Aspen Bag - free Tunisian bag pattern!

So, remember how I sold out? Well, I bought back in. LOL I decided to offer the Aspen Bag pattern for free. I felt like it was too simplistic to charge for and felt bad about it.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Aspen Bag















Materials:
6.5mm afghan hook
appx 500 yards heavy ww yarn for large bag (shown here in rust)
appx 130 yards heavy ww accent color and appx 300 yards heavy ww main color for small bag (shown here in fuchsia and black)
5 - 1.5" decorative rings for large bag
8" handles for small bag
tapestry needle

Finished measurements:
Small bag - 9" X 9.5"
Large bag - 9" X 11.5"

Special stitches:
Tss - Tunisian simple stitch. Slide hook through the front vertical bar to the left of stitch being worked. Yarn over and pull up loop.
Txs - Tunisian cross stitch. Skip next vertical bar. Tss next stitch, then tss stitch just skipped.
Tks - Tunisian knit stitch. Slide hook through vertical bar to the left of the stitch being worked and push the hook through to the back of your work. Yarn over and pull up loop.
Trs - Tunisian reverse stitch. Slide hook through the back vertical bar to the left of the stitch being worked. Yarn over and pull up loop.
Tfs - Tunisian full stitch. Push hook to the back of your work, through space between the vertical bars. Yarn over and pull up loop.

Special notes:
(1) All return rows are standard. Ch 1 for first stitch. For all other stitches, yarn over and pull through two loops.
(2) Remember that the loop on your hook at the beginning of each row counts as a stitch!

Lining your bags:
If you don't sew, don't worry! You, too, can line your bag for almost no money and without using a needle. Cut a few pieces of craft store felt (or make your own from that bottomless pit of scrap yarn you know you've been dying to use!) to the dimensions of your bag, plus about .25" for seam allowance along the sides and bottom. Glue them together with a strong epoxy along the .25" seam allowance (sides and bottom only). Once dry, turn inside out and then glue them to the inside of your bag. Yes, I said glue them. A strong enough epoxy that is approved for fabric will hold. Don't be ashamed. Glue can be your best friend!

This pattern was designed to create more possibilities than just one bag. Here are some suggestions for the interchangeability of patterns:
(1) Put wooden or acrylic handles on the larger bag or put straps on the smaller bag.
(2) Change the opening of the larger bag by not securing the two txs pieces together or stiffen the opening to the smaller bag by securing the two accent pieces together.
(3) Put an accent color on the larger bag or make the smaller bag all one color.
(4) And, as always, large flowers, buttons or rings make great decorative statements!

Now, on to the good stuff...

Large Aspen Bag














Body (make 2)
Ch 34
Row 1: Trs each st across to last st. Tss last st.
Row 2 - 8: *Txs next 2 st* Repeat from * to last st. Tss last st. (16 x stitches)
Row 9: Repeat Row 1.
Row 10: *Tks next st, tfs next st* Repeat from * to last st. Tss last st. This effectively doubles the number of stitches, giving the bag it's pleated appearance and full bottom.
Row 11 - 33: *Tks each st across* Repeat from * to last st. Tss last st.
Bind off with sc across each st. Cut yarn and fasten off.

Construction
Turn pieces right sides together. Join yarn in corner of a Row 1 and sl st or sc seam down one side, across the bottom and up the other side. The bag will now have a distinctly triangular shape. If you prefer it to be like this, just leave it! If you want a boxier shape, box the corners. Never even heard of such a thing? Well then it's a good thing you got this pattern! (you can also see the photo guide page) Turn the bag right side out. Reach one hand in the bag, and make an indentation with the other hand...as deep or shallow as you want. The deeper the indentation, the boxier the shape. And, yes, you guessed it! A more shallow indentation will result in a more triangular shaped bag. For me, I have about a 1.25" indentation. Grab the indentation with the hand that's in the bag and pull it inside out. Take a tapestry needle and stitch across the piece you brought out. Looking directly at it, it should look like a candy corn shape. Repeat on the other side. Push the pieces back inside the bag and voila! You made an easy task look difficult. Take a little bow. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Handles
You can get up from your bow now. Seriously! You are going to get lightheaded. Let's move on to the handles. Join yarn in a Row 1 corner and sl st around entire opening of purse, securing 4 of the decorative rings with 3 sc in equidistant positions. Oh yes, I said equidistant. For the straps, ch 4, turn, sc across row (3 sc), ch 1, turn, sc 3. Continue in this pattern until strap reaches 10". Make 4. You could make more, but that might look silly. Whipstitch one strap to each of the 4 rings on the bag. Then, whipstitch all 4 straps to one ring in the center.

Weave in your ends and admire your work!

Small Aspen Bag












Body (make 2)
Ch 34
Row 1: Trs each st across to last st. Tss last st.
Row 2 - 8: *Txs next 2 st* Repeat from * to last st. Tss last st. (16 x stitches)
At this point, you will change color.
Row 9: Repeat Row 1.
Row 10: Tks next st, tfs next st. *Tks next st, tks next st, tfs next st.* Repeat from * to last st. Tss last st. You will be increasing the number of stitches, but only about 30% more.
Row 11 - 33: *Tks each st across* Repeat from * to last st. Tss last st.
Bind off with sc across each st. Cut yarn and fasten off.

Construction
Turn pieces right sides together. Join main body color yarn in corner of a Row 9 and sl st or sc seam down one side, across the bottom and up the other side (to the corner of Row 9). Box the corners, if desired, as previously directed.

Handles
Join accent color yarn in corner of Row 8. Sl st up the side and across the top, securing the handles with sc as you go along. Repeat for other side. Make sure you do not secure the two accent color pieces together. This will allow for a wider, more flexible opening.