With the 250th birthday of the United States coming up, the time is ripe to crochet a red white and blue tote and hat from a pattern made in anticipation of the upcoming American Bicentennial. The pattern, from This ‘n’ That (Columbia-Minerva Leaflet 2538, 1971), makes a sweet hat with a red and white sectioned top and blue rim and matching round tote bag. The pattern calls for rug yarn, which was a bulky weight.
One of the challenges with working from vintage patterns that call for a rug yarns is that there are no modern equivalent that has the stiffness that the polyester rug yarn from yesteryears had. They were not cuddly yarns, they were making stuff yarns. Soft bulky yarns are nice to wear, but that softness and fluidity that is so nice in an afghan or a sweater makes a big round tote bag floppy.
Three ideas immediately spring to mind as an antidote to a floppy bag. One would be to add a jute or hemp twine as a second fiber carried along and crocheted in with the bulky yarn. A second idea would be to add an interfacing and lining. And a third idea would be to treat the finished bag with a fabric stiffening spray.
It’s popular to embroider words on sweaters. Stitching something across the bag with the bulky blue yarn would be very striking.
These are the general instructions for decoding the pattern.
Here’s a closer look at the project itself.
And here are the instructions!
Let us know if you crochet this red, white and blue tote and hat. Tag us on social media or leave a comment below.
