Free Pattern - Moss Stitch Bag

After making the fabric pleated bag for C's mother I decided to try to make a knitted bag - I'm back into a bag-making buzz at the moment obviously!

I had some lovely circular handles so they begat:

The Moss Stitch Bag
Materials:
About 100g aran weight yarn. I used Stylecraft Aran in baby blue but any make would be fine.
5mm straight needles
5"/13cm diameter circular handles.
Piece of lining material, approx 15.5" x 14.5 / 40cm x 37cm (plus a little extra if you want to make a matching flower pin)
Sewing thread and sewing needle and darning needle
Saftey pin
White felt

Gauge:
5 sts to 6 rows to 1 inch of stocking stitch

Moss Stitch:
Row 1: (K1,P1) to end
Row 2: (P1, K1) to end

How To:
Cast on 30 sts.
Stocking stitch 11 rows.
Next row: Increase knit-wise into every stitch - 60sts.
Next work in moss stitch, starting with row 1 and repeating these two rows until the moss stitch part of the bag measures 14.5"/37cm, ending with row 2.
K 1 row.
Next row: (K2tog) to end - 30sts.
Beginning with a purl row, stocking stitch 9 rows.
Cast off.

Make Up:
Take one stocking stitch end of back and fold in half over the circular handle. Sew in place. Repeat with the other stocking stitch end.
Fold bag in half so that handles meet. Mark a point approx. 2.5"/6cm from handles. Sew side seams together below this point.
You could use the bag as is at this point but it is a good idea to line knitted bags as the knitting can get quite stretched out of shape once used.

To Make Lining:
Take your piece of lining material (I used some checked cotton). Fold piece of material in half. Mark a point approx. 3.5"/9cm from the top and join the side seam below this point, using a 1/2"/1.5cm seam.
Turn right side out. Press remaining side edges and top edges under the seam allowance of 1/2"/1.5cm.
Slide lining into the knitted bag. Match side seams and sew in position.
Pin the centre top of the lining to the centre of the bag, just below the stocking stitch part. The lining is wider than the bag at this point so randomly pleat the fabric so that it fits (see photo of finished lining for an example). Sew in position.

To Make Flower Brooch:
Cut 12 petal shapes from matching fabric. Sew together in twos, leaving the small edge open. Turn all petals right side out. You should now have 6 petals.
Form the petals into a circular flower shape with all the open ends in the middle. Baste with a few small stitches.
Next cut two circles from white felt. Sew a pin onto one of the circles (you could use a small piece of white felt to cover the middle bar and help keep the pin in position - see photo).
Place the circles over the centre of the flower on the front and back. Sew together, encasing the petals as you go.

Violá, a super cute bag in super quick time.

The knitting for this only took me two evenings of not very intensive knitting and the lining took another evening.

Any questions send me an email and I'll do my best to help out.

Comments

angelpm said…
Can you make this bag without using a liner and is there a fiber type I can use to make the bag stiff enough for the bag not to come out of shape? Nice and vary simple to work. Looking forward to trying this out myself. Portia

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