About Patricia Carry-All Tote Bag

Patricia Carry-All Total Bag

Patricia, I called her Patty, is my sister-in-law. She once called me her 'non-crafty sister-in-law' until she saw my very first quilt. I did not have any prior sewing experience before I made the quilt. Patty is the crafty one. She sews a lot for her kids. She has 5 kids and she made a lot of their clothes.

Patty picks up knitting because she saw me knits and her kids wanted some winter hat and scarf. Both Patty and I are into felting lately and she picked up quite a few felted bag patterns. With 5 kids and working as a nurse in strange hours, she does not have much time to knit and let alone finish any project. As her birthday approaching, I decided to make her a felted bag along with a knitted shrug that I knew she would love. I designed this bag for her because I know that you like big tote style bag and she can carry everything with her. I decided to put Patty's initial on the bag just to give it a little personal touch.

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Here is the pattern:

Material:
This tote bag is made with Berroco Ultra Alpaca yarn. Even though this yarn does not contain any mohair, but because of the content of alpaca, the result of this bag has a fuzzy look comparable to brand such as Lamb Pride that contain 20% mohair. If you would prefer a cleaner surface, you may want to try out Ella Rae Classic or Cascade 220.

1. Yarn
MC - 3 Skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca or other feltable Aran weight yarn
CC - 1 Skein of Berroco Ultra Alpaca or other feltable Aran weight yarn
CC2 – some yarn for leaves (Optional)

2. Notion
One 10.5 24” circular needle
Tapestry Needle
Magnetic Snap
9” Oval Bamboo handle (It’s available in local craft store)
Lining Fabric (Optional)
Heavy Interfacing (Optional)
Sewing thread (Hand Quilting Cotton thread work great) – Optional
Plastic Canvas (Optional – for purse bottom)
Beads (Optional – for flower center)

Sizing:
The sizing for this purse is only for reference. The final size of the purse is very much depending on the yarn, the knitting style of the knitter and the length of the felting process.

Size before felting: 22W (Bottom), 18W (Top) * 18H * 6 D (Without the purse strap)
Size after felting: 16W (Bottom), 13W (Top) * 13H * 4 D (Without the purse strap)

Pattern:
The Patricia tote is made with 4 pieces, purse front and back, and 2 sides panel which are made by picking up stitches from the purse. The unique part of this purse is both front and back panel included the purse bottom; the purpose is to make the bottom more sturdy. This pattern is written for non-initial version.

Purse Front and Back (Make 2):
Purse front and back are the same. Make 2 alike by following the instruction:

Purse Bottom: Cast on 70 stitches and Knit for 24 rows, ending with WS row. These 24 rows is the bottom of the purse.

Purse body: The purse body is knitted in St st – Knit in RS and Purl in WS. Start the stripe pattern as following Chart. AT THE SAME TIME, work decrease at the beginning and the end of next row and every 10 rows for 7 times.

Decrease Row: Knit 2, K2Tog, Knit to last 4 sts, SKP, K2

Stripe Pattern:
Work the Stripe pattern in St st.

MC - 18 Rows
CC - 1 Row
MC - 12 Rows
CC - 2 Rows
MC - 8 Rows
CC - 3 Row
MC - 5 Rows
CC - 5 Rows
MC - 3 Rows
CC - 8 Row
MC - 2 Rows
CC - 12 Rows
MC - 1 Row

Turning Ridge:
After finishing all the stripe pattern and the decrease, there should be 54 stitches remain, and end with WS row. Use MC and work the turning ridge as following:

Row 1 (RS): Purl
Row 2: Purl
Bind off all 24 sts knitwise.

Fold on the turning ridge toward the WS of the purse, sew it in place.
Once finishing both purse front and back, with WS facing each other, overlapping the purse bottom and sew them together. Now, the purse is ready for purse side.

Purse Front and Back (Make 2):
Purse front and back are the same. Make 2 alike by following the instruction:

Purse Bottom: Cast on 70 stitches and Knit for 24 rows, ending with WS row. These 24 rows is the bottom of the purse.

Purse body: The purse body is knitted in St st – Knit in RS and Purl in WS. Start the stripe pattern as following Chart. AT THE SAME TIME, work decrease at the beginning and the end of next row and every 10 rows for 7 times.

Decrease Row: Knit 2, K2Tog, Knit to last 4 sts, SKP, K2

Strip Pattern:
Work the Stripe pattern in St st.

MC - 18 Rows
CC - 1 Row
MC - 12 Rows
CC - 2 Rows
MC - 8 Rows
CC - 3 Row
MC - 5 Rows
CC - 5 Rows
MC - 3 Rows
CC - 8 Row
MC - 2 Rows
CC - 12 Rows
MC - 1 Row

Turning Ridge:
After finishing all the stripe pattern and the decrease, there should be 54 stitches remain, and end with WS row. Use MC and work the turning ridge as following:

Row 1 (RS): Purl
Row 2: Purl
Bind off all 24 sts knitwise.

Fold on the turning ridge toward the WS of the purse, sew it in place.
Once finishing both purse front and back, with WS facing each other, overlapping the purse bottom and sew them together. Now, the purse is ready for purse side.

Purse Side (2):
The purse side is made by picking up sts at the side of the purse body. Work both side the same way. With purse body RS facing up, at the purse bottom side, pick up 16 sts and knit in St st until the side is the same length as the purse body, bind off. Make the other purse side the same way.

Once both purse sides are completed, sew the side to the body of the purse body and now you are ready to make the handle tab.

Handle Tab (2):
The purse handle tabs is made by picking up sts on the top of the purse body. You will need to make 2 handle tabs by picking up sts from purse front and purse back.
Lay the purse flat on the table, with RS facing up; pick up 40 sts in the middle of the purse front top. Knit 16 rows in St st and bind off loosely. Work the same way for the other purse tab by picking sts from the purse back.

Flowers (Optional):
In this tote, there are 2 different types of flowers. I also used 2 colors for the flowers. If you prefer single color version, just simple use the same color while refer to CC.

Big Flower:
User MC, and cast on 20 sts very very loosely.
Row 1: Knit into front and back for every sts,
40 sts total.
Row 2 and all even rows: Purl
Row 3: Use CC, Knit into front and back for every sts.
Row 5: Use CC, Knit into front and back for every sts,
Row 7: Use CC, Knit into front and back for every sts,
Row 9: Bind Off using MC
Roll the cast on row and form the flower, sew in place.

Small Flower:
Work as Big Flower, but only cast on 10 sts instead of 20 sts.

Leave (Make 2):
Use CC2, cast on 3 sts
Row 1: Knit into front and back for 1 st, Knit to last sts, Knit into front and back for last sts. 5 sts
Row 2 and all even rows: Purl
Row 3: Knit into front and back for 1 st, Knit to last sts, Knit into front and back for last sts. 7 sts
Row 5: Knit into front and back for 1 st, Knit to last sts, Knit into front and back for last sts. 9 sts
Row 7: Knit into front and back for 1 st, Knit to last sts, Knit into front and back for last sts. 11 sts
Row 9, 11: Knit
Row 13: K1, K2Tog, Knit to last 3 sts, SKP, K1, 9 sts
Row 15: K1, K2Tog, Knit to last 3 sts, SKP, K1, 7 sts
Row 17: K1, K2Tog, Knit to last 3 sts, SKP, K1, 5 sts
Row 19: Knit
Row 20: Bind Off

Finishing:
Sew the flowers and leaves on the purse front. Before felting, use a safety pin to pin the side of the leaves on the body of the purse to prevent changing shape felting process. Felt the purse by using the felting instruction below. Be sure to check the purse frequently because the flowers might change shape during the felting process.

After the purse is completely dry, you can line the purse by using some matching fabric (I could highly recommend due to the size of the purse and only using 1 strand of yarn) and attach a magnetic snap to the purse by following manufacturing instruction. If you would like to make the purse more firms, use heavy interfacing with the lining fabric. For purse handles, wrap the handle tag around the handle and use sewing thread to sew the tag enclosed. If you prefer to add beads in the middle of the flower, simple use sewing threads to sew the beads in place.

Felting:
Use Hot/Cold water setting with the lowest water level, put the purse in a zip pillow case or mash laundry bag along with a pair of old jean, use a little bit of hand soap instead of detergent and start the washing cycle. Be sure to check the progress frequently, the felting length will vary depending on the machine. For the front loading washing machine will take a little big longer in compare to top loader machine.