Hi Friends!
I am thrilled to share my newest pattern with you today- the Lace Moon Handbag. This pattern has a lot of steps, but works up fairly quickly and will leave you with a finished bag that will demand compliments every time you take it out in public with you.
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The Lace Moon Handbag was originally a commissioned custom order for the finished item. I don’t take many custom orders because sometimes when I “have” to make something specific, not being able to be creative as I design steals my joy a bit and at times I come to resent the project, making it feel as though it takes forever to finish.
That wasn’t the case with this particular commission though. I had previously designed 3 other handbag patterns, all using a series of squares joined to create the structure of the bag, and my customer wanted something entirely different. Her request was “roomy, black and blue with a half-moon shape and a strap that is neither too long nor too short with pockets that zip inside”. This felt to me like the exact perfect amount of specific, with so much room for my creativity! As soon as I understood the general shape she wanted, my brain went into overdrive trying to figure out how to attack this challenge. You see, I know that I can crochet anything and if it looks stupid, I can just rip it out and start over again. But my sewing skills are far from professional quality, and typically once you mess up a sewing project, particularly if you cut the fabric wrong, you can’t just start over without spending more money on fabric.
I headed to the Walmart to hunt down yarn and fabric choices, and once I started browsing my inspiration struck. I was going to make the body mainly black with a small amount of blue accent. But I was going to add a second lining for strength and make the body of the purse have some lace so the liner would show through!
Honestly, even though I was excited for this challenge I anticipated that there would be a LOT of trial and error in the crocheting process as I worked to make something in a half-moon shape. I was so very wrong! I worked up the initial concept in one evening, decided that I hated the yarn choice I had made (I bought sparkly black yarn and deemed it hideous), and then remade the first panel the next day with a yarn I liked better.
My customer wanted to incorporate a moons and stars theme as she is a Vedic Astrologer, so while I had hated the sparkly black yarn, I did still want to incorporate some sparkle. I ended up buying a spool of silver thread and held it alongside my yarn for the front panel. Surprisingly, things did not get terribly tangled up as this was the first time I crocheted thread along with yarn.
I also found the perfect fabric to line her bag with, and I kept it a secret as I sent her progress photos of only the outer lining fabric. I was downright giddy as I worked on this, hoping that she would be at least half as excited about her new handbag as I was about making it!
Now, you can make a Lace Moon Handbag of your very own, in the color scheme that you love best! The PDF includes detailed instructions for both crocheting and sewing, plus a link to my Rumble channel where I have lots of stitch tutorial videos!
You can grab a copy of the Lace Moon Handbag pattern below:
The Lace Moon Handbag is the first of 30 brand new patterns featured in the Awesome Autumn Blog Hop hosted by Straight Hooked! Throughout the month of September 2024, you can grab a new pattern for either 50% off or free, depending on the designer. Visit the main post below for the discount code and link to the featured pattern.
Can’t get enough handbags? Great news! I have 3 other handbag patterns currently available, with more coming later in 2024 and 2025. Even better- you can use the discount code provided in the Awesome Autumn Blog Hop to grab any of my handbag patterns for 50% off on September 1, 2024!
Be sure to subscribe to the Straight Awesome Newsletter to be among the first to know of pattern releases, special events, sales and more- PLUS, get exclusive freebies and discounts along the way!
I have more ideas in my brain and more yarn on my hook, so be sure to visit me again soon at Straight Hooked!
Until next time,
Happy Hooking!
~Malena
