Hello fellow crocheters! Today I am sharing my newest free crochet pattern that I’ve been working all May: the Foldaway Mesh Bag! This bag is my modern take on the traditional fishnet and plastic market bag that we have in the Philippines.

For years, I’ve seen tons of market bags designed by other makers and almost all of them are worked in the round from the bottom up. I actually made a few mini bags when I was a child and designed a Basketweave Stitch Pouch in that style last year. But growing up, I always wanted to create a crochet bag similar to my homegrown fishnet and plastic shopping bags wherein the sides of the bag were folded inwards and the base is secured by sewing everything together at the bottom. 

When this idea first came into my mind, I coudn’t imagine myself doing it as I didn’t have enough options back then for crochet materials. I guess, I just couldn’t imagine myself using a tiny steel crochet hook and mercerized cotton thread for this huge project. Now that I’m all grown up and have the necessary tools and yarn, I’m glad that this idea has finally come to life. And I love how it turned out! 

On the next photo below, you’ll see that the bottom of my bag was constructed like the base of a typical shopping bag but the two over-the-shoulder handles make it stylish enough to be carried anywhere. I worked it up using Dapper Dreamer Combed Cotton yarn which is one of my favorite medium weight yarns of all-time! I’ve been obsessed with this yarn ever since I used it for my Crochet Gingerbread Man Ornament because of its sturdier material compared to acrylic. It has many colors available, but Sepia has been my go-to shade so far. Of course, you can make it in your favorite color to guarantee that you’ll love to use the bag everywhere you go. 

The bag is very handy and did I say reusable? You can actually bring it when you do your market and grocery errands. It is compact and folds away easily, but can hold a lot of supplies even that big brown paper bag – so it would be great for a yarn bag or beach bag, too!

I really hope you can make this bag for yourself. And if you know someone who would love to make this, please do not hesitate to share it. In one way or another, we’ll be able to contribute in reviving our environment because this can actually help in reducing our single use plastic bags.

So keep on reading for the pattern below which is fully customizable and super easy. You can make the bag longer, shorter, wider or thinner, it’s totally up to you! Just don’t forget to enjoy the process of making it. 😉

MATERIALS:

• Hook: 4.0mm crochet hook (US G-6 / UK 8)
• Yarn: I used the excess Dapper Dreamer Combed Cotton yarn in Sepia color which is approximately 390 meters. (This was the excess yarn of the second cone I used for the Star Stitch Purse I made last year.)
• Tapestry needle
• Stitch markers

ABBREVIATION/STITCHES:

• ch – chain 
• sc – single crochet (US) / dc – double crochet (UK)
• dc – double crochet (US) / tr – treble (UK)
• sc2tog – crochet two single crochet stitches together
• st(s) – stitch(es)
• sl st – slip stitch
• Asterisk * – repeat the pattern from point where you see this symbol. 
• [sc, inc] n times – repeat the pattern between parentheses n times. 
• (N sts) – number of stitches in a row after finishing round.

If you need guide with the stitches, you can always check my blog post about Basic Crochet Techniques HERE. 

GAUGE: 

• 7 open spaces and 7 rows = 3” square

NOTES:

• Chain 4 at the beginning of each row is considered as 1dc + 1ch Mesh Stitch (open space).
• Make sure to leave at least 2 yards of yarn for weaving the base.
• Finished bag measures 14.5” in height and 16.5” in width (measured flat lay). You’ll be able to adjust this in length by adding more rows and make it wider by adding more chains to the foundation chain. Total number of foundation chain should be in multiples of 2. 
• Any variations to hook size and yarn weight will also result in a different sized bag.

PATTERN

Chain 176 (I recommend making lose chains or use a one size bigger crochet hook as you will be working the first round in back humps of each chain), slip stitch into the first chain made. 

Round 1: ch 1, sc in each back humps of each chain around, sl st in the first sc made to join (176 sc sts made)

Round 2: ch 4, skip the first and second sts below, dc in next st, *ch 1, skip next st below, dc in next st. Repeat from * to last dc st, ch 1, skip last st below, sl st into the beginning 4ch space to join (88 open spaces made)

Round 3: ch 4, *dc in next dc st, ch 1. Repeat from * to last dc st, ch 1, sl st into the beginning 4ch space to join (88 open spaces made)

Round 4-33: repeat Round 3

Round 34: ch 2, sc in open space, [sc in next dc st, sc in next open space] 11 times, sc in next dc st, ch 100, skip next 19 open space below, [sc in next dc st, sc in next open space] 25 times, sc in next dc st, ch 100, skip next 19 open space below, [sc in next dc st, sc in next open space] 13 times, sl st in the 2nd ch of beginning chains to join (102 sc sts & 200 chain loops made)

Round 35: ch 1, sc in the same st as the beginning ch, sc in each of the next 24 sc sts, sc in each back hump of the next 100 chains, sc in the next 51 sc sts, sc in each back hump of the next 100 chains, sc in each of the remaining 26 sc sts, sl st in the first sc to join (302 sc sts made)

Round 36: ch 1, sc in the same st as the beginning ch, sc in each of the next 23 sts, sc2tog in the next 2 sts, sc in each 98 sts of first strap, sc2tog in the next 2 sts, sc in each of the next 49 sts, sc2tog in the next 2 sts, sc in each 98 sts of second strap, sc2tog in the next 2 sts, sc in each of the remaining 25 sts, sl st in the first sc to join (298 sc sts made)

Fasten off and weave in ends.

BASE ASSEMBLY: 

Place the piece in front of you in a flat surface. 

Fold it as shown on my photo below. The single crochet stitches rounds made on the bag’s body (Round 34 to 36) should be positioned on top of each other.

You will now work to create the sides of the bag by locating the center point. Each side of my bag has 25 open spaces from Round 33, so the center point should be the 13th open space. I recommend placing stitch markers so you’ll have guide when folding the sides later. 

Once done marking, fold inwards on both the sides as shown below. If you are familiar with making a brown paper bag or gift bag, the same process of folding the sides applies here. 

Sew the base back and forth using running stitch method. 

Lastly, fasten off then secure the ends. If you decide to make yours, I’d love to see it! Take a picture and share it on Instagram with the hashtag #iheartgantsilyo and tag @iheartgantsilyo.  Happy Crocheting!