DIY Crochet Bag Inspired by the Instructables Robot (20th Anniversary Special

Welcome to this special craft tutorial created in celebration of Instructables’ twentieth birthday! 🎉 To mark the occasion, I’ve designed a versatile crochet bag inspired by the iconic Instructables robot.

This bag isn’t just cute—it’s functional too! With a few simple adjustments, you can style it as a tote bag, a sling bag, or even a backpack. Perfect for carrying your everyday essentials while showing off a bit of maker spirit, this project combines practicality with a playful nod to the community we all love. Let’s grab our hooks and yarn and start stitching up some robot-inspired fun!

In this Project, you are going to need:

1. Yarn (Polyester, yellow, red, black, grey)
2. Hook (2.5 mm, 4 mm; depending on your yarn)
3. Needle
4. Scissors
5. D ring
6. Stitch marker
7. Clasps
8. Adjuster slide

If you are a beginner, here is a tutorial on Basic crochet stitches

Below are the Crochet Abbreviations and Definitions used in this ible:

CH: chain

SC: single crochet

DC: double crochet

TR: treble crochet

Sl St: Slip stitch

Inc: increase

Sk: Skip

The Base:

Slip knot, Ch 17

SC in the second chain from the hook, SC in the other chains, until it reaches the end of the chain

Ch 1, turn the work, SC in each stitch. Continue this process until you have achieved your desired bag size. My base size was 28.5 cm x 8.8 cm (I'm not good with numbers, so I forgot how many rows I made, but I think it's around 50 rows)

Finishing the base:

After you have the size of the base,

Ch 1, SC in the same stitch

Continue SC in each stitch

When you reach the corner, make 2 SC in the corner stitch

Continue SC in each stitch until the corner, make 2 SC in the corner stitch

Repeat until you reach the first SC from this finishing part, Sl St

Cut the yarn

Main Bag:

For the main bag, I used the yellow polyester yarn.

Make a slip knot, pull through the slip knot into the last stitch of the base.

Ch 1, SC in the same stitch at the back loop, mark with a stitch marker

Continue SC in the back loop, repeat across

When you reach the stitch marker, SC in the first stitch (not in the back loop)

Continue SC in each stitch, repeat across. This step will build the body of the bag. Continue this step until you reach the desired height of the bag. Mine was 25.5 cm.

Strap hole:

Flatten the surface of the bag and determine the right and left edges symmetrically. Then, place stitch markers at several points as shown in the picture.

For the strap hole size, ensure it is adjusted according to the strap hole you want to create.

Ensure that the stitch markers on the front and back of the bag are symmetrical.

Start crocheting: SC (from the previous point) to the stitch marker of the strap hole.

Ch 7 (depend on the size of the hole you want to make)

SC in each stitch until the next stitch marker of the strap hole

Repeat SC for 4-5 rows.

Sl St, fasten off, and hide the remaining yarn.

There are numerous tutorials on how to make a bag strap. I think the most important thing for this project is that the bag strap should not be too thick, because we are going to use an adjuster slide to customize the strap's length. In this project, I used the Tunisian crochet technique.

R1: slip knot, Ch 6 (this will determine the width, so you can go more or less).

Insert your hook in the second Ch from the hook and pull up a loop, continue to the end of the chain.

Yarn over and pull through 2 loops until you get to the end.

R2: Ch 1. Go under a loop (be mindful of where the loop is) and pull up a loop. Yarn over and pull through 2 loops until the end of the chain.

Repeat until you get to your desired length. I want to be able to style my bag as a sling bag, so I need the length of the strap to be longer than the tote bag style. The length of my strap was 130 cm.

The strap cover:

Basically, the strap cover will cover the strap only in the area between the strap holes. This part will be the eyebrow of the instructable robot. Thus, I used the black yarn.

The technique is similar to making the base of the bag

R1: slip knot, Ch 23 (depend on your own project)

SC in the second chain from the hook, SC in the other chains, until it reaches the end of the chain

Ch 1, turn the work, SC in each stitch. Continue this process until about 16 rows (depending on your strap width), Sl St, fasten off.

Sew the D rings on the sides of the bag. Attach the clasps and the adjuster slide to the bag strap as shown in the picture.

R1: Magic ring, Ch 2, 12 DC,

Pull the yarn to close the magic ring. Sl St to the 2nd chain of Ch 2 (total 12 stitches)

R2: Ch 2, DC inc 12 times, Sl St (total 24 stitches)

R3: Ch 2, (1 DC, inc) *12 times, Sl St (total 36 stitches)

R4: Ch 2, (1 DC, inc, 1 DC) *12 times, Sl St (total 48 stitches)

R5: Ch 2, DC in the back loop of each stitch, Sl St

R6: Ch 2, DC each stitch, Sl St, and fasten off

📌Make 2 pieces of R1-R4. Then choose 1 to continue to the R5 and R6

Now you have 1 "bowl" and the "lid". Let's sew these two pieces together

Before sewing these, you will need to turn the wrong sides out and then put the right sides in. Attach the Stitch markers at the top of the pieces [picture].

Make a slip knot, attach the yarn at one stitch marker (insert your hook into both stitches of those two pieces)

Ch 1, SC around until you reach the other stitch marker.

Continue SC on the bottom piece only (the "bowl"), until the center of the piece

In the center, create 7 chains to form a small loop [picture]. Continue SC until the first SC of the sew, Sl St

Mesh Stitch:

R1: (Ch 8, Sk 3, SC next) Repeat around.

Sl St in the first chain of the Ch 8, Sl St 3 more chains (4 chains total have been Sl St)

R2: (Ch 8, SC in Ch 8 space aka the loop) Repeat around.

Sl St in the first Ch of the 8, Sl St 3 more chains (4 chains total have been Sl St).

Repeat R2 a few more times (as you want)

Last round: 4 Sl St, (Ch 4, SC in Ch 8 space) repeat around. Sl St

Mesh Handles:

R1: SC around, Sl St Before round 2

Symmetrically put 4 stitch markers on the rounds (this is basically where the handles will connect)

R2: Ch 1 to start, SC until you reach the 1st marker, SC in the marker, Ch 30 or more, SC into the 2nd stitch marker [1st handle]. SC until you reach the 3rd marker, SC in the marker, Ch 30 or more, SC into the 4th stitch marker [2nd handle], Sl St.

R3: Ch 1, SC around, Sl St, fasten off.

I made another pouch for the 2nd ear, but I didn't crochet the mesh because I want to use the other ear as an empty pouch.

Sew clasps on the sides of the bag.

Slip knot, Ch 20, Sl St to the 1st chain,

R1: Ch 4, 40 TR into the center of the ring. Sl St at the top of Ch 4.

R2: Ch 4, (1 TR, inc) repeat around, Sl St at the top of Ch 4.

R3: Ch 2, TR in the back loop of each stitch, Sl St, fasten off.

Make a smaller eye.

Slip knot, Ch 15, Sl St to the 1st chain,

R1: Ch 4, 36 TR into the center of the ring. Sl St at the top of Ch 4.

R2: Ch 2, (1 DC, inc) repeat around, Sl St at the top of Ch 4.

R3: Ch 2, TR in the back loop of each stitch, Sl St, fasten off.

Sew the eyes to the bag.

For the smile, make Ch 40, then sew under the eyes

R1: Magic ring, Ch 2, 12 DC,

Pull the yarn to close the magic ring. Sl St to the 2nd chain of Ch 2

R2: Ch 1, SC in each stitch, Sl St, fasten off.

Sew them on the bag under the eyes

For the rectangle thing under the grey button (I don't know what it is), I made 140 chains, and sewed it on the bag

This project has been such a rewarding journey for me. It’s only my second crochet project, yet it turned out to be quite a huge one—especially considering the size of the bag! I learned so much along the way, from shaping the design to making it versatile as a tote, sling, or backpack. I hope this tutorial inspires you to take on big, bold projects too, because the results are definitely worth the effort. 💛

Thanks for joining me in celebrating Instructables’ twentieth anniversary—happy crocheting, and keep making!