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 craft 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:

• Finished Measurements: Approx. 12″ wide x 10″ tall (30cm x 25cm) excluding handles.
• 🧶 Yarn: You’ll need medium-weight cotton yarn (e.g., Aran weight) or a soft macrame cord/ribbon yarn for that sturdy look. For a bag of this size, you will need approximately 500 grams in total.
  • Main Color (Pink): 150g (for base, middle stripe, and top border)
  • Stripe Color 1 (Mint Green): 150g (for stripes and handles)
  • Stripe Color 2 (Creamy White): 150g (for stripes)
  • Stripe Color 3 (Yellow): 50g (for middle stripe)
• 🪡 Crochet Hook: A 4.0 mm or 4.5 mm crochet hook is a great size. This size will help you form a fabric that is dense enough to hold its shape.
• ✂️ Scissors: For snipping yarn ends.
• 🧵 Yarn Needle: Also known as a tapestry needle, for weaving in loose ends neatly and sewing the handles.
• 📌 Stitch Markers (optional): Helpful for marking the beginning of rounds.

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 make a slip knot on your hook. Then, you use your hook to catch the yarn and pull it through the loop on your hook.

The single crochet stitch is our main stitch for the bag. It’s a short, dense stitch that produces a sturdy fabric. To make a single crochet, you insert your hook into a stitch, catch the yarn (yarn over), pull the yarn back through the stitch (two loops on hook), yarn over again, and pull through both loops.

Another stitch we will use is the slip stitch. This is a very simple stitch used to join rounds together.

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. 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, made in single crochet with soft pink yarn.

• 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. (45 stitches)
• Row 2: Chain 1 (does not count as a stitch) and turn. Work 1 sc in each stitch across.
• Rows 3 – 14: Repeat Row 2 for a total of 14 rows. Do not fasten off.

Building the Bag Body

Now we will construct the main body, working in rounds.

• Round 1 (Transition): Do not turn your work after the final row of the base. Chain 1. Continue with Pink yarn to achieve a seamless edge. Work sc evenly around the entire perimeter of the rectangle (along the top, down the side, along the bottom, and up the other side).
  • 🚨 CRUCIAL TIP FOR SHAPING: Do NOT add extra stitches in the corners! To make the sides of your bag build upwards instead of growing outwards like a flat rug, you must work exactly 1 sc in every single stitch around, including the corners. (Total approx. 118 stitches). Join with a slip stitch to the first sc.

The Stripe Pattern (As seen in the photo): We will change colors to produce the beautiful striped effect.

• Rounds 2 – 6 (Mint Green): Switch to Mint Green. Chain 1, work rounds of single crochet with Mint Green (1 sc in each stitch). Join each round with a slip stitch. Fasten off Mint, attach Cream.
• Rounds 7 – 10 (Creamy White): Work 4 rounds of single crochet with Cream. Fasten off Cream, attach Pink.
• Rounds 11 – 14 (Pink): Work 4 rounds of single crochet with Pink. Fasten off Pink, attach Cream.
• Rounds 15 – 18 (Creamy White): Work 4 rounds of single crochet with Cream. Fasten off Cream, attach Yellow.
• Rounds 19 – 22 (Yellow): Work 4 rounds of single crochet with Yellow. Fasten off Yellow, attach Cream.
• Rounds 23 – 26 (Creamy White): Work 4 rounds of single crochet with Cream. Fasten off Cream, attach Mint Green.
• Rounds 27 – 31 (Mint Green): Work 5 rounds of single crochet with Mint Green. Fasten off Mint Green, attach Pink.

Crafting the Top Edge

To finish the bag, we go back to our main color.

• Rounds 32 – 34 (Pink): Work rounds of single crochet with Pink to make the top border.
• Optional Finish: For the very last round, you can do a “Reverse Single Crochet” (Crab Stitch) for a textured, rope-like edge, or simply slip stitch around for a smooth finish. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Fashioning the Handles (Stylish Detail)

As seen in the photo, the handles run down the sides of the bag, giving it extra support and a chic look. The original bag features thick, rounded handles.

Handle 1 & 2 (Make Two): With the Mint Green yarn, we need long straps. Chain approximately 100-110 (measure against your bag; it needs to go up the side, over your shoulder, and down the other side).

• Row 1: Sc in 2nd chain from hook and each chain across. Ch 1, turn.
• Row 2-4: Sc in each st across.
• Make it Round (Pro Tip): To achieve the thick, rounded look seen in the photos, fold this flat strap in half lengthwise. Using slip stitches or your yarn needle, join the two long edges together all the way down to form a sturdy tube. Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Attaching the Handles:

1. Lay your bag flat. Position the first handle on the front (outside) of the bag.
2. Align the ends of the handle straps near the bottom of the bag (just above the pink base).
3. Ensure the straps run vertically straight up to the top rim, spacing them evenly apart.
4. Using your yarn needle, sew the handle straps onto the outer body of the bag securely. Leave the middle section (the loop) free for your shoulder.
5. Repeat on the back side.

Finishing Touches and Tips for Success

Congratulations! You’ve completed your own striped crochet tote bag!

• Weave in ends: Secure all tails inside the bag using your tapestry needle.
• Color Play: You can use any color combination you like!
• Mini Version: As requested by our readers, to make a mini version of this bag, simply reduce your starting chain (try 30 chains) and reduce the number of rounds for each color stripe. It works up faster and makes a cute gift!

Share Your Makes!

We hope you had a wonderful time making this striped crochet tote bag! We would absolutely love to see your finished tote bags! Please share photos of your bags on social media. Happy crocheting!