Crocheted Shopping Bag

Last updated on May 4th, 2024 at 11:48 pm

Update: I’m convinced this is a magical, never-ending crocheted shopping bag! It takes FAR more than you’d ever imagine when shopping. You keep putting things in, the cashiers are agog, but it just keeps taking more.

I love the reactions. And I’ve even had cashiers ask where to find the pattern. If you’re one of them, well, you’ve found it!

by Jane Lake

I was given a bag of chunky weight yarn and already had wooden purse handles so I thought the combination would make this tweedy bobble purse.

The crocheted shopping bag pattern is old and originally given as a hand-out by a local wool store that closed 45 years ago. It was done on a typewriter with an awful hand-drawn sketch. I had no idea what the purse would actually look like until I made it.

Now it’s the first bag I grab for shopping. The admiring comments from cashiers who watch me pack heavy, awkward products inside until it’s elongated and bulging all over are gratifying.

I come home, empty it, and the bag looks just as good as it when I made it many years ago. Win.

If you need more than one expandable shopping bag, check out my Dog Bag Tote made from a recycled dog food bag, or the crochet pattern for a traditional net shopping bag.

Crocheted Shopping Bag Pattern

Pattern Instructions:

Make a beginning chain of 37 sts.

Row 1:– Dc in 4th ch from hook, and in each ch across.

Row 2:– Ch 3, dc in each dc across. Repeat row 2 twice. (These 4 rows turn over the handle).

Row 3:– Ch 3, dc in second dc, *5 dc in next dc, remove hook and drop st, insert hook from front to back in first of 5 dc, draw dropped st through loop on hook, – bobble made, 1 dc in next 5 dc. Repeat from * and end with 1 dc in last 2 dc.

Row 4:– Ch 3, 1 dc in next dc, 1 dc in st of bobble, 1 dc in next 2 dc, *Make bobble in next st inserting hook from back to front of first dc, 1 dc in next 2 dc, 1 dc in st of bobble, 1 dc in next 2 dc. Repeat from * to the end of the row.

Row 5:– Ch. 3, 1 dc in next st, *Make bobble as in row 3, 1 dc in next 2 dc, 2 dc in st of bobble, 1 dc in next 2 dc. Repeat from * to the end of the row.

Repeat rows 4 and 5 eight times for double, ten times for worsted, twelve times for sport yarn, or stop when piece is as long as you want it, or until you have used half the yarn.

Make two pieces.

Sew or single crochet the pieces together, leaving 3 inches at the top of each side for purse opening. Turn edges over handle and sew on the inside.