Here’s a freeform project that I started a month or so ago.  There’s some interesting history to this project.

Designing a Freeform Crochet Purse for Lion Brand

I was contacted by a Lion Brand  representative to create a freeform purse for use in their online, free pattern catalog.  This was back in 2006, I think.  The contact had seen my blog, and at the time I was using a lot of their yarn to create lapghans for Christmas.  So this may be why this person contacted me.

Long story short, I created the purse and signed it over in exchange for a nice payment. It wasn’t until several years later that a member of the International Freeform Crochet Guild Yahoo group saw the pattern at Lion Brands free pattern site (you have to register to access the free patterns) and made mention of it in a post.

The Purse Design

I decided to create a purse using parts of the pattern (the four little motifs that are sewn together to create a larger motif) to create a purse that’s based on the original purse design.

I sewed the motifs together according to the pattern to produce a larger  motif.  I did this two more times for a total of three large motifs.

Altering the Original Pattern

Here’s where I changed the pattern.  I sewed those three larger motifs together in a different way to create the purse.  Except, the final larger piece was not an exact square.  So I had to add rows on both sides to finally get a piece of fabric that was more or less square.  Then I sewed up the sides, leaving some extra unsewn for a flap.

You’ll have to forgive the quality of the first two photos.  I think I was experimenting with light, and as you can see, the experiment didn’t turn out that well.  And I forgot to take photos of the square fabric so you could see what that looked like before I sewed the sides together.

Freeform Crochet Purse Based on Lion Brand Pattern

This is the result.  I think it came out pretty good if I must say so myself.  The first photo is the front of the purse.

The second is the back, and the third is the back with the flap extended.  It’s kind of hard to tell otherwise.  But you can see where I added rows in the photos of the purse back.

I used Cascade 220 yarn which means I will be felting this.  I’m really excited to see how it will turn out.  As soon as I do, I’ll post photos.  I’m also going to try my hand at lining it.  Hope it works better than my last two efforts.  This purse looks nothing like the one I sold, so I consider it a unique, one-of-a-kind original.

These little purses are fun to do and a great way to use up scrap yarn, of which I have a lot, thanks to Babette.  So I will definitely be making more.

Update 6/16/11

I finally got around to felting this purse recently. You can read about it and see it here.