Gingerbread House Bag
The holiday season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than by crafting a festive and whimsical accessory that will turn heads at every event? Introducing the Gingerbread House Bag, a delightful and unique crochet project that's bound to fill your holiday season with cheer.
Imagine the delight on people's faces as you arrive at your next holiday gathering with a gingerbread house Bag in tow. This unique accessory is a conversation starter, an attention grabber, and the perfect accompaniment to your festive wardrobe. Need a mint or chapstick? No problem; it's stashed in your gingerbread house!
The gingerbread house Bag isn't your average holiday accessory. It's a creative, joyful, and functional way to embrace the holiday spirit. You can wear it as a bag or leave out the bag handles and use it as storage during the holidays. Better yet, you can leave the roof attached and use it as an evergreen ginger bread house to decorate year after year!
Creating your gingerbread house is not only a fun endeavor; it's also a fantastic way to immerse yourself in the world of crochet. This project caters to crocheters with a moderate level of experience, offering a bit of a challenge while still being manageable for those familiar with the craft.
This crochet ginger bread house was made possible by Hobbii’s invitation to participate in their Candyland campaign. They sent over a bunch of their lovely Friends Cotton yarn for me to play with. And yes, I had a lot of fun making this house and I hope you do too!
Materials
Friends Cotton 8/8 in:
Nougat x 4
White x 2
Friends Cotton 8/6 in:
Tomato x 1
Jungle green x 1
Lilac x 2
Aqua x 2
Candyfloss x 2
Sunflower x 1
Charcoal x 1
Baby blue x 1
Friends Cotton 8/4 in:
Emerald x 1
4.50mm hook
4.00mm hook
3.50mm hook
3.00mm hook
Tapestry needle
Plastic canvas sheets x 3
Needle and thread for smaller/finer pieces
Fabric to make a liner (optional)
Zipper to close the bag, 16” in length (optional)
Handbag handles (optional)
Pipecleaner shaped into a ring or other small and lightweight ring shape like the plastic ring off a soda bottle
Small bit of red ribbon for the wreath
Gauge
10 sc + 1 ch (moss stitch) x 18 rows = 4” x 4”
Abbreviations (US terminology)
ch - chain
st(s) - stitch(es)
sc - single crochet
dc - double crochet
hdc - half double crochet
sk - skip
rep - repeat
tch - turning chain
Notes and Special Stitches
When working in the round, do not turn or join at the end of the round, work in continuous rounds. Unless stated, starting chain does not count as a stitch.
Moss Stitch
Row 1: sc in the 2nd ch from the hook *ch 1, sk the next ch, sc in the next chain, rep from * to end, turn.
Row 2: ch 1 (this counts as a sc), sc in the next ch-sp *ch 1, sc in the next ch-sp, rep from * until the last stitch, then ch 1, sc in the last stitch, turn.
Repeat Row 2 until you reach your desired length.
Check out this post and video for a tutorial on how to crochet the moss stitch.
Bobble Stitch
Work 5 dc into indicated stitch but keep the final loop of each stitch on the hook, yo and draw through all loops on hook, ch 1 to secure bobble. One bobble completed.
Check out this video for a tutorial on how to crochet a bobble strip.
Shell Stitch
Work a sl st into indicated stitch, *sk 2 sts, 6 dc in next st, sk 2 sts, sl st into next st, rep from * to end.
Check out this post and video for a tutorial on how to crochet the shell stitch.
The gingerbread house is made up of the following parts:
Roof:
Rectangle x 1
Triangles x 2
Walls:
Wide rectangles (front and back) x 2
Narrow rectangles (for the ends) x 2
Base x 1
Decorations:
Gumdrops x 18-22 in various colors
Roof icing shingles x 4
Rooftop icing x 1
Eaves icing trim x 1
Base icing trim 1
Square windows x 2
Round window x 1-2
Licorice door x 1
Gingerbread dimensions after blocking (laid flat):
Roof: 6.5”W x 8”L each
Roof triangles: 3.5” each
Side walls: 6”H x 8“L each
Front/Back: 6”H x 3.5”L each
Base: 3.5”W x 8”L
Gingerbread House
Using Friends Cotton 8/8 in Nougat (tan color) and 4.50mm hook
Wide Walls, make 2
Ch 38, work Row 1 and 2 of Moss Stitch. Repeat Row 2 until there are 28 rows or the piece meets the dimensions listed above. Cut yarn and weave in ends.
Narrow Walls, make 2
Ch 18, work Row 1 and 2 of Moss Stitch. Repeat Row 2 until there are 28 rows or the piece meets the dimensions listed above. Cut yarn and weave in ends.
Base, make 1
Ch 38, work Row 1 and 2 of Moss Stitch. Repeat Row 2 until there are 19 rows or the piece meets the dimensions listed above. Cut yarn and weave in ends.
Roof Rectangle, make 1
Ch 38, work Row 1 and 2 of Moss Stitch. Repeat Row 2 until there are 30 rows or the piece meets the dimensions listed above. Cut yarn and weave in ends.
Roof Triangles, make 2
Row 1: ch 16, sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch across (15sts)
Row 2: ch 1, sk 1st st, sc across to last 2 sts, sk next ch, sc in last st, turn
Rows 3-12: Repeat Row 2 (3sts)
Row 13: ch 1, sk 1st st, sc in next at and last st, turn
Row 14: ch 1, sk 1st st, sc in last st
Cut yarn and weave in ends.
Use a tapestry needle and yarn to sew the pieces together. Note: Only sew the roof along one wide wall to create the opening hinge. You can sew the roof onto the house now or you can wait until you have added the Shell Stitch eaves icing (see instructions for Eaves Icing Trim).
Icing (Snow)
With Friends Cotton 8/8 in White and 4.50mm hook
Roof Trim (piped icing look), make 1
Ch 4, work 1 Bobble into the first ch, do not turn.
Ch 3, work 1 Bobble into the top of the previous Bobble.
Repeat until there are 12 bobbles or a trim long enough to fit the length of the roof top. Cut yarn and leave a long tail to sew onto the roof.
Base Trim, make 1
Follow the same steps as the Roof Trim but make the strip long enough to wrap around the entire base of the house leaving a gap for the front door (about 32 bobbles).
Eaves Icing Trim
Join White with a sl st into any stitch, such as a back corner of the roof and, work the Shell Stitch around the edge of the roof, ideally ending with a shell and joining with a sl st to the first sl st. Cut yarn and weave in ends.
Roof Icing Shingles, make 4
Switch to 4.00mm hook
Make a chain long enough to evenly create shingles across the roof, approx. 74 chs. Cut yarn and weave in ends.
Decorations
Gumdrops, make 20-30 or as many as you like
With Friends Cotton 8/6 in various colors and 3.50mm hook
Round 1: work 8 sc into magic ring
Round 2-3: sc in each st around
Cut yarn leaving a tail for sewing onto the roof later.
Wreath
With Friends Cotton 8/4 in Emerald and 3.00mm hook
Round 1: even sc around into a pipe cleaner shaped into a ring, sl st into first st
The number of stitches doesn’t have to be precise so don’t worry too much about keeping track of how many stitches you’ve worked around.
Round 2: ch 1, alternate between 2 hdc in one st and 3 hdc in the next st around to give the wreath a frilly appearance. Repeat this around to the end, sl st to first st.
Cut yarn and weave in ends.
Door
With Friends Cotton 8/6 in Charcoal and 3.50mm hook
Row 1: ch 15, hdc in 3rd ch from hook and each ch across, turn (13 sts)
Row 2: ch 1 (does not count as st), hdc in each st across, turn (13 sts)
Rows 3-8: Repeat Row 2
Cut yarn and leave a long tail for sewing onto the house later.
Windows
With Friends Cotton 8/6 in Baby Blue and 3.50mm hook. To add the dark cross strips over the windows, use color Charcoal and evenly work surface slip stitches across the crochet pieces.
Alternately you can:
Make a long chain and sew it on top
Use a tapestry needle and double strand to sew the lines across
Square Windows, make 2
Row 1: ch 11, sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch across, turn (10 sts)
Row 2: ch 1, sc in each st across, turn
Rows 3-12: Repeat Row 2
Cut yarn and leave a long tail for sewing onto the house later.
Round Window
Round 1: in magic ring make 2 ch (does not count as a st) make 12 dc into the ring, sl st to first st to join, do not turn (12 sts)
Round 2: ch 2 (does not count as a dc) make 2 dc in the same st as the sl st and in each st around, sl st to first st to join, do not turn (24 sts)
Cut yarn and leave a long tail for sewing onto the house later.
Assembly
Once you’ve got all your house parts it’s time to construct your sweet abode. There is no particular order to sew the parts but it’s easier to attach the icing and gumdrops when the ginger bread panels are flat so here’s my suggestion:
Lay out the roof shingles and gumdrops on the roof panels and sew them on before joining all the roof panels and triangles together.
With the roof ready, sew the piping that runs along the top edge of the roof.
Similarly, sew the door and windows to the walls before joining them all together.
Construct the house using the plastic canvas sheets and slide into the crochet house.
If you’re using a fabric liner, how is the time to get that inserted into the house so you can sew it into the crochet pieces. You’ll secure the plastic canvas by sandwiching it as you sew the crochet and fabric edges together into the plastic canvas holes.
Add the rest of the icing trimmings and if you forgot any decorations, it’s okay, you can still sew everything on!
If you are adding a zipper…good luck and I hope you have a lot of patience 😅 It does take a bit of time and can be awkward especially at the corners but it’s a very nice to have detail and I’m glad I did, just be warned. You can add handles or a long strap to your bag or leave it as is without.
This gingerbread house Bag is more than just an accessory. It's a canvas for your creativity. While I’ve shared the pattern foundation, feel free to add your personal touch. Perhaps you'll choose unique colors, adorn it with festive buttons, or even sprinkle some "icing" stitches – the choice is yours! And if you make this ginger bread house I would love to see your creation, just tag me on Instagram @popsdemilk_crochet
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This pattern is for personal use only. The pattern and its photos may not be reproduced, distributed or resold, translated, published, altered, shared or posted in any way over the internet or offline.
You may sell finished items made from this pattern as long as it is handmade by you, not mass produced, giving the credit to Pops de Milk / Patricia Castillo as the designer. If you have any questions, you can email me at patricia@popsdemilk.com
