to the new first stitch of each round. At the end of Round 5, join with a slip stitch to the next stitch to even out the height, then fasten off the creamy white yarn and switch to the sunny yellow yarn.

Round 6 – 8: Now we’ll make the stripes! For these color changes, we will switch back to joining our rounds. This helps to keep the color transitions neat and aligned. With the sunny yellow yarn, work 3 rounds of single crochet. Join each round with a slip stitch to the first stitch and chain 1 to start the next round. After Round 8, fasten off the yellow yarn and switch to the mint green yarn.

Round 9 – 11: With the mint green yarn, work 3 rounds of single crochet, joining each round with a slip stitch and chaining 1 as you did for the previous stripe. After Round 11, fasten off the mint green yarn and switch to the turquoise yarn.

Round 12 – 14: With the turquoise yarn, work approximately 3 rounds of single crochet. Join each round with a slip stitch. After Round 14, fasten off the turquoise yarn and switch back to the creamy white yarn.

Round 15 – 18: With the creamy white yarn, work approximately 4 rounds of single crochet. Join each round with a slip stitch. After Round 18, fasten off the creamy white yarn and switch back to the soft pink yarn.

Round 19 – 21: With the soft pink yarn, work approximately 3 rounds of single crochet. Join each round with a slip stitch. After Round 21, fasten off the soft pink yarn.
You can see in the image how these stripes are fashioned, creating a lovely pastel rainbow effect. Feel free to adjust the number of rounds for each color to achieve a look you love! We are building the height of the bag with these colorful stripes!

Crafting the Top Edge

To give the top edge a neat and finished look, we’ll craft a simple border using the soft pink yarn. While the exact border stitch is subtle in the image, reverse single crochet (crab stitch) is a beautiful way to finish the edge.

Round 1: Join the soft pink yarn with a slip stitch. Work one round of single crochet around the top edge of the bag. Join with a slip stitch.

Round 2 (Optional Textured Edge): For a pretty textured edge, you can make a round of reverse single crochet, also known as crab stitch. This stitch is worked backwards, from left to right (if you are right-handed). Chain 1. Insert your hook into the stitch to the right (the stitch you just came from), yarn over, and pull up a loop. Yarn over again, and pull through both loops on your hook. That’s one reverse single crochet! Continue working reverse single crochet in each stitch around the top edge. It might feel a little awkward at first, but keep going! It produces a lovely, neat, and slightly textured border. Alternatively, you can simply work another round of single crochet if you prefer a simpler edge. Join with a slip stitch to the first reverse single crochet (or single crochet if you chose that option). Fasten off the pink yarn.

Fashioning the Handles

Now we need to fashion the handles so we can actually carry our tote bag! We’ll make two sturdy handles and attach them to the bag. As you can see in the image, mint green handles complement the striped design perfectly.

Handle 1 & 2 (Make Two): With the mint green yarn, chain approximately 70 chains. This is a guideline for the length of your handle; adjust if you prefer longer or shorter handles.

Row 1: Skip the first chain from your hook, and single crochet in each of the next chains (approximately 69 stitches, depending on your starting chain). Chain 1, turn.

Row 2 – 5: Single crochet in each stitch across the row. Chain 1, turn. After Row 5, fasten off the mint green yarn. You have now crafted one handle. Assemble a second handle in the same way.

Attaching the Handles: Lay your bag flat. The front and back panels each consist of 59 stitches (118 total / 2). To attach the first handle on the front side:

• Find the center stitch of the front panel.
• Count 10 stitches to the left of the center and place a marker. This is where one end of your handle will go.
• Count 10 stitches to the right of the center and place another marker. This is where the other end will go. There should be 20 stitches between the handle ends.
• Using your yarn needle and mint green yarn, sew the ends of the handle securely to the inside top edge of the bag at your marked spots.
• Repeat the exact same process on the back panel for the second handle, ensuring they line up perfectly.

Finishing Touches and Tips for Success

Congratulations! You’ve fashioned your own striped crochet tote bag! Now for a few finishing touches to make it perfect.

• Weave in all loose ends: Use your yarn needle to weave in all the yarn tails securely on the inside of the bag. This will keep your work neat and prevent ends from coming undone.
• Blocking (optional): If your bag is a little uneven or you want to shape it more precisely, you can gently block it. Lightly dampen the bag with water, shape it as desired, and let it air dry. This helps the stitches relax and the bag to hold its shape.
• Color Play: Feel free to experiment with different color combinations for your stripes! Pastels, bright colors, or even monochrome – it’s all up to your personal style. The beauty of handmade is making it uniquely yours!
• Stitch Counts & Flexibility: While this pattern now includes specific stitch counts to help you replicate the bag in the photo, don’t be discouraged if you are off by a stitch or two. The most important part is keeping your stitch count consistent from round to round to prevent the bag from widening or narrowing unexpectedly. Focus on enjoying the process!
• Practice Makes Perfect: If your first attempt isn’t perfectly identical to the image, don’t be discouraged! Crocheting is a skill that gets better with practice. Keep crafting, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you improve. Each handmade item has its own unique charm!

Share Your Makes!

We hope you had a wonderful time making this striped crochet tote bag! It’s such a satisfying feeling to produce something beautiful and useful with your own hands. We would absolutely love to see your finished tote bags! Please share photos of your bags on social media – we can’t wait to admire your handiwork and celebrate your crafting journey with you! Happy crocheting!