One-Way Stretch Crochet Strap

I love making crochet bags, handbags, tote bags, you name it. I feel like it’s getting to the point where I have more bags than I do stuff! I’ve been searching for years for tutorials and ideas on how to make crochet straps that don’t feel like the whole project is going to break if I put a single item inside the bag. The stitch isn’t perfect, but it’s the closest to what I’ve been looking for.

To take a look at my inspiration process, I discovered this by accident while making a bag and realized that while I was slip-stitching to get back to the correct part of the design, the part of the bag with the slip stitches didn’t stretch. Although somewhat annoying for the project I was working on, I realized it would be perfect when I wanted to make the handle!

I was also inspired by the crochet knit stitch or waistcoat stitch. With the waistcoat stitch, you crochet in the middle of the stitch below, however, with this stitch, you can put the single crochet stitches in that spot, or in between the stitches of the previous row. To save my hands from pain, I prefer the latter.

The stitch is worked the long way. You’ll need to chain the number of stitches you want for the length of the strap. For this tutorial, as pictured above, I made a chain 15.

Single crochet in all stitches across for 14 single crochet stitches.

Chain 1 and slip stitch in all single crochet stitches across.

Now, to the fun part! Chain 1 and single crochet across. You will place the single crochet stitches between the stitches of the previous single crochet row. You’ll need to pull up a bit of a longer loop as you will be enveloping the slip stitch row in the stitch.

Here’s a picture of the completed single crochet row with another slip stitch row on top.

And here’s how it looks from the other side. If you pull the work lengthwise you’ll notice the stretch is significantly less! However, this is called a one-way stretch stitch, and you’ll find that the work stretches about normally in the other direction. But hey, you probably won’t be stretching your handle straps in that direction, so it’s all good!

Here’s an example of the stitch in a variegated yarn. I feel like it shows off the stitch a little bit better than a single-color yarn. I hope you enjoy the stitch and use it for many straps, handles, or whatever else you see fit!