Hex Tote Bag Tada!

3 days! I'm not sure how many hours, but it has been 3 days from start to finish.

Originally, I added this strap cover to the design, but it was kind of over kill, so I took it off.

So you can get an idea of the size of this thing. It is pretty massive!

A couple of tips and tricks:

1. I took a canvas shopping bag and used it as the lining of my bag. Pre-sewed!
2. I sewed the crochet portion to the canvas bag at the top of the bag, both plain sewing and whip stitches around the top of the bag.
3. Rather than use the crocheted straps to cover the canvas straps, I used yarn to embroider designs into the canvas with my tapestry needle. None of the stitches is uniform. They are a tad haphazard and I really like it that way!

I'm so glad I tackled this bag. I've never done anything like it and I know my sister will like it when I give it to her for her birthday tomorrow!

Hex Bag Update

Here's one thing you need to know: While beautiful, switching colors when crocheting is a pain in the rear. Good Gravy, that took a long time!

Today, I finished up the last of my hex-es and started to crochet them together. I watch Future Girl's videos over and over again to make sure I was doing it right. Here's the problem: I did not watch the corner joining video until I already had all of the hexes crocheted together in 2-D format. Let me tell you, this stumped me for about 30 minutes. I kept watching video 3 trying to figure out a way out of my mess. I ended up doing a hybrid of Alice's method and some whip stitches. Here's what I have as I go to bed tonight:

I still need to attach the half hexes and the straps. Oh, and there's the whole lining issue. Here's the thing: I don't care how much time this takes. I love how this bag looks and I am immensely proud of it. Yay!

The Hex Tote Bag

I read a lot of crochet blogs. One of them, Tangled Happy, highlights hooky delights from around the web. A few months ago, Sarah highlighted the Hex Tote Bag by Future Girl. I fell in love instantly and knew I had to make it. The trouble is that I cannot put granny squares together save my life. Chances are, the hexagrams are going to be just as difficult.

So far, this is what I have (p.s. I only have a point and shoot and no pretty backgrounds):

The full collection: 10 circles, 4 half hexes, 18 starter circles

Half hexes for the top of the bag.

I love these colors together.

Wait. I love these, too!

16 remaining starter circles waiting to be turned into hexagons

I can't wait to finish the rest of these and start putting them together tomorrow! I'm still debating on the color I would like to use as the main border. I can't decide between the orange and the brown. I'm leaning toward the brown so that it makes the bright colors pop!