This is a crochet pattern for a crossbody or shoulder bag. The piece is crocheted flat, then partially seamed to create a tubed handle and opening for the main compartment. After seaming, we will crochet a small border around the opening, then thread a paracord through the strap, and finally seam along the narrow neck of the strap. The pattern is made using an alternating two row striping pattern. In the worked guide, we will use two colour groups, A) Darks, and B) Lights, but you choose to stripe however you want.

Yarn choices:
This pattern is best as a scrap / odd ball project. This is how I crocheted my samples, as did all of my testers. For your first bag, I would recommend choosing a mix of DK weight yarns, budgeting at least 350g (175g dark colours, 175 light colours). You can also hold thinner yarns together to make one of the colours. A great choice would be holding a fingering or sock weight yarn held double. It is also possible to use slightly chunkier yarn scraps. If you do this, try and balance out the fabric by making the opposite stripe a slightly thinner yarn (like a sock held with mohair). This will prevent that section of the bag from being too rigid.

Materials:

350g DK (or under) yarns

4mm hook
2.5m-4m cord, ribbon, or sturdy chunky yarn
stopper for cord (optional)
stitch markers (optional)

Gauge:
Gauge is not important for this project, and is purposefully omitted to encourage you to use scrap yarns! The overall bag is extremely flexible in its sizing, and will depend on how much you ‘scrunch’ the tie. As long as you find that you get a dense, semi-rigid fabric (to prevent stretching when carrying heavy objects) you’ll be fine.

Difficulty:
This pattern is best suited to crocheters at an advanced beginner level or higher. The pattern is very simple, but it can be confusing to figure out where to put your increases. Once you get the hang of that, it should be fine. If you are a total beginner and are not comfortable with increases or decreases (and spotting where they are) this pattern is probably not for you.