Sweet Nothings Crochet: PORTO SIMPLE SLING BAG

Porto simple sling bag - crochet pattern info from Sweet Nothings Crochet

I was in Porto, Portugal, some months back, and I bought this fantastically superb Tee shirt yarn.. a first for me. The articles that were made with this yarn (in the shop) were mats and a set of baskets. I thought this yarn would be neat for a largish bag.. and here’s what I’ve done with the yarn. So today let's work with some Tee-shirt yarn with a 10 mm crochet hook. Oh and before we rush off to the pattern, some awesome photos of Portugal

pics of the shop in Portugal where I picked the tee-shirt yarn

I mean, how does one choose, right? so much yarn.. so little time

And though we're all meeting here on this blog mainly for a pattern, I just thought I'd share some of our Porto sights as well.

Porto railway station foyer - nothing to do with the pattern but what photos

Porto railway station foyer ! Now how beautiful is this foyer ! And through that green glass door one can purchase tickets

and more foyer - its such a large foyer we could have a performance there

yummy hot chestnuts on coal - perfect for a cool Dec day

And there's space for a performance in that same foyer ...Hot chestnuts made in a coal 'oven' .. on a cold day.. mmm

Farmers market.. look at the colours & a Nativity scene set up in the Farmers market

facade of a building - the wonderful blue tiles of Portugal

Facade of .. well, just some building.. and yet so grand !! oof.. takes the breath away! & Downtown Porto

Hotel Majestic where it seems Royalty has had a meal

Hotel Majestic which per the Guide book was *the* place to have a cup o' tea ... And the lovely narrow cobbled streets, that I couldn't get enough of..

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Right then.. onwards with our pattern

Materials used : Tee-shirt yarn with a 10 mm crochet hook ; fabric glue to seal ends ; zipper.

As this is a chunky yarn project, while you can use any of the finer yarns, for the desired effect, I'd suggest holding 2 (or 3) yarns together for the whole project.

For Indians : You could use Anchor , Red ros e or unbranded knitting cotton as well

General yarn info : This polyester yarn is available only in India.

The yarn used today is not specific to this pattern.

You can use any yarn with a suitable hook to make this project to any size.

International yarns : Among the international yarns I have used in this thickness, I’d suggest Aunt Lydia Cotton 10, Aunt Lydia Bamboo-Viscose 10, DMC Petra, Sullivans knitting cotton (Australia), Milford Soft, Hilaza Rustica Eclat , Alize cotton yarn and Alize bamboo yarn.

So now how does one make this with our Indian yarns.. well, you could use 3-4 skeins of Vardhaman millennium or Laura cotton and you should get the same effect. As it’s a really rough-n-tough creation, you could also try with some regular cotton ‘sutli’ or jute yarn.. and while I’m sure that will work, you’d still have to throw in some coloured yarn for effect.

That said, the tee-shirt yarn is pretty soft to touch.. whereas a cotton sutli will not be

Stitches used :

Starting slip knot : https://youtu.be/lJcqsVcs8cw

Starting slip knot 1 or the Sloppy Slip knot : https://youtu.be/YfC7KmGpifs

Foundation double crochet (fdc) : https://youtu.be/hjNUYVvyU9k

Half Double Crochet : Hdc : yo, insert hk into st ; yo (3 lps on hk) ;

yo, draw through all 3 lps. One hdc made.

Check out the video at https://youtu.be/sDiELJdB2Dg

Chainless start for Half Double Crochet : I dislike the ch-2 start, and this is what I do to start my row of hdc. Check out the video at https://youtu.be/lWXpl1KdbZ8

Double Crochet : dc : yo, insert hk into st ; yo (3 lps on hk);

[yo, draw through 2 lps] twice. One dc made.

Check out the video at https://youtu.be/xdnjB27zpYo

Chainless start for Double Crochet : I dislike the ch-2 / ch – 3 start, and this is what I do to start my row of dc.

Check out the video at https://youtu.be/wskv3iTjRx0

Instructions : Using U.S terminology

Please note that I start all my rows with a ch 1, turning chain for ease.

Please check the top of this blog for easy video tutorials on all stitches used in today's pattern.

Please read through all my notes before you pick up your hook, so you know just where we're heading in our pattern.

In my patterns I work with the principle of stitch count and body measurement. This means that you need to work the stitch count in pattern, till you get the measurement (length and/or width) that you need for your project.

So a quick summary of what I did here. We start our bag at the base and work around the fsc start row to make it a round. We will then work in rounds till we reach the length needed for our bag. This is a really easy pattern – but let’s also throw in something different – so hold on till you reach what I did for the “button” and the handle.

Foundation Single Crochet : fsc : https://youtu.be/mcT85fwh4mA

What is a slip stitch : https://youtu.be/weB3QNbA8Iw

Start with any number fsc (depending on the width you want for your bag).

Join with a sl-st to the 1^st fsc.

How to turn a fsc chain into a round https://youtu.be/DwkKgtGaJMY

Round 1 : In this first round, we will work first as we usually do on the top of the fsc, and then when we reach the end we will TURN 90°,

and work 3 sc in that last st,

then we will TURN 90° again and work at the bottom of our fsc row ,

and then TURN 90° one last time to work 3 sc in that 1^st st –

so from this row on, we will work in rounds. Join with a sl-st to the 1^st st.

Now here’s where it gets interesting.

While I’ve written ‘sc’ as the stitch below, you could use either an sc, hdc or a dc to grow your bag. Videos for all stitches used are on the top of this blog.

You could also use say an sc in the 1^st round, then an hdc in the next round followed by a dc in the next round.. then coming back to an sc in the 4^th round.

Each difference will give you a totally different looking project.

However, for convenience, I’ll just write it in like we’re using sc all through.

Single Crochet : Sc : yo, insert hk into st ; yo (2 lps on hk); yo, draw through both lps. One sc made. Check out the video at https://youtu.be/ghACqBpA-3k

First stitch for Single Crochet : This is how I like to start my row of sc. Check out the video at https://youtu.be/6pVYRfsf4_M

What is a chain stitch ? https://youtu.be/pXx5ukBjKkY

Round 2 : sc in the 1^st sc ;

*ch 1, sk next sc, sc in the next sc* ;

rep *to* till end all around.

Join with a sl-st to the 1^st st.

Round 3 : sl-st in the 1^st ch-sp, sc in that same 1^st ch-sp ;

*ch 1, sk next sc, sc in the next ch-sp* ;

rep *to* till end all around.

Join with a sl-st to the 1^st st.

Rep Rounds 3, till you have your project of the length you desire.

Now we’ll continue right onto the covering flap.

As the flap is only on one side, we will now work in rows.

So wherever you start will be one end of the bag – and you need to place a marker at the exact opposite of this bag, marking it in half for your flap.

Decrease Row : sl-st in the 1^st 2 sts ; sc in each sc till the last 2 sc.

Sk the last 2 sc and Turn.

Continue decreasing by repeating the decrease row above till you have between 2 – 4 sts.

Before you fasten off, let’s make a quick button hole here.

So depending on the size of the button you’re using, make a chain length to equal that and sc into th last st of this last row.

OPTIONAL : Depending on which yarn you’re using and if you want the button hole thicker, you could do a sc or a sl-st in each ch all the way back.

Now this an option, because with the tee-shirt yarn, I didn’t need to do this.

OK, you can now fasten off and weave in ends.

STRAP : So what I’ve done is one continuous strap from one end to the other.

Just for kicks I made two little side loops on either side of the bag – so I re-attached the yarn on the side of the bag and then made 6 chs.

I fasten this ch-6 loop onto one side of the bag. I then did the same thing at the other end too

For the strap I started with 5 chs and then continued on with fdc.

The 5 chains were made so that I could loop that into the side loops (on bag) for the added ‘light’ effect.

Foundation double crochet (fdc) : https://youtu.be/hjNUYVvyU9k

Once I’d finished the fdc strap till the length I’d needed, I added on another 5 ch at the end for attaching on the other side loop – and fastened off.

I then looped in and stitched up the side loops and ensured there were no trailing and snaggy ends. My handy Fevicryl No Stitch glue works wonders every time.

You may want to check this I-cord video as well.

Easiest I-cord : here

Stone and tee-shirt yarn button :

This could be my version of stone – bombing (yarn bombing a stone?? )

BUTTON :

The lovely smooth pebble was one I’d picked up from a waterfall in Portugal (Pulo de Lobo, Mértola) and it was really easy to stick the tee-shirt yarn onto the pebble.. once again my faithful

trusted glue to the rescue.

So a I just whipped the yarn around the pebble several times, stuck it all down,

and “estamos a fazer” (which is “we’re done” in Portuguese)

I left a long tail at the end which I used to hang or attach onto the bag.

And este é excelente (or this is superb).. even if I say so myself

You could line this bag and add in zippers etc – but my bag needs neither .. so we’re done!

a) How to line the bag : here

b) Easiest I-cord : here (if you missed it earlier)

c) How to attach a zipper : here

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