Couture - Crochet Clutch Free Pattern

What do you need

yarn: raffia yarn (e.g. Hamanaka eco-Andaria) or two strands of firm lace yarn to create a bigger strand with a firm texture. I used 2 lace strands of Woll Butt Diana 10 in 2 different brown tones
2. 5 cm crochet hook
25 cm zipper in black colour
scissors
pliers (to remove parts of the zipper loop)
sewing needle and sewing thread in black (to sew the zipper into the bag)

Crochet Stitch Types used

single crochet
single crochet in second last row (=single crochet spike stitch 1 row down)
corded ridge stitch (=reverse single crochet stitch)

Instructions

Size of the bag: 21 x 13 cm

Use 2 strands of lace yarn or 1 strand of raffia yarn.

Start with 50 chain stitches (30 ch for raffia yarn). Crochet 1 single crochet in each chain stitch around on both sides of the chain, then 32 rounds in the pattern design below.
Attach the zipper to the opening: first, turn your work inside out, so that the left side of your work (= the bag’s inside) face outwards. Sew the front side of each zipper’s half to the opening. Make sure that the teeth line on each side of the open zipper aligns with the top of the opening. Cut the remaining of the zipper ends, so that only 1 – 2 cm of zipper ends need to be attached inside.
As it could be difficult to pull the zipper on the corners of the bag, sew the first 3 stitches of each corner together to avoid that the zipper can fully reach the corners. This might be only necessary if the yarn you use is rather soft (for cotton yarn, for example) but not for the raffia yarn.
Make the handle. Start with 50 chain stitches (30 ch for raffia yarn). Crochet 1 single crochet in each chain stitch along one side, ch 1 but don’t turn your work. Now, work corded ridge single crochet stitches back to the first stitch. Work 3 corded sc in the last st, turn your work and continue working corded sc along the chain side until the end of the row, do 2 corded sc in the last st. Sew the handle on both sides of the bag (on the same corner as the closed zipper).
For the tassel, leave the metal loop on the zipper, and remove the rest on the metal loop with pliers. Make the tassel and pull the chain loops of the tassel through the metal loop on the zipper.
Your couture handbag is finished!