Checkered Crochet Shoulder Bag Tutorial - In-Depth & Beginner-Friendly

Today we're making a basic checkered shoulder bag. And this bag is made all in one piece and there's only a little bit of sewing at the very end. Just this little strip here where we attach the strap to the bag. And if you want some extra notes or tips, you can find the free written pattern at vivcrochets.com or linked in the description. And if you find this tutorial helpful, please leave a like or comment to let me know. Thanks so much and let's get started. For this project, I'll be using 80 grams of big twist value yarn in sky blue and white. And this is a medium weight yarn. So you can use any yarn you want but keep it medium if you want to get a similar size. Otherwise, you have to change the pattern a little bit. And I'll also be using a five millimeter hook, some scissors, and a yarn needle. So we're going to start with the base of the bag and we're going to make a slip knot. So place the yarn over your hand with the tail end at the bottom. Grab it with your thumb. Then grab the top and wrap it around two fingers to form an X and hold it with your pinky. Then with your hook, go under one side of the X, over, then grab the other side and pull it through. Then remove your fingers and tighten the knot. Now we're going to chain the width of the bag. So that's the horizontal length. And to chain, yarn over and pull through. Again, yarn over and pull through. And we're going to keep chaining until we get the width that we want. And it must be a multiple of 8. So you can do 32 or 40, 48. I will be doing 40. So here I have 40 chains and this will be the approximate width of the bag. And then we're going to chain one more as our turning chain. Then we'll skip that one. And in the second one, we're going to do a half double crochet. So to do a half double crochet, we're going to yarn over, insert our hook into that chain, yarn over, pull through, yarn over, pull through all three loops on our hook. Then we'll move on to the next chain and do the same. Yarn over, insert our hook into the chain, yarn over, pull through, yarn over, pull through all three loops. We're going to do that five more times until we have seven. So now I have seven half double crochets. So in our eighth half double crochet, we're going to switch to our white. So I have the white yarn ready and we're going to start a half double crochet in the blue but finish it in the white. So we'll yarn over, insert our hook into the next chain, yarn over, pull through. Then we'll drop our blue yarn, pick up the white, hook it onto our hook, and pull it through the three loops. And then make sure this tail is long enough to sew in later. And now we can start working with the white yarn and we're going to do eight half double crochets in white. And make sure that you're holding the blue yarn close to your chain so you're carrying it in your stitches. So we're going to yarn over, go into the next chain, make sure the blue yarn is on top of your hook, and do our half double crochet. Then we'll do the next one. Again, make sure it's over your hook so you're carrying it in your stitches. And we're going to do seven again. So I've done seven half double crochets and in our eighth, we're going to switch back to our blue. But first, we're going to make sure that this blue yarn is pulled through our stitches so it's taut and not hanging loose. You can see the blue is sort of peeking out of the stitches. We're going to pull it so it's not bunching up. Pull it, but don't pull so tight that it creates a dent. It should still go straight across right here. So for example, if you pull it tight, it'll dip down like that. Make sure it's loose enough where it's straight across. And again, in our eighth stitch, to change back to our blue, we're going to start the half double crochet. So yarn over, insert your hook into the next chain, yarn over, pull through, and we're going to drop our white, pick up the blue, yarn over, and pull through the three loops. Now we're going to do our seven half double crochets in the blue. And again, make sure that you're carrying your white yarn in your stitches. So after your seventh half double crochet, we're going to make sure that the white yarn is pulled taut. And then we're going to do our eighth half double crochet, but finish it with our white yarn. And we're going to continue like this until the end. We're going to do seven more in white. So we have our seven, then we'll pull the blue yarn so it's taut, and then we'll grab our white and complete our eighth half double crochet, but finish it in our blue. Now we should have eight chains left, and we're going to half double crochet across. Again, making sure that we're carrying the white yarn. And in our eighth, we're actually not going to switch back to our white, because when we go back across, we're going to start in our blue. So finish your last half double crochet, but don't change to white. And then we'll tighten the white yarn, and we'll start the next row. So to start a new row, we're going to chain one and turn. And pull your white yarn over and around like that so we can carry it in our stitches. So we're going to do the same colors on top of the colors from last round. So blue on top of blue, white on top of white, and then blue on top of blue, and continue across. And we're going to be working under these Vs on top like this, and then the next stitch would be here. First, make sure your white yarn is pulled up like that so we can go underneath it when we go into the first stitch. And we'll yarn over, go under the white yarn, and through that first stitch under that V, and we'll do our half double crochet. Again, in from the side, under this V, and under the white yarn, and complete the half double crochet. Like last row, we're going to do seven. So we're going to stop before the very last one. So there's one blue stitch left, and we're going to pause, make sure our white yarn is pulled all the way through, and do our last stitch in blue, but switch to our white yarn with the last three loops. And now we're going to do our eight stitches in white. So before our very last stitch, we'll tighten the blue yarn, then complete the last stitch, and finish it with the blue to change back to the blue. And we're going to keep repeating that across, switching at every eighth stitch, and doing the same color stitch as the row before it. So blue on top of blue, white on top of white, and once we get to the end, I'll show you how to start the next row again. And for the end of my row, I'm going to do my last double crochet in blue, and I'm not going to switch back to my white. Like we did in last row, we're going to turn, and we're going to start with the blue again. So we don't need the white just yet. So I'll finish my last stitch in blue. The last stitch can be a little hard to see, just make sure that you always have eight stitches in your block. And we're going to pull the yarn through, making sure it's taut. And again, to start every new row, we're going to chain one, and turn. And we're going to be working under the Vs again, so on top of the stitches from the last row. And we're also going to do the same colors on top. So our first stitch, remember to carry your yarn, and we'll do seven stitches across. So we're stopping one before the end, and we're going to tighten our white yarn. And in our eighth, we're going to switch to our white. Then we'll do our seven stitches in white, and then tighten, and then switch in our eighth stitch. And we'll repeat that all the way across. So for the end of the row, again we're not changing colors. We're going to do our last stitch in blue, tighten the yarn we carried, chain one, and turn to start the next row. And this will be the final row of the square. We're going to do the same thing. Do our half double crochets across, stopping at every seventh stitch to pull the yarn taut, and then switching colors in our eighth stitch. So exact same row as the last two. So now we're coming up on the end of our fourth row, and our squares are complete, which means that the opposite color will be on the next row. So we're not going to do the same color on top anymore. We're going to do the opposite color. So for our last stitch of row four, we are going to switch to our white yarn. So there's the base of my bag. You can do more rows to make it wider, but I'm going to leave it just one square's width. Now we can start working the height of the bag. So instead of back and forth and doing rows, we're going to do rounds. So we're going to work all the way around this rectangle, but we are still going to chain one and turn at the start of every round. And that's so that the seam in the corner stays in the corner. So to start round one, we're going to chain one and turn. And now we're going to do the opposite color on top of the last row. So we'll do our seven half double crochets in white while carrying our yarn. And then we're going to tighten our yarn and in our eighth stitch, we'll switch to our blue yarn. And we're going to do our seven half double crochets in blue on top of the white square. And then we'll tighten the yarn we're carrying and then finish our eighth half double crochet by switching colors. And we'll do that all the way across. So for our last stitch, we are going to switch colors. And we're switching colors, so this next square along the side is going to be blue and that's so that this side can be white. So even though this is blue, it's going to be blue here too. So we're going to turn like this and we're going to start working along the side. And every square is four rows of eight half double crochets. So we're going to fit eight half double crochets along the side of these rows. Since we have four rows, we're going to put two half double crochets into each row. The first row is here. We'll just go into the side of the row and carry our white yarn and do our half double crochet. So that's one. And then we'll do one more into that same space. So that's two into the side of this row. And then the next row is here. And we're going to do two half double crochets into the side of this row. And if you go under just one loop, it might have a hole. So you might want to go under some loops in the back as well so the hole kind of closes up. Then we'll move on to the next row and do two half double crochets. And in the fourth row, we'll do two half double crochets in our eighth stitch. So our very last stitch. We've done seven already. Remember to tighten the white yarn and then change colors in our last stitch. So we have our eight half double crochets in blue. Now we can rotate it and start working along the bottom. So we're just working into the chains again that we did in the very first row. And we'll just go into the same spaces. So we'll do our seven half double crochets into the same spaces. And you can carry the tail that we left here also if you want so you don't have to sew it in later. So I've done seven and I'll tighten the yarn we carried. And in the eighth stitch, I'll switch back to the blue yarn. And I'll do my seven, tighten, and then my eighth, I'll change colors. And we're going to continue until we reach the end right here. Now we reach the end of going across the bottom. And in our last stitch, we're going to do half double crochet and change back to our blue. And we'll do eight blue stitches along the side of the rows again. So we'll rotate and we're going to do two per row. So just go into the side under a couple of loops and do a half double crochet. So this is my seventh half double crochet and I have one left. So I'm going to tighten my white yarn. And then for my eighth stitch, I'm not going to switch to my white yarn. So same thing as the rows here. Every first, second, and third round, we're not changing colors in our last stitch of the round. But every fourth round, we are. So this is the first round of the square. So the last stitch is going to be blue and stay blue. And that's because we're going to chain one, turn, work back across this blue part. And then at the end of every single round, we're going to slip stitch to the first half double crochet we made. So this one here, we're going to go under the stitch of the first one we made and yarn over, pull through, pull through the loop in our hook, and tighten. And that connects the rounds together. And we can start round two. And same with the rows to start every new round, we're going to chain one and turn. So we're going to work back across this blue part. Remember to carry across your white yarn. We're going to work under these same V's again. So we're going to yarn over, put our white yarn like that so we can go underneath it, and do our half double crochet into the stitches. And we're working the exact same way we have been. We're going to do seven half double crochets. And then we're going to tighten our yarn. And then the eighth, we're going to switch to the other color. And we'll do seven, tighten, and then switch in the eighth. And we're going to repeat all the way around. So we're at the end of the second round. And again, every first, second, and third round, we're going to do our last half double crochet without changing colors. And if you're unsure which one is the last one, just count to make sure you have eight. You should have eight in every block of stitches. And then again, to end the round, we're going to slip stitch to the first half double crochet we made. And then to start round three, we'll chain one, turn, and do our half double crochets across. And do the same color on top of last round. And it's the same thing, seven stitches, then tighten, and change in your eighth. Now we're on the last stitch of the third round. And again, since it's not the fourth, we're not going to change colors. So do our last half double crochet, and then we'll slip stitch, chain one, turn, and we'll work this next round the same exact way we've been doing. So for the last stitch of the fourth round, we are going to change colors because this is a full square now, and we're going to start the next set of squares in the opposite color. And then we'll slip stitch, and we're going to start the next round by chaining one and turning. And we're going to do the same exact thing we've been doing except with the different color on top. So the blue goes on top of the white, but it's the same thing. We're just doing seven stitches, and once we have seven, we'll tighten the white yarn or whatever color yarn we're carrying, and then switch colors in the eighth, and repeat. So since this is the first round of a new set of squares, we're not going to switch colors at the end of this round. We'll do our last one in white, then slip stitch, chain one, turn, and now we're going to be working the same colors on top of last round. We're going to keep doing this pattern until we have the height of the bag we want. So again, every first, second, and third round of our squares, we're not changing colors at the end of the round, but every fourth round, the last round of the square, we are changing colors so that we can start the next set of squares. And we're going to keep going with this pattern until we have the height of the bag that we want. So here I've done 16 rounds, and I'm happy with the size of it. And you can see that for my last row squares, I did four rows so that the square is finished. And my total length laying flat is 24 centimeters. Without the squares along the side, it's about 20 centimeters. And then this way, the total height is 15 and a half. Excluding the base, it's about 14 centimeters. The very last round, we're not going to switch colors. We're going to keep it blue because our side square, the one that's along the side, is white, so we're going to put a blue on top of that. So we don't change colors, and then we're going to slip stitch to finish the round. Now we can work on the strap. So the strap is going to be one square thick, and we're going to start it on top of this square on the side. And we're going to extend it and reach the other side and attach it to this square. So to do that, we're going to be working in rows like we did with the base. And we're still going to be carrying our yarn as we do our rows because we'll need it for the next square. So on top of this white square, we're going to do a blue square. So to start the first row of the strap, we're going to chain one, and we're not going to turn. We're going to work directly onto the side square, and we're going to do four rows of blue half double crochets. So we're going to yarn over, and the first stitch is going to be that same stitch that we slip stitched to. And make sure you go under the white yarn so you can carry it over. And again, we're doing eight half double crochets. Then we're going to tighten the white yarn, and we're going to start the next row. So we're going to chain one and turn. And if you want this to be the inside of your bag, then make sure that you're always pulling your tail over to the inside. So the white yarn is on this side, not on the outside. And then we're going to carry the white yarn while doing eight half double crochets again. And then we're going to pull the white yarn tight. Here you can see the white yarn sort of pokes through, and you want it to poke through on the inside of the strap where it's less visible. So that's our second row of the strap, and now we can do our third row by chaining one and turning. And now you see the white yarn is over on the outside of the strap. We want it to be on the inside, so move it over like that. And then we can carry it across while doing our eight half double crochets. Pull the white yarn tight, and then start the next row by chaining one and turning. Now we're on our final row of the blue square. This time we're changing colors at the end, so we'll do seven half double crochets. So here's seven, and we're going to pull the white yarn tight before we do our last one. And we're going to start a half double crochet in blue and finish it with the white. So there's how it's looking. We have one blue square on top of the white square that's on the side of the bag, and now we're going to repeat those four rows but in white. So we'll chain one, turn, and we'll do the same thing. We'll make sure that the blue yarn is on the inside of the strap. And we'll do our half double crochets in white, and we'll tighten our yarn at the end of every row, and we're going to keep repeating the pattern. So again, that's going to be four rows in white. In the last stitch of the fourth row, we're going to switch back to the blue, and we'll do four rows in blue, switching back to the white in the last stitch. And we're going to repeat that until we have enough squares so it'll reach the other side of the bag with a curve for however long you want the strap to be. So we're going to do an odd number of squares so that we end up with the blue square, and we can attach it to the white square on the other side. So I did 15 squares, and that's 60 rows. So my 15 squares is about 49 centimeters. Now we can fasten off, but we're going to leave a long enough loose end to sew the end of the strap to the bag. And to fasten off, we're going to chain one, about a foot long should be enough. Then we can cut the yarn, and we can also cut the white yarn. We don't need a long one for that, we'll use the blue for sewing. Then we'll pull through with our hook and tighten this knot. And since I carried the yarn up these four rows, the white yarn up the four rows, I can cut it and it'll be woven in already. But if you want to be extra secure, you can tie it to this blue yarn. Do a double knot. Make sure you don't pull too tight that the white yarn bunches up your stitches. And we can just double knot, and we can weave this in later. And now we can sew this end to this white square on the edge. So make sure that your strap isn't twisted, and find that square on the right side. And we're going to sew them together. So get your yarn needle, and thread this long loose end we left into the needle. So what we're going to do is, we're going to connect the eight stitches here to the eight stitches on the bag. But first, we need to connect the corner to make sure there aren't any edges that are coming off. We're going to go up and under the V of this blue stitch that's directly to the right of our white square. And we'll pull the yarn through, and that connects the corner to the bag. And then we'll move on to the first stitch of the blue square on the strap. And we'll go down and through the V, then go under the first stitch of the white square on the right, and up under the V, pull the yarn through. Then we'll move on to the next stitch on the blue, go down under the V, go under the next stitch of the white, and go up, pull the yarn through. And we'll repeat all the way across the eight stitches. And all of the stitches should match up. And the strap is fully connected to the other side of the bag. And we want to make sure we tie a knot so that the seam doesn't come loose. So we're going to go into the blue. We're going to go just under a loop, the one that's closest to where our yarn is coming out of. And we'll pull the yarn through, leaving this loop here. And we'll go into that loop and pull the yarn through. And that ties one knot. We can repeat one more time for a double knot. And it's fully connected and double knotted to make sure it doesn't come loose. The last thing to do is to weave in our loose ends. So I like to weave in my loose ends on the inside of the bag. So I'll flip it inside out. And this just makes it even less noticeable. So here I have my four loose ends. And I'll take the blue one that we just used for sewing and I'll thread it into my needle. And we're using different colors. So you want to hide your white yarn in your white stitches and your blue yarn in your blue stitches. So this loose end, I can hide it in either this square or this square. So I'll go to this square and what we're going to do is we're going to move the yarn down to the base of our half double crochets. So this is the top and this is the bottom of these stitches. And then we can go under the stitches in the row. Under these loops. If you want to make sure that it's completely in the middle of your stitches, make sure you don't see your yarn needle on the other side. Then we'll pull the needle through. Then we're going to move down to the next row. So down to the base of another row. And then we can go the opposite direction under these stitches. We can check if we see the yarn needle and if we don't see it, we're good. And we'll pull it through. And we can repeat again. The more times, the more secure. I'll usually do about three times and that should be good enough. Once you're done hiding your yarn, snip off the excess. And we'll just do that for the other three strands of yarn that we have. So once you've weaved in all of your loose ends, we can turn our bag back right side out. And the bag is complete. And if you're going to be using this bag really often or if you're going to carry really heavy things in it, then I would suggest lining it with fabric and also lining the strap with fabric or reinforcing it with slip stitches. And here's the strap. Here's the inside. And that's all for this video. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and if you did, please leave a like, comment, and subscribe. Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you next time.