Hayden Bag – Free Mosaic Crochet Tote Bag Pattern

The Hayden Bag is a fabulous summer crochet tote bag pattern using mosaic crochet in the round. The bag is made in one piece and uses a clever play of colour and a simple seven stitch repeat to achieve the detail.

Add the side ties and straps of your choice to personalise and finish.

If you’ve fancied giving overlay mosaic crochet a go then this is the one for you!

You can carry on reading to find the free pattern here in this blogpost or purchase an ad-free, printable PDF version of the Hayden Tote Bag pattern in my pattern store to download and print.

About the Hayden Crochet Tote Bag Pattern

I’ve always been a fan of lovely big crochet bags for summer and as the Mum to two young boys now a big bag is a must!

Whether we’re off to the park, beach, town or just for a walk I wanted to make a bag that would be sturdy enough to carry everything we need but that would also look fabulous too.

I’ve recently been really enjoying the mosaic crochet technique and so thought I’d create a seamless crochet bag with a nice short stitch repeat so that once you got the hang of it you’d be able to work away without thinking too much!

Pattern Options

This crochet cushion pattern is a free crochet pattern in both UK and US terms on the blog for everyone to enjoy, just scroll down to find it.

There are a few ways you can access and enjoy this crochet pattern:

Other Patterns You Might Enjoy

I love designing bags! Here are a few more of my crochet bag patterns that I thought you might enjoy.

Yarn

To make the crochet tote bag I used CotLin DK yarn by WeCrochet.

It’s a really lovely double knit weight yarn that is 70% Tanguis Cotton, 30% Linen, 123yds/50g.

I used:

4 balls of Linen

1 ball each of:

Cashew

Mustard Seed

Creme Brûlée

Raindrop

Sagebrush

Ivy

A great alternative yarn if you wanted something a bit more robust is Rico Creative Cotton which is 100% cotton, 115m/50g and comes in fabulous colours too!

Tension and Sizing

The finished bag measures 28cm by 12cm by 36cm without handles.

14 sts and 16 rows = 10cm by 10cm over US sc/ UK dc stitches.

Materials

Along with your yarn, you will need the following:

• 5.5mm (US J) crochet hook – my favourites are Furls Streamline Swirl crochet hooks or Clover Amour crochet hooks.
• Tapestry needle
• Scissors 
• Stitch markers if desired 
• Pair of 50cm bag straps – I used these replacement green bag straps that come in lots of other colours too.

Glossary and Abbreviations

ch(s) – chain(s)

ss – slip stitch

st(s) – stitch(es)

RS – right side

rep – repeat

sk – skip

ch-sp – chain space

RS – right side

blo – back loop only

flo – front loop only

Crochet Stitches

The mosaic crochet tote bag uses the following crochet stitches:

Standard UK Crochet Term	Standard US Crochet Term
dc – double crochet	sc – single crochet
tr – treble	dc – double crochet

Pattern Notes

The bag is constructed by a base made in rows and then a top section worked in rounds using the mosaic crochet technique.

Use the yarn doubled throughout.

See the chart notes for details on how to read the charts.

Overlay Mosaic Crochet in the Round Technique

The technique for overlay mosaic crochet may look quite complicated and fiddly but I promise it isn’t once you get the hang of it!

If you are a visual learner then make sure to watch my mosaic crochet video tutorial which might make more sense of it for you.

There are a few different ways to achieve a mosaic crochet design. I will describe the way that I made this bag in the round.

The easiest way to create the pattern is by reading the chart rather than the word pattern but I will provide a worded version of the entire pattern for you to refer to and get your confidence and help you to read the chart.

So, to begin with, a few words on how to read a mosaic crochet pattern and chart.

I would suggest that you have a little go at a swatch with some of your scrap yarn before you start the pattern in full unless you’ve done mosaic crochet before.

Then working mosaic crochet in the round you will always be working a US sc/ UK dc into the back loop only (blo) of every stitch of the round unless instructed otherwise.

When indicated, you need to work a US dc/ UK tr into the front loop only (flo) of the stitch 2 rounds below.

This is what makes the stitches look like they are overlapping each other and creates the pattern.

Each square on the chart represents a blo st to work for the round. Every star (*) symbol indicates where to place a flo st 2 rounds below.

Every st in the round needs to either have a US sc/ UK dc in the blo or a US dc/ UK tr in the flo.

Change colour on the last yarn over on the last st of the round and work in continuous rounds for the entire bag.

Watch the video tutorial here

Reading the chart

The chart is read from the bottom to the top with each row of the chart representing a round of crochet.

Each square on the chart represents a stitch. A stitch will either be a UK dc/ US sc in the black loop only or a UK tr/ US dc in the front loop only of the stitch 2 rows below.

When reading the chart, the background colour indicates with colour to use for every stitch in that round.

A star in the square below indicates where to work a UK tr/ US dc in the front loop only of the stitch 2 rows below.

If there isn’t a star in the square below then work a UK dc/ US sc in the black loop only.

Mosaic Crochet Patterns

If like me you are loving all things mosaic in crochet at the moment then I’d love you to check out my other patterns and posts about it:

You might fancy making my knee high crochet socks that use the overlay mosaic crochet technique – you can make them any length you like!

The Wanderers Blanket – a free inset mosaic crochet blanket pattern.

The Rainbow Splash blanket – a free overlay mosaic crochet blanket pattern

The Diamond Blanket – a free overlay mosaic crochet blanket great for beginners.

How to work the inset mosaic crochet technique.

A guide to the 14 best mosaic crochet patterns on Etsy.

Hayden Mosaic Crochet Tote Pattern

Standard UK CrochetTerms

Foundation chain: using Linen, ch39

Row 1: dc in 2nd ch from hook and each across [38].

Row 2: ch1, dc in each st across.

Rows 3-18: Repeat Row 2

At the end of Row 18, rotate to work along side of rows and begin working in continuous rounds from now on.

The chart on page 6 shows the colour sequence and pattern from now on if you prefer to follow that.

Work each dc in blo from now on.

Work each tr in flo of stitch 2 rounds below.

Round 1: *dc in side of each row to corner [18], rotate to work along long edge, dc in each st to next corner [38]; rep from * once more [112]

Rounds 2-5: dc in blo of each st around, change to next colour on last yarn over of last st.

Round 6: *tr in next st, dc in next 5 sts, tr in next st; rep from * around, change to next colour on last yarn over of last st.

Round 7: *dc in next st, tr in next st, dc in next 3 sts, tr in next st, dc in next st; rep from * around, change to next colour on last yarn over of last st.

Round 8: *tr in next st, dc in next st, tr in next st, dc in next st, tr in next st, dc in next st, tr in next st; rep from * around, change to next colour on last yarn over of last st.

Round 9: *dc in next st, tr in next st, dc in next st, tr in next st, dc in next st, tr in next st, dc in next st; rep from * around, change to next colour on last yarn over of last st.

Rounds 6-9 form the set pattern.

Rounds 10-41: Using the chart for colour changes repeat the set pattern.

Change to Linen.

Rounds 42-51: Repeat Round 2

Fasten off and weave in ends.

SIDE TIES

Make 2 side ties to shape the top of your bag as follows:

Foundation chain: ch41

Row 1: dc in 2nd ch from hook and each across [40]

You can make these ties as long or short as you’d like to.

Locate the 18 stitches on either side of the bag and thread the ties through these stitches, making sure they also pass through a stitch in the middle of those 18 stitches to fold the side of the bag up.

SEW ON STRAPS

Position your straps where you would like them and carefully sew in place on either side of the bag using embroidery thread.

Standard US Crochet Terms

Foundation chain: using Linen, ch39

Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and each across [38].

Row 2: ch1, sc in each st across.

Rows 3-18: Repeat Row 2

At the end of Row 18, rotate to work along side of rows and begin working in continuous rounds from now on.

The chart on page 6 shows the colour sequence and pattern from now on if you prefer to follow that.

Work each sc in blo from now on.

Work each dc in flo of stitch 2 rounds below.

Round 1: *sc in side of each row to corner [18], rotate to work along long edge, sc in each st to next corner [38]; rep from * once more [112]

Rounds 2-5: sc in blo of each st around, change to next colour on last yarn over of last st.

Round 6: *dc in next st, sc in next 5 sts, dc in next st; rep from * around, change to next colour on last yarn over of last st.

Round 7: *sc in next st, dc in next st, sc in next 3 sts, dc in next st, sc in next st; rep from * around, change to next colour on last yarn over of last st.

Round 8: *dc in next st, sc in next st, dc in next st, sc in next st, dc in next st, sc in next st, dc in next st; rep from * around, change to next colour on last yarn over of last st.

Round 9: *sc in next st, dc in next st, sc in next st, dc in next st, sc in next st, dc in next st, sc in next st; rep from * around, change to next colour on last yarn over of last st.

Rounds 6-9 form the set pattern.

Rounds 10-41: Using the chart for colour changes repeat the set pattern.

Change to Linen.

Rounds 42-51: Repeat Round 2

Fasten off and weave in ends.

SIDE TIES

Make 2 side ties to shape the top of your bag as follows:

Foundation chain: ch41

Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and each across [40]

You can make these ties as long or short as you’d like to.

Locate the 18 stitches on either side of the bag and thread the ties through these stitches, making sure they also pass through a stitch in the middle of those 18 stitches to fold the side of the bag up.

SEW ON STRAPS

Position your straps where you would like them and carefully sew in place on either side of the bag using embroidery thread.