To-Ma-Tote Crochet Pattern — Tomato Mesh Market Bag

A soft mesh market tote with plump tomatoes worked right into the fabric — not appliquéd on top, but built from the mesh itself, round by round, with a green stem hand-stitched into each one.

This is a 35-page PDF in US crochet terms, and it is the most thoroughly photographed pattern in the shop: roughly 138 numbered step photographs carry you through every round, with the written instructions given twice — once as a compact round-by-round list, and again spelled out picture by picture for anyone who would rather follow along visually.

How the tomatoes are made

The whole bag is a simple chain-one mesh. The tomatoes appear because, over an eight-round sequence, the mesh quietly closes up: a round with 5 solid double crochets, then 9, then 9, then 9, then 5, and then back to open mesh. That swelling and shrinking block of stitches reads as a round fruit against the net. Three bands of eight tomatoes wrap the bag, and after each band you sew the stems — six short stitches radiating from the centre of the top of each tomato, worked in green.

One detail worth knowing about

From round 2 onward the double crochets are not worked the usual way: the hook goes into the body of the stitch rather than under the top loops. The pattern explains why, with photographs — the conventional method makes a mesh lean to the right as it grows, and this one keeps the columns running dead straight up the bag. It is a small change that makes the difference between a tidy bag and a skewed one, and it is taught properly here rather than assumed.

Size, and changing it

• Finished: 34 cm (13.4 in) wide × 28 cm (11 in) tall, excluding the strap
• Strap: 58 cm (22.8 in) — longer or shorter by working more or fewer rows
• Finished weight: 305 g

There is a dedicated size-adjustment page. Each tomato motif, with its mesh spacing, takes exactly 16 chains — so the foundation chain of 59 gives four tomatoes per side, 75 gives five, 43 gives three. The arithmetic is handed to you rather than left to work out.

What you need

• Recycled cotton or polyester yarn, 2 mm — the sample uses SIMPLY Recycled Cotton, 150 g / 160 m per skein
• About 300 g (2 skeins) for the bag, plus 5 g of green for the stems
• 3 mm hook, tapestry needle, stitch markers, scissors

A different yarn weight works fine — match the hook to the yarn and the bag simply comes out larger or smaller.

Construction

Base and body are worked in the round from an oval foundation; the two straps are worked flat in rows, decreasing from 19 stitches down to 5 and then running straight, and are sewn together at the top. A two-round edging of single crochet and slip stitch runs all the way around each strap to firm it up and finish the edge.

What you get

• 35-page PDF, instant download after purchase
• Written instructions in US terms, plus a full picture-by-picture walkthrough
• Crochet symbol key, abbreviations, and pattern notes
• Bag size adjustment guide
• Stem-sewing and strap-assembly photographs
• For personal use — please do not resell or redistribute the file

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.