Foldable Market Bag Crochet Pattern
From farmer’s markets to beach days, a good mesh bag is a must-have for summer. This foldable market bag tucks away into a compact ball that’s easy to take along, wherever you’re headed!
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CAL Central Summer Quickies Crochet Along
This foldable market bag is the final pattern in the Summer Quickies Crochet Along at CAL Central. Check out the main post for all the other patterns, and giveaway details too!
Alternate Cords
The pattern includes instructions for simple drawstring cords. But there are lots of other options you could try instead! For my bag I actually used a foundation slip stitch cord. This gives the same result, but without needing to know how many chains to start with.
You could also try using a spool knitter, like the Clover Wonder Knitter to make rounder, stretchier cords.
Pre-made elastic cords are another good option. Any type of cord will work, but stretchier cords will allow for more flexibility in the bag when it’s being used.
Materials
- Yarn: Worsted weight, cotton yarn
- 150 yds main color (MC)
- 25 yds accent color (AC)
- Hook: Size I / 5.5 mm hook or size needed to match gauge
- Notions:
- Yarn Needle
- Stitch Marker
Project Level
Easy: All basic stitches, no seaming. Switching between joined and continuous rounds.
Size
13 x 12 inches, not counting handles.
Gauge
13 sc x 15 rows = 4 inches
Abbreviations used
ch = chain
ch-sp = chain space
dc = double crochet
rnd = round
sc = single crochet
sk = skip
sl st = slip stitch
st(s) = stich(es)
Recommended Resources
- Why Continuous Rounds Shift
- Foundation Slip Stitch (alternate cord method)
- Clover Wonder Knitter Tutorial (alternate cord method)
- Edging – Working Evenly Across / Around
Instructions
Bag
The entire bag is worked on the right side.
Chain 42
Foundation Row: Sk first 2 chs, sc in 3rd ch from hook and in each ch across to last ch, sl st in last ch. (39 sc, 1 sl st, 1 ch-2 sp)
Rnd 1: Working into the bottom of the foundation row, ch 3, sk first sl st, sc in next st, (ch 5, sk next 3 sts, sc in next st) 9 times, ch 5, sk last 2 sts, sc in ch-2 sp. Continuing into the top of the foundation row, ch 5, sk first 2 sts, sc in next st, (ch 5, sk next 3 sts, sc in next st) 9 times, ch 5, sk last 2 sts, sc in starting ch-3 sp. (21 ch-5 sps, 1 ch-3 sps)
The remainder of this section is worked in continuous rounds. Work only into chain spaces and skip all stitches.
Rnd 2: (Ch 5, sc in next ch-5 sp) 21 times. (21 ch-5 sps)
Place a marker in the last sc made – this marks the side edge, for handle placement.
Rnds 3-20: (Ch 5, sc in next ch-5 sp) around in continuous rounds, ending with an sc directly above the side edge marker. Do not fasten off.
Ending in line with the side edge marker is more important than the exact number of rounds.
Handle
Handle is worked in joined rounds. Do not turn.
Rnd 1: Sc in same ch-5 sp where you ended the bag (you will now have 2 sc in this same sp), 4 sc in each ch-5 sp around, join with sl st to the first sc in the starting ch-5 sp (this will be the last sc from the bag section). (86 sc)
Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in each of first 16 sts, ch 15, sk next 11 sts, sc in each of next 32 sts, ch 15, sk next 11 sts, sc in each of last 16 sts, join with sl st to first st of rnd. (64 sts, 30 chs)
Rnd 3: Ch 1, sc in each st and each ch around, join with sl st to first st of rnd, fasten off. (94 sc)
Drawstrings
Cords (Make 2): Ch 50, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across, fasten off.
Lay the bag flat and select a ch-5 space near the middle, along the bottom edge. Insert one cord into this space. Working in a diagonal line across the corner, weave the cord through the ch-5 spaces until you get all the way around back to your starting point. Use the tails to sew the cord ends together.
Repeat with the other cord in the same spaces – you can weave it in exactly the same way, or alternate by going up where you went down last time, and down where you went up last time.
To Fold Bag:
Push the rest of the bag into the corner where the drawstrings are. Pull the drawstrings to close.
I hope you enjoyed this foldable market bag pattern. A downloadable pdf of this pattern is available on Ravelry for a small fee. The fee for the pdf format is to offset the advertising revenue lost when you print or download the pattern rather than viewing it online.
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2 Comments
Jerri
Do you have a multiple for this pattern? I would like to make it in different sizes. Thank you.
Pia Thadani
It should work if you start with a multiple of 4 plus 2, but you may have a fiddle a bit with the handle placement. If you want you could add the same number of repeats to each side of the handle, so it would be a multiple of 8 plus 2 instead.