Crochet zipper purse

Hello, and welcome! A couple of days ago I mentioned here one of my latest projects: a crochet zipper purse.

I actually started making it sometime last summer. I finished the crochet part and then decided I wanted the purse to be lined. I searched online for the best tips on how to do this, even tried to re-start it a couple of times, but then it ended up in my (way too high) unfinished objects pile.

Finally, last weekend I found the courage to tackle it.


I'm explaining here how I did it, because the process was way easier than I had anticipated.



I started with two crocheted rectangles. Except for the effect in the middle, it's all single crochet.

The lining was sewn exactly as it would be in a fabric zipper purse, but I decided to join the crocheted part to the zipper by hand. Here's how it looked with just one side completed:

Then all I needed was to sew the sides and the bottom. Do this right sides together. Don't forget to leave the zipper partially open and also leave an opening when sewing the lining, to be able to turn the purse inside out (here's my zippered pouch tutorial, if you need one).

And here's how it turned out in the end:

Is it perfect? Not really. Next time I want to try to sew the crocheted sides by hand as well. Using the sewing machine pulls on the crochet too much and creates irregularities where they shouldn't exist.

But the purse is completed and ready to be used, and after so many months in the UFO pile, that's a victory all by itself.

Happy Wednesday and stay safe,