Halloween is still a couple weeks away, but there’s still plenty of time left to work up a jack-o’-lantern treat bag and fill it with fun Halloween treats or prizes!
This pumpkin themed treat bag is a fun pattern for the Halloween season. Whether you fill it with a few treats or not, you’ll enjoy working it up! You could even add some stuffing to it and display it as part of your Halloween decorating!
This jack-o’-lantern treat bag is worked up in tapestry crochet technique following a graph (or the written instructions below) for the bag body. Then the holes are created using chain stitches for the drawstring before working up the top of the bag. The drawstring is worked up separately and woven through the holes afterwards.
This bag is unlined, but you can sew a lining in after, if you prefer to have a lined bag.
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Let’s get to making are adorable and spooky jack-o’-lantern treat bag! I hope you enjoy working it up!
The Jack-O’-Lantern Treat Bag crochet pattern is available for FREE on this website. If you’d like an ad-free, printable PDF version, you may purchase it for a small fee from my Etsy or Ravelry shops. Thank you so much for supporting Loops & Love Crochet!
Materials:
- Worsted Weight (#4) Yarn – Cotton or acrylic yarn will work for this project. The jack-o’-lantern treat bag pictured here was made with WeCrochet/Knit Picks Dishie yarn in the White, Black Clemintine, Mulberry colorways. You’ll need approx. 60-100yds of yarn. Most of the yardage is in white, with only about 10-20 yards of each of the other colors.
- 3.5 mm crochet hook
- Yarn needle to weave in ends
Stitches Used:
- Ch – chain
- Sl St – slip stitch
- SC – single crochet
- BLO SC – single crochet in the back loops only
Finished Size:
- When laying flat, this bag measures approximately 5” wide and 8” tall.
Gauge:
- Gauge is not critical for this pattern to turn out, however, for reference, 2 inches square is approximately 9 rows of 10 SC stitches.
Important Notes:
- Joined Rounds– This bag is made in joined rounds. At the end of each round, the last stitch of the round will be joined to the first stitch with a slip stitch. Then chain 1 and start the next round in the first stitch, which is the same stitch as the join. To keep more seam more hidden and from traveling much, be sure to pull the joining slip stitch and the chain 1 nice and tight. Chain 1 stitches do not count towards stitch count of each round.
- Back Loops Only – All of the single crochet stitches for the body of this bag are worked in the back loops only (BLO). However, slip stitch joins are worked through both loops.
- Color Changes – The bag body is worked in tapestry crochet. This means you will be changing from the main to accent color often and carrying the color you are not using along with you under/behind your stitches. To change colors, complete the last single crochet in the first color up until the last yarn over. Yarn over with the new color and pull through last step of the single crochet stitch. So, your SC will go like this: insert hook into last stitch in the first color, pull up a loop, yarn over with the new color, pull through all loops on hook. Now you will be working in the new color until you change colors again.
- Tapestry Crochet Tips – For tapestry crochet, the inactive yarn is carried behind the active yarn. Try to keep your tension a little on the tighter side to help keep the stitches tightly together and hide the yarn you are carrying from showing between the stitches. To keep the colored yarn from showing behind the white stitches, only the white yarn was carried, while the orange, black, and green were dropped when finished with and then picked up on the next round. There more information on this later in the pattern.
- Video Tutorial – If you need any help while working up this pattern, please watch the video tutorial for our Christmas Tree Bag crochet pattern. This bag is worked up in the same way, including the tapestry crochet section for the bag body.
Important Graph Notes and Yarn Carrying Instructions:
- Each box counts as one single crochet stitch (in the back loops only).
- Graph is worked from bottom to top, either right to left or left to right.
- The graph is 26 stitches, however the bag is 52 stitches around. Repeat the graph twice to get the 52 stitches. You’ll have a pumpkin on each side of the bag. Note that if you’d only like a pumpkin on one side of the bag, just do the graph once and continue in the white yarn the rest of the way around the bag. As another option, if you only want the face on one side of the bag, but the back of the pumpkin on the other side, replace the black stitches with orange when you repeat the graph the second time for the back of the bag.
- For the purple stripes on rows 2 and 4 (and then again for 22 and 24), you do not need to carry your yarn. When you complete the color change at the end of the round, just drop it and pick it up when you need it again. When you finish the second purple stripe in the set, work over the yarn tail a bit to secure it and then cut the purple yarn, keeping the white yarn connected.
- To help keep your color changes more hidden, only carry the white yarn for rows 6-18 on the graph. You’ll need two bobbins of each of the orange and black (and green for the tiny section at the top. This is one for each side of the bag so you don’t carry yarn across the middle. When you are working with orange, black, and green, just pick up the yarn when you need it and drop it when you’re finished for that round. When you get around to the other side of the bag, you’ll just pick it up again and pull it across to where you need it. To keep the inside of your bag tidy, when you float the yarn across, work over the floated yarn when you make the stitches, instead of keeping it hanging inside the bag. For example, when you pick up the orange yarn, you’ll have to pull it across to the starting side of the pumpkin again, when you make the stitches in orange, work over the yarn you pulled over so you don’t have hanging yarn in the inside of your bag.
- If the yarn carrying is overwhelming to you, just carry your orange throughout under the white. You’ll see it between your stitches, but you might like the speckled effect.
- After row 25, refer to the written instructions for completing the top section of the bag.
The Pattern:
Bag Base
Row/Round 1: In white, ch 25, 2 SC in 2nd ch from hook, SC in next 22 sts, 4 SC in last stitch at the end of the chain. Continue around so you are working on the other side of the chain. SC in each stitch across, 2 SC in the last stitch (this will be in the other side of the same stitch as your first 2 SC of the round). Join with a sl st to first SC, ch 1. (52)
Bag Body
Now you will start the body (height) of the bag. For this section, you may choose to follow the written instructions for all the bag rounds below, or you may follow the graph. Please make sure you’ve read the instructions above for the color changes, yarn carrying, etc.
Bag Body – Written Instructions
- The written instructions below indicate how many stitches in each color you’ll make as you work around the bag.
- Round count starts back at 1 for the bag body so it matches the rows on the graph.
- Each stitch is a back loop only single crochet stitch. At the end of the round, join to the first SC of the round with a slip stitch through both loops. Chain 1, and then work the first SC of the round in the same stitch (back loop only).
W = White, P = Purple, O = Orange, B = Black, and G = Green
Round 1: W26
Change to purple yarn in the last stitch of the round. Drop white yarn, leaving it connected.
Round 1: P26
Change to white yarn in the last stitch of the round. Drop purple yarn, leaving it connected.
Round 2: W26
Change to purple yarn in the last stitch of the round. Drop white yarn, leaving it connected.
Round 3: P26
Change back to white yarn in the last stitch by picking up the white yarn and dropping the purple. Work over the purple yarn for a few stitches in the next round until it’s secure and then cut it.
Round 4: W26
Round 5: W26
Round 6: *W8, O10, W8, repeat from * one more time
Round 7: *W7, O12, W7, repeat from * one more time
Round 8: *W6, O3, B8, O3, W6, repeat from * one more time
Round 9: *W5, O3, B10, O3, W5, repeat from * one more time
Round 10: *W5, O3, B2, O2, B2, O2, B2, O3, W5, repeat from * one more time
Round 11: *W5, O16, W5, repeat from * one more time
Round 12: *W5, O16, W5, repeat from * one more time
Round 13: *W5, O3, B3, O4, B3, O3, W5, repeat from * one more time
Round 14: *W6, O3, B1, O6, B1, O3, W6, repeat from * one more time
Round 15: *W7, O12, W7, repeat from * one more time
Round 16: *W9, O2, G4, O2, W9, repeat from * one more time
After you finish with the orange yarns, work over them for a few stitches of white to secure and then cut off the tails. As an alternative, you can weave in the ends later.
Round 17: *W12, G2, W12, repeat from * one more time
Round 18: *W11, G2, W13, repeat from * one more time
Work over the green yarn for some of your white stitches to secure it and then cut it off. As an alternative, you can weave in the ends later.
Round 19: W26
Round 20: W26
Change to purple yarn in the last stitch of the round. Drop white yarn, leaving it connected.
Round 21: P26
Change to white yarn in the last stitch of the round. Drop purple yarn, leaving it connected.
Round 22: W26
Change to purple yarn in the last stitch of the round. Drop white yarn, leaving it connected.
Round 23: P26
Change back to white yarn in the last stitch by picking up the white yarn and dropping the purple. Work over the purple yarn for a few stitches in the next round until it’s secure and then cut it.
Round 24: W26
Do not fasten off. This is the end of the tapestry crochet section for the body of the bag. Next, continue to the top of the bag. At this point, only your white yarn should be attached to your bag. Chain 1 and continue to top of bag instructions.
Top of Bag
Round 25: SC DEC, SC next 24 sts, SC DEC, SC last 24 sts (50)
The stitches of the next round will create the holes the drawstring will pass through. Remember, all SC stitches are worked in the back loop only.
Round 26: SC first 3 sts, ch 2, skip next 2 sts, *SC next 3 sts, ch 2, skip next 2 sts, repeat from * around, join, ch 1 (50 sts including SC and chain sts)
Round 27: SC in each stitch around, work 2 SC stitches into each ch 2 space, join, ch 1 (50)
Rounds 28 – 31: SC in each stitch around, join, ch 1 (50)
Do not ch 1 after round 31. Fasten off and weave in end.
Next, your jack-o’-lantern treat bag needs a drawstring! Continue to Drawstring Instructions below.
Drawstring Instructions
In the color of your choice (purple shown in this pattern), make a chain long enough to go around the bag with a little extra for short ends that will tie into a knot when the bag is sinched. For the bag pictured, a starting chain of 55 was used. Starting in the 2nd chain from your hook, work slip stitches into the 3rd loop (back bump) of each stitch across. Fasten off, weave in ends.
Weave the drawstring in and out of the holes around the bag starting in one of the center holes. The ends may seem short to tie, but when you sinch the draw the strings in, they’ll be long enough.
To close the top of the bag, pull the ends of the drawstring to cinch up the top of the bag. Then tie a knot at the top to secure it so the items inside don’t fall out.
Now you are all finished! I hope you had fun working up your jack-o’-lantern treat bag! Now you can enjoy putting some treats or prizes inside and keep it for yourself or give it to someone special!
If you’re looking for other Halloween inspired crochet patterns, check out our Jack-o’-Lantern Trick or Treat Bags or our Witch Amigurumi!
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