Tapestry Crochet in the Round (Back Loops)

Create stunning, geometric designs with 2 or more colors! Learn how to work tapestry crochet in the round, using the back loops of your stitches.

Tapestry Crochet in the Round, using back loops

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Bag Along CAL

The design shown in this video is the Tapestry Crochet Project Bag. This is the second of 6 bag patterns in the 2022 Bag Along CAL. See the full schedule and learn how to join in the fun, in the main Bag Along CAL post.

Tapestry Crochet Project Bag - free crochet pattern on Stitches n Scraps

WeCrochet provided the Brava Minis yarn that I used for the project bag design. This is the same Brava yarn you know and love, but in mini skeins perfect for colorwork!

Knit Picks Brava Minis in 5 colors for bag #2 of the 2022 Bag Along CAL

In the video, you will see the colors Custard, Lady Slipper, Fairy Tale, Marina, and Celestial.

Tapestry Crochet in the Round

Use the same techniques for other projects too! Any tapestry crochet colorwork design can be worked in the round this way. For a smaller, practice project, try this glasses case.

Seeing Spots crochet glasses case - free tapestry crochet pattern on Stitches n Scraps

These designs use 2 colors at time, but you can also use the same technique with more colors!

Shifting rounds

Because of the way crochet stitches come together, working in the round without turning creates a natural shifting or spiraling effect. The start of the round shifts by half a stitch each round. See this post for a closer look at why continuous rounds shift. We need to counteract this shift in some way so that our design will line up straight.

Flat Circle

In a previous tutorial, we worked a flat circle for the bottom of this bag. Strategically placed increases shifted the design in the opposite direction and countered the shifting rounds.

Tapestry Crochet Flower Circle - Tutorial on Stitches n Scraps

For this tutorial, we don’t have increases to work with. But we can change the placement of our stitches instead.

Back Loops Only

Working into the back loops only, instead of both loops, makes the posts of the stitches line up much more closely. This eliminates the normal shift from working in the round.

Crochet swatch showing front and back loops

Check out this tutorial for a closer look at the front and back loops of crochet stitches.

Reading the Chart

Charts are a great way to visualize the tapestry crochet design and see how it comes together.

Follow Along

In the video, we’ll take several minutes to go over the chart. Then as we work through the rounds, I’ve added the relevant chart section at the top of the video, so you can follow along.

Snapshot of tapestry crochet in the round video, showing chart at the top

If it’s too small in the video, you can see a larger chart image in the Tapestry Crochet Project Bag pattern. The pattern includes full written instructions for the whole bag, including the bottom circle.

2 chart versions

I’ve included 2 versions of the chart in the pattern. One is in color, showing each stitch in its indicated color. But that’s hard to see for some, and impossible to print on a black and white printer. So I also included the black and white version that you will see in the video.

All single crochet

Every stitch on this chart is a single crochet in the back loop only. To work the pattern, simply single crochet in the back loop only of the indicated stitch, in the indicated color.

Section 4 of bag

2 colors at a time

Each round of this tapestry crochet pattern uses 2 colors. When working any stitch, always work over the yarn of the opposite color, so that it gets trapped or carried within the stitch.

If you are using more than 2 colors, work over all the unused colors at once. Keep in mind this will make your fabric thicker and more dense.

Running Stitch Marker

When working in continuous rounds, it’s always a good idea to mark the first stitch of each round. You can do this with a traditional stitch marker, or you can use a scrap of yarn as a running stitch marker.

I show the running stitch marker in the video. See this separate running stitch marker tutorial if you’d like a closer look.

Tapestry Crochet in the Round Video Tutorial

Watch this video on YouTube

Share this tutorial on Pinterest! Here’s an image perfect for pinning:

Tapestry Crochet in the Round, using back loops

Rate this tapestry crochet flower circle video!


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