Project of the Week: Magnolia Purse

✓Join us at Maker Festivals Pennsylvania, the ultimate crafting extravaganza in Lancaster from July 31-August 3, 2024, and we will once again be bringing our fiber artists with us! Our festival lineup will have thousands of fiber artists, and jewelry makers!

Use a floral-themed mandala as the centerpiece to create the perfect market bag! The stunning Magnolia Purse by Isa Catepillán from Interweave Crochet Summer 2019 is a refined take on the crochet market bag trend.

The bag isn’t just a showpiece, either! It’s worked in sturdy Lizbeth 100% Egyptian mercerized cotton thread that makes it able to stand up to lots of use, and the final bag is a foot wide and more than 11 inches deep so you can carry something bulky and lightweight without trouble. Imagine yourself carrying a bouquet of flowers and a baguette from the farmer’s market, with that dreamy fringe getting caught up in those late summer breezes!

The Magnolia Purse is a beautiful lace crochet purse pattern for summer. — Magnolia Purse by Isa Catepillán from *Interweave Crochet* Summer 2019.

To make the bag, you work from the center out in two pieces, filling in with a durable mesh stitch between petals of your mandala flower to create elegant, airy fabric. Make the strap and fringe as long and dramatic or short and practical as you’d like! You could also play with beaded fringe, macramé, or tassels to finish off your crochet bag.

Worried about it getting dirty? We love how the bag looks in cream, reminiscent as it is of glossy white magnolia blossoms, but you could make a version that’s more resilient stains by choosing a jewel tone or earth tone to work up your bag. We’d love to see a version in a variegated or gradient yarn, too!

However you customize your Magnolia Bag, or even if you make an exact copy of the sample in the magazine, we want to see your work! Be sure to share on Instagram and tag @interweavecraft so we can shower you with praise.

Yours in Stitches,
Andrea