Forming / Joining Bag Strap

[eroomenaj]

I am attempting to create a very chunky crochet bag complete with a continuous looking crocheted shoulder strap formed from chaining and then double crocheting back up the chain, but I’m struggling to get strong, tidy, non-bulky, gap-free joins at either end.

Problem 1: When I complete the final stitch of the round, I have tried to start chaining off to start the strap, but this doesn’t anchor that row of the strap down very securely. If I insert the hook further down the bag, the loop this creates is huge and looks unsightly.

Problem 2: I’m struggling to join the end of the chain to the other side while keeping the strap flush with the side of the bag, inside and out.

Problem 3: Once I have the chain joined to the other side of the bag, any stitch I make to anchor it in place and move across to the next stitch to begin the second row of the chain looks bulky and awkward.

I have also tried fastening off the body of the bag and then separately on either side doing a new row over the top leading into the strap, with the invisible stitch away from the strap join to keep that area looking tidy and continuous. I still struggled with where to place the stitches leading off onto the strap / where the strap rejoins though, and the invisible join is not entirely invisible due to the thickness of the woven-in end.

For reference, I am using 9mm Bobbiny cord.

Apologies for the lack of jargon — very new crocheter here! Any help very welcome.

Edited February 26, 2021 by eroomenaj
Added images.

[Granny Square]

Welcome to the ville!

I know super chunky yarn is popular but it is not the easiest to work with.  If it were bulky weight plied yarn, it would be easi(er) to finish off discreetly (by de-plying and weaving the plies separately, or using the ends to fudge-sew odd gaps together), but the usual 'finish off invisibly' tricks aren't going to work here--you can't weave in those ends to hide them. Since the 'yarn' appears to be a fabric covered core, about the only thing you can do is peel the fabric cover back a distance from the end (like peeling a banana), cut the core, and hand-sew the remaining fabric cover in matching thread as discreetly as possible to the inside of the bag.

Looking at your handle, I really don't think you are going to get the appearance much better on this bag than what it already is; the only thing I'm noticing, and it may be the photo angle, it looks like the handle is 'indented' a bit away from the side.  If the bag was designed with a flat bottom and sides (even if the sides were only a couple of stitches), it would be different - you could just continue the width of the sides up and around for the handle (with only 1 join to worry about looking integrated.  

If I were making this I'd probably finish the end as I described above (in an ugly way, but below the edge as far as possible), make a fabric liner to fit inside and cover the ugly ends--just straight seams, easy to seam the liner and hand sew the liner to the bag without a machine--would also allow for a zipper closure.

Hopefully others will chime in with different ideas.  

[Granny Square]

Was looking for pattern ideas -not a free pattern, but this would be an easy enough concept, and keep your purse 'integrated' stitch-wise - I don't know why you couldn't make the side connections narrower and add chain to make the handles wider (longer).  It's just 2 button holes, just chain x on the base row, skip x, and continue on around to the corresponding spot on the opposite side, repeat, finish the round, then next round crochet into the chain (IMO for something like this would look better than crocheting over the chain) and then a few more rounds for the width of the handle.

It will still need to be lined, I think, to look best (hide those big ends).

Completely different, more like your original - It's free, but it might offer inspiration mini bag