Mar
Basic Pouch You Can Actually Make
So the first pouch I made that actually worked was in spring 2022 and I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease because it was on sale at Michael’s and I figured if I screwed it up I wouldn’t feel terrible about wasting expensive yarn. The pattern wasn’t really a pattern, more like I just made a rectangle and folded it in half.
Start with a chain. I did like 25 chains but honestly it depends on how wide you want your pouch. If you’re making something for like chapstick and cards, maybe 20 chains. If you want to fit your phone, you gotta measure your phone and add a few extra chains because the sides will pull in a bit when you seam it.
After your foundation chain, just do single crochet rows back and forth. Turn your work, chain one, single crochet across. That’s it. Keep going until it’s about twice as long as you want the finished pouch to be, then fold it in half.
The Seaming Part That Nobody Warns You About
This is the thing that annoyed me SO much – seaming the sides looks ugly if you just whipstitch it. I tried that first and it looked like a kindergarten craft project. What actually works better is slip stitching through both layers with your hook. Line up the edges, push your hook through both sides, and slip stitch along the edge. Do both sides.
You can also do single crochet along the edges if you want it more visible and sturdy, which is what I did for a pouch I made in summer 2024 using Bernat Softee Cotton. That one was for my friend who needed something for her earbuds and the single crochet edging made it stiff enough to hold its shape.
Adding a Zipper Without Losing Your Mind
Okay so zippers are actually not as scary as they seem but you need a sewing needle and regular thread. I bought a pack of 9-inch zippers from Amazon, the kind that come in multiple colors. Just get the cheap ones for practice.
Pin the zipper to the top opening of your pouch. I use those small safety pins because regular straight pins fall out and then you step on them and your dog tries to eat them or whatever. Sew the zipper tape to the crochet fabric using a whipstitch or backstitch, going through the zipper tape and the top edge of your crochet.
The corners where the zipper ends are weird and bunchy – I just stitch back and forth a few times to secure everything and accept that it’s not gonna look professional. It’s functional though.
Button Closure Instead
If you don’t want to deal with zippers, make a flap. After you finish your rectangle, don’t fold it exactly in half. Make the back piece longer by like 3 or 4 inches. That extra length becomes your flap. Seam the sides like before, then the flap just folds over the front.
Sew a button on the front of the pouch and make a loop on the flap. For the loop, chain like 8 or 10 stitches, make a circle, and slip stitch back to where you started. Sew that loop onto the flap. Button goes through the loop. Done.
I made one like this during a really bad breakup in fall 2023 and honestly just having something to do with my hands while watching Love Island was the only thing keeping me from texting my ex, so that pouch has weird tension in some rows where I was clearly not paying attention.
Lined Pouches For Stuff That Falls Through Holes
If you’re using the pouch for anything small like jewelry or pills or whatever, the gaps between stitches are annoying. You need to line it with fabric.
Get some cotton fabric from Walmart or wherever. Quilting cotton works fine. Cut two rectangles the same size as your crochet pouch pieces, but add like half an inch on each side for seam allowance.
Sew the fabric rectangles together on three sides using a sewing machine or hand sewing, leaving the top open. You’re basically making a fabric pouch that’s slightly smaller than your crochet pouch. Turn it inside out so the seams are hidden.
Stick the fabric pouch inside the crochet pouch. Fold the top edge of the fabric down about half an inch and pin it to the inside top edge of the crochet pouch. Hand sew it in place all the way around using regular thread and a needle. Just do a whipstitch or running stitch, whatever works.
This takes forever and I usually do it while watching TV because it’s boring but necessary if you want a actually functional pouch for small items.
Round Pouches That Zip
These are fun but slightly more complicated. You make two circles and a long rectangle.
For the circles, start with a magic ring. Chain 1, then make 6 single crochets into the ring. Pull it tight. That’s round 1.
Round 2: increase in every stitch, so you’ll have 12 stitches total.
Round 3: single crochet in first stitch, increase in next stitch, repeat around. You’ll have 18 stitches.
Round 4: single crochet in first two stitches, increase in next stitch, repeat around. You’ll have 24 stitches.
Keep going with this pattern, adding one more single crochet between increases each round, until your circle is as big as you want. I usually stop around 30-36 stitches for a small pouch. Make two identical circles.
For the sides, chain enough to go around the edge of your circle. This is where you just kinda have to estimate or measure with a tape measure. Then single crochet back and forth to make a long strip that’s like 2 or 3 inches wide. The length of the strip needs to equal the circumference of your circle.
Sew or slip stitch one long edge of the strip to the edge of one circle, all the way around. Then attach the other circle to the other long edge of the strip. Now you have a cylinder with circular ends.
Install a zipper along one seam of the side strip or around the top circle edge. The circular zipper installation is honestly kind of a pain and I’ve only done it once using Red Heart Super Saver in that really bright turquoise color. It worked but took like an hour of fiddling with it.
Drawstring Pouches Are Easier
Make your pouch however you want – rectangle folded, round, whatever. But before you seam it closed, add a row of spaces for the drawstring.
If you’re doing a rectangle, when you’re about an inch from the top, do a row like this: single crochet 2, chain 2, skip 2 stitches, repeat across. Next row, single crochet in the chain spaces and in the single crochets. This makes little holes. Do a couple more regular rows above the holes.
For the drawstring, make a long chain or use actual cord or ribbon. I’ve used cotton cord from the hardware store, ribbon from the craft store, or just chained forever with yarn. Thread it through the holes all the way around. Tie the ends together or add those cord stopper things.
Granny Square Pouches
Okay this is random but granny squares make cute pouches and you can use up scrap yarn. Make two identical granny squares, any size. Just do the classic granny square – ring of chains, then clusters of double crochets with chain spaces between them, keep going in rounds until it’s big enough.
Put the two squares wrong sides together and single crochet around three edges to join them. Leave one edge open. You can add a button flap or just leave it open.
I made like six of these in summer 2024 because I had a million scraps of Caron Simply Soft from other projects and needed to use them up. They’re good for gift bags or for organizing stuff in a bigger bag.
Mesh Pouches For The Beach Or Whatever
Use cotton yarn for this, something like Lily Sugar’n Cream. Acrylic gets weird when it’s wet.
Chain your starting chain, then row 1: single crochet 1, chain 1, skip 1, repeat across. Row 2: single crochet in each chain space and chain space above each single crochet. This makes a mesh fabric.
Or you can do: chain 3, skip 2, single crochet in next stitch, repeat. This makes bigger holes. Keep alternating until you have a rectangle, then fold and seam like the basic pouch.
These are good for soap or for the beach because sand and water go through them. I made one for my sister who’s always losing her soap in her gym bag and the mesh lets it dry out.
Stiffening The Pouch
If your pouch is too floppy, there’s a few things you can try. Use a smaller hook than the yarn recommends – this makes tighter stitches. Hold two strands of yarn together while you crochet. Or use stiffer yarn like cotton instead of acrylic.
You can also add interfacing. Get some fusible interfacing from the fabric store and iron it onto fabric, then sew that fabric as a lining like I mentioned before. The interfacing makes it stiff.
Or just stuff cardboard in there, honestly. I’ve cut thin cardboard to fit the bottom of pouches to make them hold their shape better. It’s not washable then but whatever.
Wristlet Strap
Chain a bunch until the chain fits loosely around your wrist. Slip stitch to the beginning to make a circle. Single crochet around and around in a spiral until the strap is as thick as you want. I usually do like 3-5 rounds.
Attach one end to the side seam of your pouch by sewing it on really well with yarn and a needle. Make sure it’s secure because if it comes off when you’re carrying the pouch you’ll lose everything.
You can also make a longer strap for a crossbody pouch. Just chain longer and do the same thing. Or braid three long chains together for a thicker strap.
Tapestry Crochet Patterns
If you want designs or patterns on your pouch, tapestry crochet is where you carry two colors and switch between them to make pictures or geometric patterns.
This is kinda advanced but basically you hold both colors at once. When you work with one color, you crochet over the other color to hide it inside the stitch. When you want to switch colors, you drop the first color and pick up the second color.
There’s charts online that show you which stitches to make in which color. Each square on the chart equals one stitch. Follow the chart row by row.
I tried this once with a heart pattern using Red Heart With Love in white and red. It came out okay but the tension was inconsistent because I kept pulling the hidden yarn too tight or too loose. It definitely takes practice.
Size Adjustments
The basic principle for any size pouch is: make a rectangle or two circles in whatever size you need, then attach them together. Measure what you want to put in the pouch first.
For glasses, measure your glasses and add an inch. For makeup, dump out your makeup bag and arrange everything flat to see how much space you need. For whatever else, just measure it.
Chain stitches are roughly square – like a chain is about as tall as it is wide – so if you need something 4 inches wide, chain until your chain measures 4 inches. Then work rows until the piece is as long as you need.
Or you can make a gauge swatch first but honestly who has time for that. I just start making the thing and if it’s too small I frog it and start over with more chains.
Zipper Sizes
Zippers come in different lengths. For small pouches, 7-inch or 9-inch zippers work. For bigger bags, get 12-inch or 14-inch. You can cut zippers shorter but it’s annoying.
Nylon coil zippers are easier to sew onto crochet than metal teeth zippers. The tape is softer and your needle goes through easier.
Yarn Choices That Actually Matter
Cotton yarn makes stiffer pouches that hold their shape. Lily Sugar’n Cream, Bernat Handicrafter Cotton, Caron Simply Soft (wait that’s acrylic never mind), um… I Love This Cotton from Hobby Lobby works.
Acrylic is cheaper and comes in more colors. Red Heart Super Saver is like the default yarn for everything. It’s scratchy but it’s durable. Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice is softer. Caron Simply Soft is the softest acrylic but it’s splitty and annoying to work with sometimes.
Wool or wool blend is nice but expensive for a pouch. I used Wool-Ease like I mentioned before and it was fine but seemed wasteful for something I was just learning on.
Don’t use fuzzy yarn like eyelash yarn or that fluffy chenille stuff. Your hook gets stuck and you can’t see your stitches.
Embellishments
You can sew buttons randomly on the outside just for decoration. Or embroider designs using a yarn needle and yarn. Just stitch whatever design you want on the finished pouch.
Fabric patches can be sewn on. Iron-on patches work too if you’re careful not to melt acrylic yarn.
