Simple Crochet Tote Bag Tutorial For Beginners

Hello once again welcome to another tutorial this is Miriam's Crafts and today I'm going to show you how to crochet this beautiful tote bag here. So this is a nice shoulder bag and simple to crochet even if you're a crochet beginner. I'm going to show you how to make it step by step. So this is our bag and if you want you can put lining inside and a zipper. So let's see what we're going to need for us to crochet this bag. So for this bag you're going to need a scissors, a crochet hook. This one here is a four millimeter crochet hook and it corresponds to the thickness of yarn that I'm going to be using. This one here is three millimeter thick polyester cord and if you don't have this type of cord you can use any other type of yarn that you have. Just make sure that you're using a corresponding crochet hook. For this bag I used about two rows and each row is about 200 meters so I used about 400 meters of three millimeter thick polyester cord. You're also going to need a needle and stitch markers. I used about five stitch markers. You're also going to need a handmade tag however if you don't have this it's still fine. So let's begin. So we're going to begin with the chain of 26. So I begin with my slip knot and then we're going to chain 26. It's one, two, three, four, five. So I'm going to continue and come back with 26 chains. So I now have 26 chains and we're going to begin the first round. So here I'm going to skip the first chain from the hook and insert my hook into the second one, this one and we're going to crochet single crochet. So this is single crochet in US terms and double crochet in UK terms. So insert your hook, pick up a loop, two loops on the hook, yarn over, pull through both loops on the hook. So I'm just going to mark this first stitch of the round with this one and then I'm going to continue putting one single crochet in each chain, two in the next one, three, four. So I'm going to continue up until we're in the last chain. So here I'm now left with one chain here at the end of the row. So in this last chain, I'm going to put five single crochets. So that's one in the same chain, one single crochet in the same chain again. I insert my hook, put another single crochet, two and I'm going to mark the second one like this and then we continue the third one, three in the same chain, four and then I'm going to mark the fourth one and then we put the fifth one like that. Okay, so I've put five single crochets in this chain here and you can see that we have curved and now we are now crocheting at the back of the chains. Okay, so I'm going to continue putting one single crochet at the back of each chain. So I find that at the back of each chain we have these pieces, these ones, okay, here, here. So I'm going to insert there and put one single crochet in each. So here I insert, so I'm also going to be hiding this tail as we crochet, okay. Put one single crochet like that into the next one here, one single crochet again, one single crochet like this. So I'm going to continue up until I towards the end of the round. So here I'm now at the end of the round and I'm now left with the back of the first stitch that we did here, okay. So in this one I'm going to put four single crochets, okay. So we're putting four instead of five like we did the other end here because you're also assuming that this first stitch is also coming from that chain. So I'm going to put four. So that's one, again in the same chain, two, okay. So we're going to mark the second one, three and then we'll put the fourth one. Just squeeze it in, four and then we mark the fourth one just like we did here, okay like this. So we've put one, two, three, four and we've marked the second and the fourth one here. So to complete the round I'm going to remove the stitch marker in the first stitch and insert my hook just below those top two loops of the first stitch, grab my yarn and work a slip stitch and then pull through the loop on the hook like this. So this completes the first round and at this point you need to count your stitches and to make sure that there are 56 stitches and 56 is a multiple of eight, okay. So I've completed the first round and next we chain one like this. So you find that we have a slip stitch and a chain one here and these two do not count as stitches, the slip stitch and the chain one, okay. So I'm going to set my hook again in the first stitch of the round, okay, the one we inserted earlier on to put a slip stitch and work one single crochet and we're going to mark the single crochet, this one. So here I'm going to continue with one single crochet in each stitch, okay. So insert your hook below those top two loops and work one single crochet like this into the next one, okay, one single crochet, okay. So I'm going to continue with one single crochet like this, like this. So I'm going to continue up until I reach this marked stitch. So now we're at this marked stitch marker here, okay, we begin our round the side. So in this marked stitch we're going to put three single crochets. So I'm going to remove the stitch marker and put three single crochets in that same stitch like this. That's one, in the same stitch again, two. So we're going to mark the second stitch of those three, which is this one, which is the middle stitch of the three. So I now have two, let's put the third one, three, like this. So we've put three single crochets here, we are forming a corner here, okay, for our base. So the next stitch is not marked, this one, so we just put one single crochet. Now this next stitch is marked, so we put three single crochets. So that's one, in the same stitch, two, remember to mark the second stitch, which is the middle stitch, and three, like this. So you can see now we have two corners here. So we proceed putting one single crochet in each of the following stitches that are not marked up until we reach these other two marked stitches here. Remember this one is only marking the first stitch, so we do not increase our stitches in this one. So in the next one, I put one single crochet, in the next one, single crochet, in the next one, one single crochet. So let's do that and let's meet in this stitch. Now we put three stitches again in this marked one, so we put three single crochets, okay, so that's one, another one, two, remember to mark the second stitch of the three, and then the third one in the same stitch, like this. So the next stitch, this one, doesn't have a stitch marker, so we put one single crochet. Now we are in this one, which is the last stitch of the second round, so we put three again, one, then again, two, sorry, remember to mark the second one, and then three, like this. Okay, so here, you need to remember that we said earlier on, this is the slip stitch, and this is the chain one, and these two do not count as stitches, the slip stitch and the chain one, okay. The chain one is the vertical stitch, and then the slip stitch is this one here. So you skip all these to finish up round two. So here, I'm going to go and insert my hook into the first stitch, this one, and make a slip knot again, and try to make it as small as possible, okay. That's the slip stitch, okay, and then you chain one, like this, in the same stitch, the first stitch, okay, here, you work one single crochet, like this. So we mark this single crochet. So just take note here, the slip stitch and the chain one do not count as stitches, okay, these ones, the slip stitch and the chain one, they don't count as stitches. So I insert my hook, I mark my first stitch, sorry, like this. So here, we finished the second round, and if you count your stitches, you'll find that we now have 64 stitches. So after each and every round, you'll find that our stitches would have increased by eight. So at each corner, we are increasing two stitches, two stitches, two, two, so that's a total of eight. So we are only increasing our stitches on the stitches that are on the corners here, and not this one, the first stitch, okay, it is only marked so that you know the starting point. Otherwise, these are the stitches that you're only increasing. We'll put three single crochets in each of these. So we're going to repeat the second round that we just did, up until we have six rounds. So let's just do this one more time, and then we'll continue. So here, we don't have stitch markers, so I'm going to put one single crochet in each of the following stitches. One single crochet in the next one, one single crochet, okay. So here again, you put three single crochets in this marked stitch. That's one, two, not forgetting to mark the second stitch, and then three, like this. These following stitches do not have stitch markers, so put one single crochet in each, like this, okay. Up until you reach the next stitch marker, like this one, and then you put three single crochets again. That's one, two, remember to mark the second stitch, and then you put the third one in the same stitch, like this, okay. So we're going to repeat the pattern. One single crochet in each of the following stitches, and then when you reach this point, you put three single crochets here and mark the second one. One single crochet for the stitches here in the middle, and then again, in this one, you put three single crochets. So I'm going to come back after we finish putting three single crochets in this one. So here, I'm almost at the end of this round. I've just put three single crochets in this stitch. So here you find that this is the first stitch of the round. This is the chain one, and this is the slip stitch. So this is another stitch that we need to crochet into. So we're going to put one single crochet into that stitch. Now we are left with the slip stitch and the chain one, and these two do not count as stitches, so we skip them and insert our hook into the first stitch, okay, like this. So we have the slip stitch and the chain one here. So we skip those two, and we insert our hook into the first stitch and join with a slip stitch. So try to make the slip stitch as small as possible or as tight as possible, and then pull through. That's the slip stitch there, and then the chain one also, like this. And then next, we begin the next round, which is the fourth round, and we insert our hook back in that first stitch, like this, and then work one single crochet. Remember to mark the first stitch. So marking the first stitch helps you to identify the slip stitch as well as the chain one. So this is the first stitch, like this. And then we're going to repeat the pattern up until we have six rounds, and then come back. Welcome back. So I've done six rounds here, and if you were to measure the length and the width, we have 30 centimeters in length, and then the width is 9 centimeters. So here, if you want to increase the size of your bag, you can add more rounds here at the end here. So we're just going to work with these six rounds here for the best. So right now, you just want to make sure that the total number of your stitches right round is a multiple of eight. Here, I have 96, which is a multiple of eight. So next, we're going to remove these four stitch markers and remain with this one. So now we're going to start crocheting the sides of our bag. So here, I just joined the first and the last stitch with a slip stitch, this small one here. So I'm going to remove the stitch marker here, and we're going to chain four. So that's one, two, three, four. So this is going to act as our first treble crochet. So this is treble crochet in US terms and double treble in UK terms. So I'm going to mark the fourth chain here. Next, we're going to put two more treble crochets in the same stitch. So with a treble crochet, you yarn over twice, like this, insert your hook, pick up a loop, four loops on the hook, yarn over, pull through the first two loops, yarn over, pull through the next two loops, yarn over, pull through the last two loops. Okay, let's do one more. Yarn over twice, insert in the same stitch, pick up a loop, four loops on the hook, yarn over, pull through the first two loops, yarn over, pull through the next two loops, yarn over, pull through the last two loops. Okay, so we have our first set of three treble crochets like this. So next, I'm going to chain one, and then I'm going to skip three stitches. So that's one, two, three. And in the fourth one, I'm going to insert my hook and work one single crochet. Pick up a loop, yarn over, pull through both loops, like this. Okay, and then I chain one. Next, I skip three stitches again, one, two, three. And then in this one, I'm going to put three treble crochets. Okay, so that's one, two, three. And then in this one, let's put a treble crochet, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two. That's one treble. Another one. That's two. That's three treble crochets there. So next, we're going to chain three. That's one, two, three. In the same stitch, we're going to put three more treble crochets. Okay, so I yarn over again, twice. In that stitch, pick up a loop. Okay, four loops on the hook, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two. Okay, another treble in that same stitch, yarn over, pull through, yarn over, pull through the next two loops, last two. Okay, another treble, insert, yarn over, pull through the first two loops, yarn over, pull through the next two loops, yarn over, pull through last two loops, like this. Okay, next, chain one, and then we skip three stitches. One, two, three. Okay, one, two, three, and then in the fourth one, we put one single crochet, and then we chain one, like this. So again, we repeat again what we did here. We skip three stitches, one, two, three, and then in this fourth one, we put three treble crochets. Okay, so that's one, two, three, and then in here, one, two, three. Next, we chain three, one, two, three. In the same stitch, we put three more treble crochets. Two treble crochets, then the third one, in the same stitch, three, like this. Okay, so you can see the pattern. So we're going to repeat. Next here, we chain one, and then skip three stitches. Okay, one, make sure you do not skip more than three stitches here. So that's one, two, three, and then in this one, you put one single crochet. One, two, three, here, and then chain one. So we're going to repeat the sequence or the pattern. Okay, skip three stitches here, and then in the fourth one, you put three treble crochets, chain three, three treble crochets, chain one at the end, skip three stitches, and then repeat that right round up until we're towards the end of the round. So here we are now at the end of the first round of the sides. So as you can see, I just did a single crochet here and chain one. Now I count three stitches, one, two, three. So you'll find that here at the beginning, we only have a set of three treble crochets, whereas on the other on the other groups or sets, we have a set of three treble crochets, chain three, and another one here. So you also want this one to be just like the rest. So what we're going to do is we're going to yarn over twice, skip the three stitches, one, two, three. So remember this one here is a slip stitch that we used to join the first and last stitch of the previous round here. So I'm going to come here, okay, and then work three treble crochets. That's one, that's two, and then that's three. So to complete this round, I'm going to chain one here at the end, yarn over, I'm going to come in the fourth chain that we marked here, okay, set my hook, yarn over, yarn over, and then pull through all the loops like this, okay. So this completes the first round of the sides. So now we'll move on to the next one. So here to begin the next round, I'm just going to mark this point here, this one. I'm going to chain four, one, two, three, four. So this time we're going to do front post treble crochets. So with front post treble crochets, you insert your hook behind each treble, okay, behind each treble, okay. In this one, behind like this. So next, I'm going to yarn over twice, and also we're not going to be completing our treble crochets. We will leave them unfinished and then we'll yarn over a set of unfinished treble crochets. So let me show you. Yarn over twice, so we come here in this first one behind, yarn over, pull through, four loops on the hook, yarn over, pull through the first two loops, yarn over, pull through the next two loops. So we're going to leave it like this and proceed to the next one, this one. Yarn over twice, here like this, pick up a loop, pull through, two, four, five loops on the hook, yarn over, pull through the first two loops, yarn over, pull through the next two loops. So we now have three loops. We'll move on to the next one. Yarn over twice, behind, pick up a loop, yarn over, pull through the first two, and yarn over, pull through the next two. So you can see that we've done this front post, another front post, and this one also. This is the chain four. We move on, we skip this part, move on to the next, this one. We still have four loops on the hook, yarn over twice again, come to this treble, pick up a loop, yarn over, pull through the first two loops, yarn over, pull through the next two loops. We move to the next one, insert, pick up a loop, yarn over, pull through the first two loops, yarn over, pull through the next two loops. We move on to the next one, yarn over, pull through the next two loops, yarn over, pull through the next two loops. So at this point, you should have two, four, six, seven loops on the hook, like this. Okay, so you yarn over, pull through all the seven loops on the hook, like this. Next, you chain four. One, two, three, four. Then we're going to come to this chain three that we're doing in the previous round, this one, this one, okay. At the peak of that chain three, I'm going to set my hook, I'm going to work a single crochet, like this, okay. Next, I'll chain four and begin the sequence again. One, two, three, four. Yarn over twice, we come to this front post, we work the front post treble, two loops on the hook, yarn over twice, we come to the next one, okay, yarn over, pull through the first two loops, yarn over, pull through the next two loops, three loops on the hook, yarn over twice again, we move to the next, four loops on the hook, yarn over twice, move to the next set here, we skip this part, front post, pull through, yarn over, pull through, yarn over twice, to the next one, so you do six post front post treble crochets that are not complete, sorry, yarn over twice, and then you yarn over all of them at once, like this. So you have two, four, six, seven loops on the hook, yarn over, pull through all the seven loops, like this, then chain four, two, three, four. You move on and work a single crochet at this peak, chain four again, one, two, three, four. So we're going to repeat this sequence right round up until we're towards the end of the round. So here we're almost at the end of the second round, so this is our pattern, and it's beautiful. So here I just did front post, all of the six front posts, treble crochets, and I'm now going to yarn over all of them, and then chain four, one, two, three, four. So this is our stitch marker, okay, that we marked earlier on when we began the round, so I'm going to come and insert just below the stitch marker there, and I'm just going to join with a slip stitch, like this, and this completes the second round. So we move on to the next round. Here I'm going to chain one, like this. So I'm just going to place our stitch marker in the slip stitch that we just did, okay, the stitch before the chain one that we just did, like this. So this third round is almost similar to the first round of the size that we did. We're going to be doing treble crochets, so only that our treble crochets, we are now going to be inserting our hook onto this center here, this small circle here, okay, here, these small circles here, okay, and this one also. So next I'm going to yarn over twice, insert my hook at the center, okay, here, and work three treble crochets. One treble crochet, another one, two treble crochet, another one, three treble crochets, and then chain three. One, two, three. In that same space, insert our hook and put three more treble crochets. One, in that same space, two, three. Okay, so you can see our pattern there, like this. So next, chain one. Now we're going to come, remember the single crochets that we're putting at the peak here, so we're now going to come in front of the single crochet, we have a small V here, okay, we have these front loops heavy, sort of, so we're going to insert our hook in between here and work one single crochet, like this, okay, and chain one. We move to the next, to the next center or circle, small space here, and put three treble crochets again, chain three, three treble crochets. One treble crochet, two, three, chain three, one, two, three. In the same space, we put three more treble crochets. One, two, and three, like this, and then we chain one, we come to this V in between and work one single crochet and then chain one. Okay, so we're going to repeat the sequence, okay, and we want to achieve this pattern here, like this. So next, you come to this center and put three treble crochets, chain three, and put three more treble crochets. One single crochet here, chain one. Let's do that right round up until we're towards the end of the round. So here, we're almost at the end of the third round, so we're left with this one circle here. I just did a single crochet here and chain one. So next, we're going to put three treble crochets in this last space here, three treble crochets, chain three, three treble crochets, two, three, and then we chain three, one, two, three. Put three more treble crochets in that space, and two, and then we chain one, like this. So to finish off the round, I'm going to come and insert my hook just below this stitch marker here, and we're going to join with a slip stitch here, and we're going to join with a slip stitch like this. So this completes our third round, and this is the pattern of our back so far, like this. So you find that we're going to be alternating a round of treble crochets, the one that we just did, and a round of front post treble crochets. So now, the next round, we're going to repeat the second round of front post treble crochets. However, one thing that you need to note is that the only starting point for front post treble crochets is here, at the peak here. Okay, you can't start the front post treble crochets here, so you need to make sure that whenever you begin the round of front post treble crochets, your starting point is this point. So one way we can achieve that is by just doing slip stitch up until you reach this point, okay. So here, I'm just going to insert my hook into this next stitch here, and then we work slip stitch, you move on into the next one, slip stitch, into the next one, slip stitch. So we repeat up until you reach the peak, okay, here. So again, let's put another one here, like this. So you can see that we've moved from this depression here up until we're here. So I'm just going to do a chain four, one, two, three, four. So here, I'm going to mark with a stitch marker at the bottom of the chain four, like this. Okay, so that's going to be our starting point for the fourth round. The rest is going to be the same with the second round. So next, you yarn over twice, and then we crochet front post treble crochets, making sure that you do not finish or complete these treble crochets. In the next one, like this. In the next one, we move on to this other set, okay. Okay, so now we have two, four, six loops on the hook. Let's do the last one, like this. Seven loops on the hook, yarn over, pull through all, all seven, and then we chain four, one, two, three, four. And then we come at the peak, and we put one single crochet, then we chain four again, one, two, three, four. We come again, we do front post here, front post here, and then we chain four, put one single crochet at the top here, and repeat the sequence. So we're going to continue the pattern, right round, up until we're back here at the starting point. And then the next round is going to be the treble crochet round. So this round that we're working on right now, which is the fourth round, is going to be a repeat of the second round. And then the next round is a repeat of the third round. So we're going to repeat the second and third round, and add a few more rounds, and then come back. Welcome back. So I've done 14 rounds from this point up to this point. So if you want to increase the height of your bag, you can keep on adding more rounds at the top here. So here, the width of our bag, when flat, is 33 centimeters, and then the height, starting from this point, is 24 centimeters. So now I want to do the last round and put a nice edging there. So here, this is the stitch marking the starting point here. So what I'm going to do is, I'm going to put a single crochet, four single crochets, but I'll be joining these two together, okay? So here, I'm going to remove the stitch marker. So I'm going to set my hook below this space, okay? Like this, grab my yarn, and then pull through like this, yarn over, and then pull through like this. So make sure that this one is tight and nice. So I'm just going to mark this one. So I'm going to put four single crochets here. So I've put one again. So depending on the thickness of your yarn, you can increase from four to five or even less. Two, three, okay? Then the last one, four, like this. So next, I'm going to come in the center here and put another single crochet, like this, okay? So here again, so with this one, instead of putting four only, we're going to put eight. So from this point up to this point, okay? And we'll be inserting our hook here. So I'm going to insert, okay, like this. That's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and then the eighth one, eight, okay? And then next, we have this small center here. We put one single crochet there, like this, okay? Again, we come here again. So we repeat again what we did here. We put eight single crochets. So then to repeat that, here you put one single crochet. Repeat that right round up until we're back here at the starting point. So here, we've done single crochet right round, okay? Now we are almost back at the starting point. So remember, we started with four single crochets here. So we're left with this space here. So we're going to put four single crochets in that space that's left. So that's one. So just try to squeeze them so that they all fit in there. Two, three, and then four, okay? So next, let's fasten off the ends. Okay, so next, we're going to crochet the handle. So here, you need to leave a tail of about 30 centimeters, and then wrap your yarn around your hand, make a slip knot. Then we're going to chain two. One, two. So you're going to skip the first chain from the hook and insert your hook into the second one. Pick up a loop, two loops on the hook, yarn over, and then pull through two. So you're going to turn. We have this small loop, this one that I'm holding right now, this one. So you're going to turn like this, and then you're going to insert your hook into this small back loop, okay? Pick up a loop, two loops on the hook, yarn over, and then pull through. So you'll find that now at the back, we have these small two loops here. So you turn again, okay, and insert your hook through those two back loops like this. Pick up a loop, pull through those two loops, two loops on the hook, yarn over, and then pull through. So again, we have these two back loops. So you turn and insert again into those two back loops. Pick up a loop, pull through those two loops, yarn over, pull through, okay? So this is our handle. So you just repeat the pattern up until you have your desired length for the handle. So mine, I'm going to make it 70 centimeters. Okay, so let's repeat that and then come back. Okay, so this one here is my handle, and it is about 70 centimeters. If you want a shorter one, it's still fine. So here at the end, I'm going to cut sleeve again, 30 centimeters, and this will help us to attach the handle to the bag. And then here, you pull through like this. So you're going to need to make another one exactly like this so that you have two, okay, of the same length. So next, we're going to join this onto the bag. So here, to attach the handles, you find that we have these small holes here. So you decide where you want to place your handle, either through these two holes or here or even here, okay? So I've decided I want my handle to be somewhere here. Okay, so you need to insert your handle inside like this, okay? Then this end, we're going to insert through the needle, and then we're going to join, okay? So we find that we have the center here just below this piece, okay, this one. So making sure that your handle is flat, okay? I'll be attaching the handle around this small hole here, okay? So here, just find somewhere to insert your hook, making sure that this needle is not showing on the other side here, like this. And then on the handle, and then onto the bag, making sure that it's neat. Again, onto the handle. Let's put this one onto the bag, okay? So now, our handle is in place, making sure that it is firm, and then fasten off, okay? So let's fasten off, just find somewhere to hide your tail inside the bag. So this is the handle that we've joined, this one, okay? So making sure that it is not twisted, you come again, okay? Insert onto this one, okay? So we insert again here, and then we join. So let's join this other side, as well as the other side, this one, okay? Okay, so let's join, and then come back. So this is our bag, okay? And if you want, you can put lining inside. So I'm just going to put a handmade tag here. Okay, so this is our tote bag. It's nice, it's beautiful, a rectangle bottom. You can put lining and a zipper inside. Thank you for watching Miriam's Crafts. Please do subscribe, like, and comment for more videos. Thank you!