Day 20: Drawstring bag with a bell

This is the 20th pattern from my Christmas Tales collection: a round drawstring bag with a bell. It could be a present itself or you could put a small present inside. It would also look nice on your Christmas table.

This post is a part of the Nordic Hook Advent calendar. From December 1 to December 24 I will be posting one free Christmas crochet pattern per day. So stay tuned! 😉

You can find other patterns from the Christmas Tales collection here.

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Good luck!

Drawstring bag with a bell

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Materials

Yarn: any thin yarn will work (mercerized cotton works great in tapestry crochet projects). I used Tencel 100% lyocell, 50 g = 141 m, colors: red (318291) and white (318290).
Hook: as suggested on your yarn label. I used hook size 2.0 mm.

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch: chain
sl st: slip stitch
sc: single crochet
msc: modified single crochet
prev: previous
st: stitch
rep **: repeat from * to *

Notes

The diameter of my drawstring bag is 6.0 cm and the height is 13.0 cm. You will be working in rounds. For this pattern you should be familiar with the tapestry crochet (you can find the tutorial here). Photo instructions below show the main steps how to make a bag. This pattern uses a modified single crochet: make a single crochet back loop only, just instead of yarning over for the last step, yarn under (see the tutorial here).

For this pattern you will work in continuous rounds, which means that in the end of a round you don’t join with a slip stitch, but instead continue making modified single crochets in the top of the first stitch of the round. Remember to use a marker showing the beginning of each round. Follow the color chart showing how you should change colors.

Pattern

The bag

Start by making an adjustable (magic) ring with red yarn.

Round 1: 8 sc in the adjustable ring. (8 st in total)

Introduce the white yarn.

Round 2: msc inc in every st. (16 st)

Round 3: *msc inc, 1 msc in the next st*, rep ** 8 times. (24 st)

Round 4: msc; *msc inc, 2 msc*, rep ** 7 times, msc inc, 1 msc. (32 st)

Round 5: 2 msc; *msc inc, 3 msc*, rep ** 7 times, msc inc, msc. (40 st)

Round 6: msc; *msc inc, 4 msc*, rep ** 7 times, msc inc, 3 msc. (48 st)

Round 7: 4 msc; *msc inc, 5 msc*, rep ** 7 times, msc inc, msc. (56 st)

Round 8-34: msc in every st of the prev round. (56 st)

Making the holes for the string:

Round 35: 1 msc, *ch 2, skip 2 st of the prev round, 2 msc*, rep ** 13 times, ch 2, skip 2 st of the prev round, 1 msc. (56 st)

Round 36: 1 msc, *2 msc in the ch2 space of the prev round (make sure to grab the loose yarn hanging in the ch2 space in the prev round too), 2 msc*, rep ** 13 times, 2 msc in the ch2 space of the prev round, 1 msc. (56 st)

Round 37-41: msc in every st of the prev round. (56 st)

In the end make 4 additional sl st in the next 4 st to even out the edge. Fasten off.

Making the string

Start by chaining with the red yarn. The length of the chain should be around 29 cm long. Make a row of slip stitches in the third loop of the chain as it is shown in photo instructions here.

Color chart

How to read the chart

Each square represents a stitch and its color. In each round you have 56 stitches (56 columns in the chart). Rows represent rounds (there are 41 rounds, however, the first 7 rounds are not shown in the color chart: they are all red and they are the round base of the bag). For each round you have to read the row in the chart from right to left.

You can find a more detailed tutorial explaining how to read a color chart and when and how to change yarn color here.

Photo instructions for the drawstring bag with a bell

Round 9

1. See general photo instructions showing how to make a round base here. The 20th stitch in round 9 is white, therefore, complete the 19th stitch with the white yarn.