Cinta Ribbon Bag Crochet Pattern — Ladder Stitch Tote with Video Tutorials

A soft slouchy tote built from columns of long crocheted loops that get rolled into raised cords, with a ribbon threaded through the top and tied in a bow. Finished at roughly 41 cm long × 29 cm wide, with shaped handles that taper to a narrow strap — the sort of bag that looks like it came from a shop rather than a pattern.

What you get

• 13-page PDF, instant download after purchase
• Four video tutorials, linked directly from the pages — rows 1–2, the handle, the assembly and the ribbon. Click the link in the PDF and it opens
• US crochet terms, row by row with stitch counts
• Close-up photos of the trickiest moves, including how to work a double crochet into a stitch that already carries a chain loop
• Written resizing guidance — how to make the bag smaller or larger, with the maths done for you

The stitch

The texture comes from a variation on Jacob's ladder stitch. Where the classic version starts with double crochet, this one starts with single crochet, which makes a denser fabric that holds a bag's shape. Every ninth stitch you chain 10 and slip stitch back down, leaving a long loose loop; the loops stack into columns as you work up the bag, and at the end you roll them up into raised cords that run down the front.

The pattern is explicit that the loops must line up in the same column each round — and it tells you exactly how the counting works, so if you want a smaller bag you work in multiples of 7 and a bigger one in multiples of 11, adjusting the base to match. That's unusually generous: most bag patterns give you one size and leave you to guess.

The build

You start with the base — a flat 15-chain panel, 16 rows of double crochet, about 8 × 21.5 cm. The body is then worked straight up out of it at 90 stitches a round, ten groups wide, alternating a loop row with a plain double crochet row for sixteen rows. Row 17 deliberately skips the chain loops across four central columns, which is what opens up the top edge for the ribbon.

The handles are shaped rather than strapped on: sc3tog and dc3tog decreases at both ends of every row take them from 37 stitches down to 9, then they run straight for as long as you want. You make two, roll the chains, join them to each other and single crochet down both sides to close the bag.

Skills & materials

• Advanced beginner. Chain, sc, dc, sl st, sc3tog and dc3tog. The loops look complicated and aren't — they're chains and slip stitches
• Medium weight (size 4) cotton. The sample uses Sugar'n Cream (232 m / 150 g), or Loops & Threads Heathered Tweed held double (535 m / 210 g)
• 4.5 mm hook, stitch marker
• Ribbon — any width, texture or colour, or scrap fabric or lace. This is where the bag gets its personality

If you use a soft yarn, the pattern suggests adding a lining so the bag doesn't stretch — worth doing on a tote this size.

Please note

This is a digital PDF pattern, not a finished bag. No physical item is shipped. Because of the nature of instant downloads, the file is non-refundable. For personal use — please don't resell or redistribute the file.

The four video tutorials are hosted on YouTube and linked from inside the PDF. They're a companion to the written pattern, which is complete on its own.

Your PDF link arrives by email as soon as your payment goes through, and it's also on your order confirmation page. Save the file somewhere safe, it's yours to keep.

Because a pattern can't be handed back once it's downloaded, digital orders aren't refundable. If something is wrong with the file or a round doesn't add up, email us and we'll sort it out.