Cross body crochet summer purse

Travel season is starting and I decided that I need a summer version of a wonderful light cross-body purse I got as a birthday gift years ago. It's black denim with sparkles on it. I have been using it when traveling to hold my valuables and travel documents. I can wear it on me while going around the terminal for easy access, and put it away in a backpack when I want to consolidate what I carry. The style, however versatile, does not match summer outfits very well. So I decided to make a summer version of that bag.

Left: cross-body black denim purse. Right: the summer version, my creation

Design specifications and constraints

To go with any of what I would wear in the summer, I wanted the purse to be a light neutral color. I had some natural tones, variegated linen type yarn left over from a project. I wanted the purse to go with anything from casual outfits to dress outfits, so I wanted some embellishment on it, to offset the rustic yarn. As I was working on the purse, I realized that I would run out yarn before the purse could reach the size I wanted. That's when I had the idea of a lace insertion, worked with ecru cotton yarn, also in my stash.

I used a basic crochet purse pattern as a basis (the standard make a chain roughly 20% longer than the desired width of the purse, work a round of sc in the chain, turning the corners with a chain 1 or 2, then work in the round with single crochets). When I was done working the bottom part of the purse, I worked a slipped stitch to end the last round, ending on one side of the purse. I made a long chain, one that contained as many stitches as there were stitches making up the circumference of the purse, plus a few stitches that could connect the bottom part of the purse to the top part of the purse. I closed the chain into a loop with the correct number of stitches and worked a few more rounds in sc. The strap is made from a chain worked with double thread. A note here: I did not take into account the stretch that would occur once I put stuff in my purse. So the strap turned out to be too long. I am too lazy to undo it and sow it back on, so I just knotted it on the shoulder.

For the insertion, I looked in my library of lace patterns. I was looking for an insert that had the right width, and one with a design that wasn't too frilly (for once), as I wanted the purse to look modern and go with casual outfits as well. I settled on something called "vine insertion". 

Detail of the lace insertion

I worked a band long enough to go around the circumference of the purse at good stretch and sewed it on. For added strength and interest, I overlapped the lace border of the insertion with the crochet parts of the bag.

Insertion part of the bag, inside out

The last thing to do is find a zipper and sew it to close off the top edge of the purse.

The purse paired with an informal look.