Welcome to the second part of the CAL.

This week I’m going to show you how to turn the motifs into the bag shape.  Here’s a reminder of the bag, so you know the shape you are aiming for:

First you need to block the motifs, if you haven’t already done so.   If you leave it until you finish the bag you may find it a bit tricky.

Then you need to decide how you are going to join them.  I recommend joining in one of these 4 ways:

1. By slip stitch holding the motifs right sides together, as I did for the Christmas CAL here.
2. By double crochet (US single crochet) holding the motifs wrong sides together.
3. By sewing.
4. By slip stitch holding the motifs side by side, this is the method I used and I worked into the back stitch only.  You may find this a bit tricky if you haven’t done it before, but I think it gives a good effect and is worth that extra effort.  This shows you the technique:

Slip stitch side by side back loops only

I joined my bag using the same yarn that I used for the centres of my motifs – White. This is how the joins look:

To form the bag shape you need to join them in a particular order.  And I have illustrated this in the following diagrams:

The final part next week will show you how I finished the bag and made the handle.

I would love to see what you make. Join in the discussion on Facebook or Ravelry.

Happy crocheting xxx