Crocheted Purse with Beaded Strap

Well, its mid week, and I think I will be able to get my apron mailed tomorrow (hope you like it Anne).  I hadn't stated a deadline to send it, but in talking with a couple of the gals through e-mail, decided Ocotober 25th would make a good deadline to mail (let me know girls, if you can't make the deadline and we'll  still make it work). Perhaps you all can e-mail me once you have received your apron, and I will e-mail you back once I hear from everyone then we can all post at the same time if we want to.

My project this week was inspired by all that yarn I got last week.  I started crocheting and the next thing I knew, I had finished this little purse.  It was very quick and easy.  If you are a crocheter and have ever crocheted a hot pad, then you can make this purse.  I began with the basic hot pad pattern.. chain the length you desire, then turn and double back with a single crochet in each chain, following around and around until you reach the height that you want. (click here for a nice set of instructions http://www.mielkesfarm.com/diagonal_hotpad.htm  ) (just a note, I'm having trouble making this link go directly to the site, so click on it and if it doesn't come up right away, hit your return button and it will come up then... not sure why its not completely linking).

I increased a few rows to make a larger bottom half and then decreased slowly at the top.

I couldn't resist a beaded strap.  I picked out beads I had on hand, matching colors and stringing a fun little design.  I used a medium gauge wire, stringing it with beads, adding 3 crimps and running it through a couple of rows of crocheted stitches. I finished it like I would a necklace (see jewelry under 52 weeks of projects... previous post). Clamp crimps and be sure to glue them with bead glue.  I glued them quite liberally to make sure they would not slip under the weight.  You could crochet a nice little strap if you didn't want to use beads, but they really did add a little glamour to the purse.

I am by no means an expert crocheter or knitter, but do enjoy a nice easy project. This one can be done in a few hours while on a trip or having a nice little visit with someone.

Blessings

 Pam

Its hard to believe that you can turn this into a purse, but you can.

 Pretty yarn makes a difference.  Start with a fat chunky yarn, (red yarn on bottom) 1/3 third of the way up add a nice nobby yarn (on top). I used a multi -colored, nobby yarn along with the red.

Using medium to large gauge wire, string your beads, then crimps, then string wire through 2 or 3 stitches of crocheted bag.

 Bring wire around and back into crimps.

Squeeze crimps firmly.

Drop a couple of drops of glue onto crimps, soaking both crimps and wire.

 Test it out. This one holds wonderfully.

There it is.