Pattern: Sun Bum Tote

Yay! Finally a new pattern to post! I never realized before I started designing my own crochet how much work goes into pattern writing! First there is the idea stage, then the yarn buying stage (my favorite), then the making and frogging and re-doing stage, all while scribbling notes down so I don’t forget what I did. When you finally have the finished product.. Bam!! Now you have to type up the pattern, find testers, send to testers, wait for your testers to give you feedback. Edit the pattern, take pretty pictures, post on Instagram AND still have to make a listing on Etsy. PHEW! I’m so amazed at all the support I get for my patterns and I love to be able to give back. I hope you like my newest pattern The Sun Bum Tote!

Be sure to follow and tag me on Instagram if you make the Sun Bum Tote! I love seeing your finished work! You are always welcome to sell your finished work with ANY of my patterns, but please link back to my shop/blog for credit! 🙂

Materials: 

• Worsted Weight Yarn, approximately 270 Yards. I used less than 2 skeins of Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Cotton in Ivory. You will also need a small amount of colored yarn for the trim and handles.
• 3.00mm crochet hook
• Yarn Needle

Notes: 

• If you have never done Filet Crochet before, I highly recommend checking out THIS post on craftsy for everything you need to know! Take a look at the practice graph to see how exactly the grids/stitches work.
• You will be reading the chart starting from the bottom right corner and working your way up. Work your odd numbered rows from right to left and your even numbered rows from left to right.
• Do not size up your hook. You want to have your hook a size smaller than normal so that the stitches are tight enough to be able to read the words.

Pattern: 

Front Panel

Ch 92.

Row 1: Dc in the 8th chain from the hook. This forms the first “block” of the pattern, the very bottom right corner square in the chart above. *Ch 2, Skip 2 chains, 1 Dc in next chain. Repeat from * one more time. When you reach the first filled block of the “M” from the chart, instead of chaining 2 and skipping 2 chains, you will make 1 Dc in the next 3 chains to fill the block. You will have a total of 4 Dc’s next to each other. Once again, the next block is “filled” so make 1 Dc into each of the next 3 chains. You will now have a total of 7 Dc in a row. The next 5 blocks are “empty” so you will once again be chaining 2, skipping 2, and making 1 Dc to form each square. continue along following the chart for the rest of the row. When you reach the end of the row and have made your last Dc, Ch 5 and turn.

Rows 2-24: The Ch 5 you just made counts as your first Dc and Ch 2 space. Skip the first Dc and the first Chain 2 space and make your first Dc into the Dc stitch from the previous row. Continue along following the chart making “empty blocks and filled blocks” where indicated. Tie off.

Back Panel: 

You will be making the back of the tote the same way you made the front, except this time you won’t be following the chart and making words.

Ch 92

Row 1: 1 Dc in 8th chain from hook. *Ch 2, Skip 2, 1 Dc. Repeat from * across for a total of 29 empty blocks. Turn.

Rows 2-5: Ch 5. Skip the first dc and chain space and make your first Dc into the Dc stitch from previous row. *ch 2, skip 2, 1 Dc. Repeat from * across. Turn.

Row 6: Ch 3 (counts as first Dc) make 2 Dc into each chain space and 1 Dc into each stitch across.

Repeat the 6 row sequence three more times for a total of 24 rows. Do not cut yarn.

Seaming together:

Put both panels together, correct sides facing. Inserting your hook through both panels, sl st down the side, along the bottom, and up the other side evenly. Tie off. Turn your work correct side out.

Trim: 

Round 1: Join colored yarn of your choice to either seam at the top of your tote. Ch 1, Sc in same stitch and each stitch around. Join with a sl st to first Sc. (176 Sc) Tie off.

Round 2: Join second color to the first Sc of the previous round. Ch 3 (counts as first Dc.) *Skip one stitch, 1 Dc in next. Go back and make 1 Dc into the stitch you just skipped. (makes an “X Stitch”) Repeat from * around. End with 1 Dc in last stitch. Join with a sl st to the top of the Ch 3. Tie off.

Handles:

Starting from the right seam and working your way towards the center of the tote, count 10 “X stitches” over. Holding 2 strands of yarn ( I used both colors) Join between the 10th and 11th set of X’s. Ch1, 1 Sc in same stitch and next four stitches. (5Sc) Ch 1, turn. * Sc 5, Ch 1, turn. Repeat from * for a total of 48 rows. Count 10 “X Stitches” over from the left seam and join your last row of the strap to the tote by slip stitching 5 times. Tie off. Repeat on other side of tote.

Weave in all ends.

The back of the tote! Love the stripe detail. If you look closely you can see all my tails that I hadn’t weaved in yet. 🙂

Close up of the trim detail!

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