handbag

After a few false starts, I finally got going on testing the pattern for Futuregirl's Handbag. It took me a few tries to get the hang of foundation single crochet (see her site for a tutorial). I had a hard time with crocheting too tightly and my work was curling. I emailed Alice for help and she told me to make sure the "chain" part of my fsc was loose. Eureka! No more curling. Things went very smoothly from there.

I didn't intend to have just one white stripe and then the white at the top edge, that's just how it worked out. I'm not in love with it but I don't dislike it enough to rip it out! When I try making another one I'll be more mindful of color changes.

You are going to LOVE the handbag pattern! I finished it fairly quickly (for me) and now I'm ready to line it.

Alice has tutorials for that as well, plus I made fun labels to go inside with a tutorial from Patchwork Pottery.

I really enjoyed my first foray into pattern testing! This is a great bag and I'm super excited to put it to work. Thank you for letting me test, Alice!

I absolutely love how crafters are so willing to share their ideas and methods. Crafty tutorials save me from hours of confusion and frustration on a regular basis. :)