Cotton and Cloud Crochet Purse Kit

Who Needs Glue?

I love framed purses and bags and I would really like to be able to make them competently. I've tried both sewn and knitted purses where you glue the fabric into the purse frame. Glue everywhere. Really. Hence, I was very excited when I spotted a pattern advertised in one of my knitting magazines for a crochet sew-in frame purse from Cotton and Cloud.

On closer inspection of Cotton and Cloud's website, I discovered they had a kit for sale. Even better and I ordered it before you could say checkoutwithpaypal.

The £16.50 kit comes with two purse frames, two 25g balls of Jamiesons 100% Pure Shetland Wool in purple and pink and a 4mm crochet hook. I also paid the extra 75p for a printed instruction booklet, although you can get the PDF sent to you by email at no extra charge.

At first I was a bit flummoxed by the pattern. It is crocheted in the round, but rather crocheting in spirals, you go backwards and forwards as if crocheting flat. It made sense when I realised that this is to make the crochet fabric match when you get to the top and crochet the two sides separately to shape the purse.

So, I set off in faith with the pink yarn and produced something of approximately the right size and shape. The bit where I slip stitched to close each round looked a bit dodgy, but I pronounced it broadly okay.

Now for the sewing into the frame. The instructions helpfully directed me to a video tutorial that made it really clear what I needed to so. I then used a thinnish embroidery needle to sew the edge of the crochet fabric into the frame through the pre-drilled holes. The instructions also suggested you could crush the edges of the purse frames with pliers for further security, but I skipped that step as the fabric seemed tucked very firmly into the frame.

The final step was the embellishment. A pattern was provided for a two-colour flower, which I'm afraid I chickened out of. Instead, I made a rosette in the contrasting purple yarn using a flat circle made up of 4 rounds of 6 stitches, then 12, then 18 and then 24. I sewed a pretty ceramic button from my stash to the centre of the circle and then sewed the whole embellishment to my purse.

The purse isn't lined, but, as the instructions point out, the yarn provided makes a very firm fabric that I found gave the purse sufficient structural integrity by itself.

So, no more splotches of glue for me - it's sew-in frames all the way, starting with the second purse in this kit.

Melx