Miss Julia's Patterns: Favorite Bags to Crochet - 'How To Hints' & Free Patterns

The free patterns included are: market bag; & springtime clutch - all to easily create & lovely to keep or gift!

1940s Chic Squares Bag #274 [crochet]

This was a rather difficult posting for me to create. What woman can ever have too many handbags? The same goes for my etsy shop, & I continually add more & more bags to my listings.

Here I made an attempt to select those patterns with something a little different in their design, but even that made it difficult to limit my choices...so I've put in quite a few for you to see. I really have a LOT of favorites!

Have fun creating your bags with a variety of yarns & alternative materials. Some vintage patterns list Gimp as a material, for this I usually substitute double or triple strands of heavy weight cotton thread worked together. String & cord also work up well, alone or in combination with other yarns.

I would suggest making up small, test squares to find the proper feel & substance you want for your handbag fabric. The weight of yarn & size of hook you use will determine the final size of your bag. Frequently the final measurements are nor included with the original publication. The accompanying photo can really come in handy, when trying to figure out what the original designer intended. Finally, remember that these bags are supposed to hold important stuff, so try to make them strong enough to do so!

The vintage patterns also do not always include complete finishing instructions. Did women 70 years ago have an inborn knack for making these things? In any case, I would strongly suggest lining your bags. You invested your time & talent to make them & you don't want them to fall apart...or for anything to fall through the stitches!

Depending on how sturdy you want your bags to be, I like to use a double lining.

The inside lining of satin, nylon, rayon, etc. in contrasting or matching, printed or solid fabric.

The second lining placed between your crochet can be of felt, cotton duck, or a heavier weight material of your choice & in a color closely matching the yarn used in crocheting your bag. [If you use another color, small flecks may show through your work, & this is not always desirable.]

For added support, it can be very desirable to add cardboard or light weight plastic between the two layers.

Before you put your crochet pieces together, use the separate pieces as patterns to cut out your lining. [I like to place them on paper & draw an outline for a paper pattern. This way I'm sure I don't mistakenly cut any of my hard work.]

Sew your lining together by hand or machine; turn inside out; & iron.

Then your lining will be ready to insert in your bag.

There is a very large & ever-growing selection of bags for viewing in my etsy shop, Miss Julia's Vintage Patterns

The proceeds from the sales of my vintage patterns are used in support of rescue animals.

Please share my store with friends and family to assist in this effort.

You can follow me on Facebook at

www.facebook.com/MissJuliasVintagePatterns

Here are only a few of my favorite bags!