Spring Boutique Bag - Remix

Last year I found the cutest free pattern for a little crochet clutch bag.  I absolutely have been using this baby all the time now.  I am not usually a big purse carrier anyway, as most of the time I just slip a thin wallet in my back pocket and call it good.  I actually marvel at those ladies with those heavy 20 lb totes slung over their shoulder and wonder what the heck they have in there at any given time.  This purse is perfect for going to the store, running errands, or a night out on the town, and just big enough to hold all the essentials: A small wallet, your cell phone, some hand sanitizer and your keys. I'm also told it's the perfect size to hold a Nintendo DS or other small electronic equipment, so it would also make a great gift for the tween or teen in your life too!  Not to mention it is down right adorable.  I have people all the time stop me and say... did you make that?!!  One lady even stopped me in a craft store and I had to give her a link to my pattern to my blog before she left!  Well this week I decided it was time to make myself another one, and this time to use some of my favorite colors!

Spring Boutique crochet bag with accent flower - (original purse design by Sara over at Tangled Happy)

I love to hook this baby over my wrist while I'm pushing the cart around the grocery store.  It keeps my valuables next to me and not left in the cart when I turn my back to get something off the shelves.  Here is a picture of what the first purse I attempted looks like, and here is a link to my blog about how I made the pattern easier than the original free pattern by starting with the bottom of the bag closed instead of creating it open then whip stitching it together at the end.

Super cute Clutch!  This is a free pattern by Sara over at her blog Tangled Happy (click link)

Sara at Tangled Happy has three lovely versions of this same clutch purse.  The first time I made this, I used soft bulky 5 weight yarn with a purple flower accent.  This time I used a Lion Brand Homespun yarn in black, for a more textured look.  You can see it's the exact same pattern, however, the puffiness of the yarn almost makes it look like there are no holes.

The bag before I added the flower

One of my new favorite colors is any shade of aqua/turquoise so I decided to make a two toned flower out of those, with a pearl accent.  I really wanted the flower to have a three dimensional effect, so I went searching online until I found something that would work

Flower accent on the spring boutique bag clutch

If you would like a copy of this free crochet flower it is called "The Irish Rose" (isn't it pretty?) and can be found here:

Lion Brand free pattern for the "Irish Rose" accent flower

Once I had the flower created I chose a small pearl to give some shimmer to the middle of the flower.  Next I blind stitched it carefully to the bag so that neither stitches shown on the top, nor on the inside of the bag.  The trick is to make small stitches in the middle of the yarn threads so they don't show up on either side.  After that throw in your essentials, runs some errands, then sit back and wait for the complements to pour in.

Finished spring boutique bag

By the way, this pattern whips up fairly quickly.  I made the bag one evening while watching just a few TV shows, then I made and attached the flower the next evening.  Intermediate to advanced crocheters could make this entire bag in a few hours.  Enjoy!