Help with reading this particular pattern

[jk_monte]

Hello! I found this adorable pattern for free from Red Heart. It's a crochet bag with stripe design. So I finished the main part of the bag with a total of 27 stripes. The trouble I'm having is with the Decrease For Flap. I (think) I followed the pattern as it was written but it didn't look like the picture. Mine ended up with a total of about 10 stitches after 8 stripes. Please help! Here is the part where I kept messing up (the one that starts with "Work in pat as now established...":

 

Decrease for FLAP: Skip first 2 sts, attach CB in next st; dec over this and next sc, sc in next sc, * 3 sc in next sc **, sc in next 2 sc, sc-dec over next 3 sts, sc in next 2 sc; rep from * to last 5 sts, end at **; sc in next sc, dec over next 2 sc; turn leaving last 2 sts unworked.

Work in pat as now established until there are 16 rows (8 stripes) from decrease. Last stripe will be CA. Work 2 more rows as established with CA. Fasten off.

[Avon Lady]

Hello! I found this adorable pattern for free from Red Heart. It's a crochet bag with stripe design. So I finished the main part of the bag with a total of 27 stripes. The trouble I'm having is with the Decrease For Flap. I (think) I followed the pattern as it was written but it didn't look like the picture. Mine ended up with a total of about 10 stitches after 8 stripes. Please help! Here is the part where I kept messing up (the one that starts with "Work in pat as now established...":

 

Decrease for FLAP: Skip first 2 sts, attach CB in next st; dec over this and next sc, sc in next sc, * 3 sc in next sc **, sc in next 2 sc, sc-dec over next 3 sts, sc in next 2 sc; rep from * to last 5 sts, end at **; sc in next sc, dec over next 2 sc; turn leaving last 2 sts unworked.

Work in pat as now established until there are 16 rows (8 stripes) from decrease. Last stripe will be CA. Work 2 more rows as established with CA. Fasten off.

Boy!  This IS confusing--the way it is written!  They are basically telling you that you keep decreasing until there are 8 stripes from the first decrease.  (To make a decrease, you sc 2 stitches together.) So just keep making a sc-dec every third stitch.  Someone help me if I explained this wrong, please.

[sarisue]

I hope I have written it right 

 

sk first 2 sts, attatch CB next st dec that sc and next sc tog. sc in next sc * do 3 sc in next sc, one sc in each of next 2 sc, dec next 3 sc tog sc in each of next 2 sc rep to last five sc in next sc dec over 2 leave last 2 unworked, do the row for 16 rows as established how many of each color in each stripe etc. then do 2 in ca

 

The decrease starts when you first leave 2 unworked and dec 2 , and then dec 2 and leave 2 unworked on the other end those are the decrease rows

As  established pattern means do the row the way established in how many of each color for the stripes

[sarisue]

Boy!  This IS confusing--the way it is written!  They are basically telling you that you keep decreasing until there are 8 stripes from the first decrease.  (To make a decrease, you sc 2 stitches together.) So just keep making a sc-dec every third stitch.  Someone help me if I explained this wrong, please.

I don't think it is quite like that but it was great of you to try to hel p.

[jk_monte]

Thank you both! I will definitely give this another shot this weekend and hopefully my project turns out perfect. The way the flap looks in the picture does not show any decrease except maybe for the first two rows. I got really confused on what I'm supposed to follow when the pattern said "work in pat as now established". For the remaining rows, do I start where the single asterisk is and end with the double asterisk, or start where it says "skip first 2 sc..."

[sarisue]

Thank you both! I will definitely give this another shot this weekend and hopefully my project turns out perfect. The way the flap looks in the picture does not show any decrease except maybe for the first two rows. I got really confused on what I'm supposed to follow when the pattern said "work in pat as now established". For the remaining rows, do I start where the single asterisk is and end with the double asterisk, or start where it says "skip first 2 sc..."

The decrease rows are all the same where you  just make the flap go in a few stitches on each side

 in all the rows across, which makes the flap a little narrower than the bag and does not really decrease like

some do making it smaller each row. I know it does seem a strange way to put it though so maybe that is

what is confusing youl

You follow each row from the beg and after the first steps then keep repeating from the * until you have five

stitches left it is just telling you that that will be where the ** are.

[sarisue]

I looked again and I think my answer might be missleading and I think this might be better.

After you do the decrease row you keep doing the rows the same in the established pattern which I think might be row 2 in the bag directions above.

Here is the pattern in case someone else can explain better.

 

striped purse