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Crochet guide

Lining a crochet bag

To line a crochet bag, cut one piece of fabric as wide as the bag and twice as tall, fold it in half and sew up its two sides to make a pouch. Turn the top edge down, put the pouch inside the bag and sew it to the rim by hand.

On this page 8 parts
  1. Why line a bag
  2. Measure the bag
  3. Cut the lining
  4. Sew the pouch
  5. Sew the lining into the bag
  6. A lining with almost no sewing
  7. A zipper
  8. Where to go next

Why line a bag

A crochet bag has gaps between its stitches, and it stretches. A fabric lining fixes both.

  • Small things stay in. Things as small as a key slip through the stitches of an unlined bag.
  • The bag keeps its shape. The weight of what is carried stretches crochet out of shape. A lined bag is sturdier.

Measure the bag

Lay the finished bag flat and measure it.

  • Width. Measure the inside of the opening, not the outside of the crochet. The lining has to sit inside the bag.
  • Height. Measure from the bottom to the rim.
  • Depth, if the bag has a base or side panels.

Cut the lining

Wash the fabric first, so that it does not shrink later, and iron it flat before you measure it. Then cut one piece.

  • Wide: the width of the bag, plus a seam allowance on each side. Two how-tos add 1 in (2.5 cm) in all, which is 1/2 in (1.3 cm) a side. For a bag with depth, add the depth once as well: boxing the corners takes that much off the width.
  • Tall: twice the height of the bag, plus a turn-down at each end, plus the depth for a bag that has one. The piece is folded in half, so the bottom of the lining is a fold with no seam along it.

Sew the pouch

  1. Fold the fabric in half with its right sides together. The fold is the bottom.
  2. Pin the two sides. Sew each side from the fold to the top, about 1/2 in (1.3 cm) from the edge. A sewing machine is quicker. A needle and thread do the same job.
  3. Turn the top edge down to the wrong side all the way round, and press it with an iron. The how-tos turn down between 1/4 in (0.6 cm) and 1 in (2.5 cm).
  4. Check the pouch against the bag. It should sit a little below the rim of the bag, not stand above it.

Do not turn the pouch right side out. Its right side faces into the bag, and its seams lie hidden against the crochet.

A pocket. One how-to adds a pocket before step 1: a piece of fabric with its edges hemmed, sewn to the right side of the lining.

A bag with depth. The corners of the lining are boxed, as on a sewn bag. At each bottom corner, the lining is flattened so that the side seam lies along the bottom fold and the corner makes a triangle. A straight seam across the triangle makes the base. Sew where the triangle is as wide as the bag is deep, which is half the depth in from the point. The seam becomes the short end of the base.

Sew the lining into the bag

  1. Put the pouch inside the bag, wrong side of the fabric against the wrong side of the crochet.
  2. Pin the turned top edge just below the rim, all the way round.
  3. Sew the lining to the bag by hand, with a sewing needle and thread. Small running stitches along the top are the usual way. An overcast stitch over the folded edge is the other. Catch the strands of the yarn with each stitch.
  4. One how-to adds a few stitches at the bottom corners, so that the lining does not turn inside out.

A lining with almost no sewing

One how-to makes the pouch with an iron and no needle. Strips of iron-on adhesive, the kind sold for hems, go between the two layers down each side and under the turned top edge, and a hot iron sets them. The finished pouch is usually still sewn into the bag by hand.

A zipper

A zipper can be sewn in by hand together with the lining. Adding a zipper to crochet covers it.

Where to go next

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