Lobster Hobo Bag!

I have a FO to show off here after a long time. There was a BAG-ALONG in the South Asian Crafters group on Ravelry which started a month ago. Each one participating was to start a bag of their choice and finish it along with the others. Since there were no specified or chosen patterns, every one came out with different and inspirational bags. I made the Summer Sling Tote as a part of this BAG-ALONG. This is an easy pattern to make a chic bag. I could've completed the bag a long time back. But, life happens,right?! Here is the finished bag.

Lining the bag was tricky because of the unusual shape and the features I wanted in the lining. This bag doesn't have secure closures. Because of its wedge shape, its difficult impossible to put in a zipper for closure. I used magnetic snaps for the closures. So, I needed zippered inner pockets to put stash money and keys securely. After some brain-storming, I came out with the plan to line this bag and put 2 zippered pockets in it. I used the tutorial from U-Handblog for zippered inner lining pocket. This tutorial works like a charm. Here is a close-up of the inner pocket I put in.

I made the lining a tad bigger than the bag to accommodate for the stretchiness of the bag. The closure flap was crocheted with single crochet stitches as I wanted a denser fabric for the flap. I plan to put a fancy button on the flap to add some zing to the bag. ;-) I love the shape of the bag and its surprisingly roomy. The only modification of the pattern was I chained 50 chains less in the foundation chain for the strap, although I found this the hard way. The pattern asks you to chain 220 chains and after finishing the strap, I realized it was too long for my taste. So, I had to rip the finished strap and made it with about 180 chains. I am happy with this strap length.

Let me show you a funny picture of the lining taken inside out. It will give you an idea about what I did with the lining.

Doesn't this look like a confused alien face?! Poor alien! ;-) I took this bag to work and my friends-at-work were all impressed with it. They do not know much about my crafty side and they all were pleasantly surprised. In fact, one guy , P thought it was a store-bought bag. :-) So, this Summer Sling Tote is going to be my bag for all seasons for sometime.

Here are the stats:

Pattern: Summer Sling Tote by Priscilla Hewitt
Yarn: 2-ply from Cottage Crafts Yarn
Hook: 5mm
Ravelry project: Lobster Hobo Bag

This post is part of FO Fridays Meme hosted by Tami's Amis. To see more FOs on Friday, go here.

-Josie