Frida’s Flowers project bag crochet along

I am so excited! I’ve been working on a new bag that is to be a joint crochet along (CAL) between me here at Crafternoon Treats and Stylecraft Yarns. The Frida’s Flowers project bag CAL starts straight away and leads into the Jane Crowfoot/Stylecraft Frida’s Flowers blanket CAL that launches 5th April 2016.

The Frida’s Flowers project bag

I’ve kept in touch with the lovely people at Stylecraft since my visit to their mill in West Yorkshire in December.

They approached me to ask if I would like to take part in a bagalong with them earlier this year. After chatting with Annabelle from Stylecraft, we both thought it would be a good idea to design a project bag that was big and bold and that tied in with the Jane Crowfoot/Stylecraft 2016 CAL. At that time all was all top secret so I only had a couple of very small photos and an idea of the colours to go on, and the snippet of information that the design for the blanket had been inspired by the artist Frida Kahlo. The rich colours in Jane’s blanket reflect the bright and bold colours of Frida’s art and also the dresses she wore and the flowers she piled into her thick black hair.

So what I’ve come up with is a bag based on the ever-popular retro granny stash bag and combines a 3D Crafternoon Treats flower at the centre of the square. Its easy to make, the pattern is free and available on the Stylecraft website and I’ve done a series of free tutorials to show exactly how to make the squares and handles, and assemble and line the bag.

All the links are here in the Frida’s Flowers Project Bag Quick Start Guide

NEW! Black Sheep Wools have just put together a yarn pack that is now ready to order 🙂

The finished bag is a stunner – I love the colours and how the bright flowers look so dramatic against the black of the centre of the bag panels.

Links to the FREE pattern and tutorials

The printable pattern is available from the Stylecraft website and is in English, in UK terms and US terms and will be available in Dutch soon.

• The Frida’s Flowers project bag pattern in UK crochet terms
• The Frida’s Flowers project bag pattern in US crochet terms

The main tutorial showing how to make the flower square, step-by-step is available in UK terms and US terms:

• The Frida’s Flowers project bag square tutorial in UK crochet terms
• The Frida’s Flowers project bag square tutorial in US crochet terms
• Making the base square (flat with no flower) (UK and US terms)
• The colours for each square are in the pattern but also listed here

NEW! Black Sheep Wools have just put together a yarn pack that is now ready to order 🙂

You can also access guides on assembling the bag, lining it and making the handles. These are in UK terms with US terms given in brackets. Please note that I am, by no means, good at sewing! If you are, you will do it much better!

• Lining your bag by lining and stiffening individual squares
• Assembling your Friday’s Flowers project bag and adding handles
• Making a full box lining (tutorial from my seaside stash bag)

The Frida’s Flowers project bag colours

Frida Kahlo is best known for her self-portraits, most of which show her lovely black hair piled up on top of her head and decorated with brightly coloured flowers. She obviously loved the rich, bright tones,particularly bright pink.

The flowers on the bag use the bright Stylecraft Special Chunky colours spice, parchment, plum, gold and meadow but these are given a huge pop of energy by bright pink and fiesta. But those aren’t available in Stylecraft chunky I can hear you saying… I used the Stylecraft Special DK colours and worked with one strand of each colour together, which gives the same weight exactly as the chunky yarn.

Find out more about the colour orders used in each square here

NEW! Black Sheep Wools have just put together a yarn pack that is now ready to order 🙂

Doing this not only gives you the chance to use pinks, working both colours together produces a flower that looks blended and almost painted. Which all seemed very apt for a bag inspired by one of the greatest female artists of all time.

The bright 3D flowers form the centre of a black square, which is then surrounded by parchment, plum, denim, gold and meadow, all used in different combinations and rounds of trebles (US dc) are interpersed with rounds of dc (US sc) and chains to produce a square that looks less ‘granny’ than the original stash bag.

Join in with the Frida’s Flowers project Bag Along!

The crochet along to make the bag is open to everyone and is being run jointly on the Stylecraft website and Official Jane Crowfoot/Stylecraft 2016 CAL Facebook group, as well as on the Crafternoon Treats blog and Bagalong FB group.

If you are planning to join in with the Stylecraft/Jane Crowfoot CAL, its something to keep your fingers busy until April 5th, when the first part of the blanket pattern is released. Once the bag is complete, it is ready to store your yarn and the blanket and the patterns.

It is also a very useful project stash bag for anyone doing ANY blanket CAL, or if you are just making a large project on your own. Stash/project bags are so useful for keeping all the yarn for a project together, and for storing the emerging project. Perfect for taking your work out to your local knit and natter group, round to a friend’s house, or away on a break or on holiday. Bascially, you can NEVER have enough crochet bags…

Personalise your bag

I love the colours that are listed in the pattern but, like all Bagalong projects, please feel free to make this project your own. The Stylecraft Special Chunky range has 30 colours to choose from and using two strands of Special DK held together gives you virtually unlimited possibilities. I love this technique and will definitely be doing this again.

Annabelle at Stylecraft has itchy fingers to make her own bag and will be talking about the colours she has chosen so keep an eye on the Stylecraft FB page.

You can also make more of the flowers and use them to embellish your bag to suit your own style. Or make a few extra for a garland to hang in your craft space.

Want those links again? I’ve put them all together:

Frida’s Flowers project bag Quick Start Guide

NEW! Black Sheep Wools have just put together a yarn pack that is now ready to order 🙂

Why I’ve loved this project

Wow, there are so many reasons. I have (another) gorgeous stash bag, I’ve got to work with the people at Stylecraft, which I was keen to do after my visit to their mill back in December. I’ve learned more about the work of Janie Crowfoot, who I met and chatted to at Yarndale last September and I’ve found out more about Frida Kahlo, an iconic and talented female artist. Crochet can really expand your horizons and teach you a lot, not all of it about hooks and yarn!

More about the Janie Crowfoot CAL

This CAL is a follow up to the fabulous Lily Pond CAL that took place last year. The blanket is made in Stylecraft Classique Cotton and the colours will be announced on March 11 and available to buy from all Stylecraft retailers.

Here is a sneaky peak from Jane’s website – click anywhere on the pics to go to her site to read more.

More about Frida Kahlo (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954)

Hands up and admission time – while I recognise some of the paintings of Frida Kahlo, I didn’t know a huge amount about her before I started this bag. This is much to my daughter’s disgust as Frida is modern-day feminist icon and I should have been more aware of her work and her impact on the world. I’ve pinned some of her artwork onto a board on my Pinterest account.

Her paintings are bold, both in their use of colour and in the statements they make. She was part of the surrealist movement and many of her paintings are thought-provoking and even shocking. Injured in a serious accident when she was 18, Frida Kahlo struggled with pain and ill health for the rest of her life, she had a tempestuous relationship with her husband, fellow artist Diego Rivera and she had to endure intrusive medical treatments many times, particularly towards the end of her short life. She was only just 47 when she died.

You can find out more about Frida Kahlo at The Frida Kahlo Foundation

Thanks for reading and I hope to see loads of lovely bags very soon – I’ll be sharing on Facebook and creating some new albums to show off your work xxxxx