Market Bag Tutorial: Gather Your Supplies!

It's almost time to get your crochet on, people! A few of you have already clamoured for details, but for those of you who waited, this is what you'll need:

• 1 spool of basic cotton string. You could use any sturdy yarn, but you don't want anything bulky, fuzzy, or woolen. Hemp would probably work, but it's a bit stiff. This basic string from the hardware store will do just fine
• Medium sized crochet hook. You can use the lightweight plastic ones if that's all you have, but i recommend a metal or bamboo hook as i've been known to snap a hook during heavier projects.
• That's it! Though a crochet marker or extra piece of thread tied in a half inch loop would be helpful.

Now for the skills needed. I meant it when i said only basic crochet skills are needed. We're going to be using three stitches: chain stitch, slip stitch and double crochet. That's it. You can find instructions for these stitches in ANY crochet book, online, from a friend and from these ridiculous videos i filmed yesterday. Which means you will now hear my actual voice, not just the type written one. Let's see how many of you make fun of my lisp!




I'm sure you could also find many more and better tutorials on YouTube. If you're a total beginner, check out that site for lots more how to videos. I should have filmed over my shoulder so that you're not looking at the stitches backwards...  but here are some photos to help out as well:

So now you know what you need to get ready for our crochet along on Monday. Head to your local yarn, fabric or hardware store, your basement or your private stash and let's get crackin! For fun, i've created a flickr group for showing off our progress. I hope you'll join the group and share with us! You don't have to join to see what others are doing, but it would be even more fun if we could see your projects too! You can also post any recipes or other projects inspired by this blog, up to 10 images a day! Yay!

What to expect on Monday: bring your thread, hooks and savvy and get ready for a free pattern* with some variations and room for personalization. We'll start with developing the base of the bag, using chain stitches and double crochet, crocheting in the round. Having a stitch marker on hand will help you to count your stitches.


*Our market bag pattern, and all tutorials found on this site are presented for your personal use only. Tutorials and/or objects made from my tutorials may not be sold commercially (that includes Etsy or Ravelry!). If you want to sell something based on one of my tutorials, please email me at gonudesoap at gmail dot com and we'll try to work out a fair deal. Please play nicely! 

Excited? I sure am!  See you next week!

Are You Ready for Some Crochet!?

Football season is gearing up and winding down at the same time, so it's time for 'us girls' (total gender stereotype there, sorry) to get something to do with our hands during the big games, other than stuffing our faces with nachos. I mentioned it before and got resounding support to host a crochet tutorial, so it's time to get your hooks out, crochet-savvy ladies and gents! Let's make some market bags! They're great for picking up produce in the store or farmer's market (be sure and weigh your bags at home so that you can subtract the cost of the bag when weighing your produce), for carrying your purchases, or even for storing onions or potatoes, etc in the kitchen. For the purposes of this tutorial, we'll be calling our project "market bags."

I will post this tut in a few posts, first with materials needed, then with the first step for the bottom of the bag with several variations, and then the completion of the bag.

Here's what we'll be making:

Excited? Tantalized? Eager to learn this basic but sometimes hard to find (esp for free!) pattern? You should be. It's great fun, totally customizable and only requires basic crochet skills. Gather your friends (tweet this post, share on facebook, email to your bestie) and get ready for some crochet! Step one coming THIS FRIDAY, WOOT!. You'll have the weekend to gather your supplies before we start the meat and potatoes of the project on Monday and finish the next Friday.... just in time to hone your skills before Superbowl Sunday.

I hope you'll play along, too!

Handmade Holidays #1: REVEALED!

Yay! Christmas is over! That means it's time for me to cry every five minutes, ponder over whether i should spend my Christmas checks on bills or new stuff, and finally reveal those handmade gifts i put together this season! I suffer from 'Christmas Let Down" something fierce, so i'm looking forward to extending the season a bit with these reveals.

As you may remember, this was my first handmade holiday teaser, way back in October:

Did you guess what it was? I didn't receive any correct answers in the comments, but i did get a request for a 'sew along'. If anyone is still interested, i'd be happy to write up a tutorial on how to crochet your own MARKET BAGS!

They're also great for storing onions or garlic in the kitchen, are dyeable (100% cotton) and have a pretty massive capacity. I'm kicking myself that i didn't weigh them and put a tag inside with their tare weight, so that my gift recipients won' t be paying extra for the weight of the bag. Next time!

Shall we have a sew along/ Shall i write a tutorial?

This post can be found at the Simple Lives Thursdays blog hop