The Meadow bag set comprises of three bag components – a cross body sling bag, a clutch, and a coin purse. The patterns are designed by Natalia Kononova from Outstanding Crochet. They are available as two purchasable PDFs – one, Meadow Bag and the other, Meadow clutch and coin purse. The article is mostly about my take on this project elaborating on what to expect and get out of it, how you can add embossed crochet technique to your crochet skillset.
If you are looking for a rectangle shawl or scarf without starting with long foundation chains, Erigenia in a rectangle shawl is the one for you.
Design and technique
The pattern is designed with embossed crochet technique in which the textural stitches like front post, back post and cluster stitches are used. Besides, it is worked with two yarns held together in which the front post stiches are made with one colour and the other stitches are made with the second colour and just creating a contrast and distinctive embossed patterns.
The naming of the pattern has been quite aptly done. A meadow means a land of wild plants and blooms. This design literally has them all – wildly growing leaves interspersed with blooms. To top it all off, the leaves and the blooms are made with two different colours which adds more beauty to the final product. When made with the right colours, your bag will look like a real meadow.
Yarn
The pattern originally calls for Scheepjes Catona, which is a fingering weight yarn, in three colours, along with 2.75 mm crochet hook. The designer has given us so many colour combinations to choose from also a blank template to help us come up with our own combinations. You can check out all the combinations and blank template in her blog here.
For my bag, I used a polyester yarn – Polyester shiny from Yarnholic. It is a sport weight yarn with a yardage of about 250 m per 100 g. I did not have any problem in meeting the gauge as specified in the pattern. I chose one of the combinations provided by the designer – blue, green, and red, and I chose my colours accordingly.
In, total, I had used 4.5 skeins of blue (colour A), 2.5 skeins of green (colour B) and a little less than 1 skein of red (colour C). I did shuffle the colours for the coin purse, else I would have required more of blue and green and less of red.
Skills
The pattern calls for an intermediate skill level. It involves post stitches – front post and back post stitches, increases and decreases, front-post cluster stitches and placing stitches between stitches. Reading written crochet patterns and/or diagrams is of utmost importance for making this. However, several tips and tricks on how to crochet certain parts of the design has been given along the pattern as video support along with pictorial explanation. Some of them include from the basic stuff like, how to make the foundation knot and how to change colours within the row, to the intricate stuff like how to make and sew the lining for the bag.
My thoughts
To be outright honest, this is my very first pattern that I bought and all the while I was either choosing free patterns to work or mostly creating my own (well, without even knowing). I am always amazed by her Natalia’s embossed crochet designs and when she dropped this design, I was very sure to get my hands on them. I was extremely excited to train myself on a new skill in crochet and the pattern did not disappoint me in any manner.
All kind of support was given in all possible manner – be it pictorial, verbal or videos to pick up the skill to do the project. Even the tiniest of the details, like changing yarn from one to another at different points for different stitches, was very well taken care of. There is even a picture tutorial on how to go the lining for the bag.
The only thing that might pose difficulty to some, it the unconventional symbols and stitch abbreviations that has been used in the pattern. But you can get used to this on progressing through. In fact, I would say that this is one of her brilliant ways to convey her design in a precise manner. Otherwise, the instruction would be awfully long, and the charts be chaotic with all those post stitches.
Overall, the pattern is a brilliant one in all ways, from instructions, detailing and techniques to the construction, support, and the design. This is one those intricate patterns that require your attention throughout the process and therefore quite engaging. Anyone looking for a challenging pattern or looking to widen your crochet skillset, this is for totally you. The time and effort spent into this pattern is totally worth it and I, above all, cherish the making process and the techniques learnt from this pattern.
Do you want a large tote bag? Check out my pattern here
On a side note, Natalia has recently released another masterpiece using the embossed crochet technique -Corfu bag and Pinatano bottle cover. Both finished products form a set. I will be making them soon as well, so keep an eye on my Insta page.
I believe this article would have given you an idea about this wonderful pattern. What to you think about this pattern? Would you give it a try? Please let me know in the comments and kindly follow me on the social media platform to get to know about my projects.
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I love this pattern. Your colour combination looks really good 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
Thanks Mahushna