Hotchpotch Granny Purse.

How to Make Hotchpotch Granny Stitch Purse

I’ve decided that this cute design will be called a Hotchpotch Granny Purse, it fits the bill quite nicely don’t you think? It’s a crochet purse that uses a hotchpotch of leftover yarn scraps and is the perfect colourful crochet stashbuster.

You can also use all kinds of yarn and I use a magic knot technique to join yarn ends, which I think works very well with acrylic yarn. It would probably work well with wool too. I’m not keen on the magic knot for cotton though, in my experience the knot has slipped undone. Especially with mercerized (shiny coated) cotton, so you might want to experiment to see what works for you.

You can use any yarn to make a purse, along with your favourite corresponding hook size, there pretty much are no rules to this. If you’re unsure about hook sizes, check the yarn’s ball band to see what the recommended hook size is. As long as you have plenty of lovely woolly bits, you may find yourself addicted to making multiple crochet purses of all different sizes! Why not go heavy on the stashbusting here!?

And sorry, I know I just said there are no rules but there is actually one rule: you need multiples of 3 plus 1 for the starting chain. Even if you’re a stitch or two out then I’m sure you can fudge it, crochet is very forgiving but aim for 3 plus 1 and you’ll be fine. This multiple is to evenly space the granny clusters.

Crochet Video Tutorial

Rather than write up a specific pattern, I’ve filmed this as a video tutorial over on YouTube. Pop over to watch how to make a granny Hotchpotch purse HERE. It’s a crochet pattern that’s easier to show you how it’s done rather than follow as a written pattern. I hope that’s OK. It’s not something I do very often but I think it works for this.

Covered in the crochet purse tutorial is: how to make the magic knot (such an interesting technique!), making up the granny stripes from the bottom up, and then lining it too. All in eighteen minutes! I also recommend you visit my video on how to insert a zipper in a crochet purse. It’s one of my very first video tutorials, which doesn’t say much as I’m not sure later tutorials have evolved that much!

If you have never added a zipper in your crochet before it might well prove a useful tutorial. As you can see below it doesn’t have to be perfect, it gets covered by lining afterwards. That’s just some dodgy hand stitching, which is perfectly acceptable for this hotchpotch project. There’s another photo below that demonstrates how the embarassment is easily hidden by a matching green purse lining.

What is a Magic Knot?

I don’t always use the magic knot but when I do, it’s like witchcraft!  I demonstrate the magic knot in the hotchpotch granny purse video tutorial. It’s a seemingly scary technique that actually works very well indeed. I did a lot of research and discovered a lot of converted sceptics! Many many yarny folk rely on the magic knot and it never lets them down.

In a nutshell, you tie the end of Yarn A around the end of Yarn B and tie the end of Yarn B around the end of Yarn A. With a slidy motion the two knots are gently pulled together. Then, once nice and tight, you snip the ends leaving behind a neat knot. As I said, it might be easier to watch me demonstrate in the tutorial but the yarn was a bit squeakly that day so it doesn’t look as gentle as perhaps it should!

I have only used the magic knot in my hotchpotch bags as it’s when I use lots of joins in the middle of the fabric I’m making. Most other times, I diligently sew in my ends because, in my opinion, knot tying is almost as boring as sewing in loads of ends.

Oh, actually, I think I also used the magic knot in one sample of See My Vest, which is my crochet hotchpotch tank top design. It’s a versatile method but I keep it specific projects.

Granny Stripes in The Round

I don’t want to go over this in great detail here as, you know, I have shown you how this simple crochet stitch is made in the video tutorial. But, granny is granny, which is to say, we are working with clusters of three UK trebles / US double crochet stitches. If you know my catalogue of crochet designs you will know that the granny stitch is one of my absoloute favourites, I use it allllll the time! Check out my free crochet patterns page, tis littered with granny goodness. And there are more examples on my Zeens and Roger Ravelry page HERE.

Although I won’t break it down in detail here, a brief overview of the plan for this hotchpotch project is to begin with a starting chain (multiples of 3 +1) and create a foundation round of UK dc / US sc stitches down and up the chain. Once you have completed the first round and joined it together, you build upon that foundation with loads of glorious granny clusters. The thing practically makes itself!

Different Sized Granny Purses

I use my little Hotchpotch purse granny stripe purse as my make up bag. But I have one as a notions pouch too. I then made a bigger one for my sister, like a handbag, which I added leather handles to (see below). I added a few rounds of UK htr / US hdc stitches as a finishing touch to that one. These latter rounds also helped as an anchor for attaching the straps.

If you are making the bigger size with the straps, I recommend the following:

At the lining stage, use iron-on interfacing on the outside lining. Then place it inside the granny purse. Pin in place and decide on where you want the handles to be. Attach those to the outside of the bag, ensuring that as you sew, you also stitch through the interfaced lining. You then add the inner lining and neatly hand stitch or machine sew in place (mind those handles!).

Using the stitch multiple rule you can make a small coin purse, colourful handbag, or a tote-like shopper. There are lots of possibilities and not much stopping you!

The teeny tiny granny purse was 16 stitches. The small, 22 stitches. Make up bag size was 34 stitches and the hand bag was maybe 49 stitches but I can’t remember now and have eyeballed it from the photos!

The sizes will also vary depending on the yarn you use. So a 16 stitch purse made in Double Knit yarn is going to be a bit smaller than a 16 stitch purse made in aran weight yarn.

And there’s nothing to say you have to stop at the crochet granny stitch! Check out my colourful C2C stitch Hotchpotch bag HERE.

Happy Crocheting!