RECYCLE PATTERNS AND A
PAIR OF JEANS TO CROCHET
A RETRO SHOULDER BAG.
“Reduce, reuse, and recycle” have » The popular Flickr group “what’s in your bag?” boasts
thousands of photos document-
replaced “reading, ’riting, and ’rithmetic” ing the contents of handbags.
flickr.com/groups/whats_in_
as the three Rs foremost in people’s your_bag
minds. It was in this spirit that I created
the following pattern for a handsome
shoulder bag composed of repeated
motifs in randomly changing colors.
The lining is made from old jeans,
and you can sew the change pocket in
for a cellphone or ID pouch. The handle
» In 1955, Coco Chanel introduced her now-signature quilted
bag, the first handbag with
shoulder straps.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/chanel
is a clothesline that’s been densely
crocheted around — an environmentally
friendly and economical choice, not
to mention that it matches the bag
perfectly. But more exciting than its
» Fashionable ladies of the 19th
use of recycled materials is the bag’s century carried small handbags
called ridicules (or reticule),
combination of recycled design from which means ridiculous in
French. French men thought
Illustrations by Tim Lillis
the 1940s and 1970s. handbags were a ridiculous joke, seeing women literally carry
their pockets in their hands.
craftzine.com/go/reticules
Beth Doherty has a B.A. in fine arts from Columbia College in Chicago, where she still resides with her husband
and cats. See more of her work at gourmetamigurumi.com.
