Today’s guide walks you through the making of a Crochet Sunflower Cross Bag, a small crossbody bag built from a granny square center that blooms outward in warm golden petals, deep forest green leaves, and a creamy off-white border that feels both sun-warmed and fresh at once. Pull up a chair, gather your cotton yarn, and let’s bring this cheerful little bag to life.
The Sunflower Cross Bag
The Crochet Sunflower Cross Bag is one of those pieces that makes people stop and ask where you got it, and there is something quietly triumphant about saying you made it yourself. At its heart, it is a single oversized granny square, worked from the center outward in a sunflower motif that radiates from a rich brown disc through layers of golden yellow petals, a ring of dark green, and finally a wide cream border with open shell edges. The bag sits airy yet structured against the body, small enough to feel effortless but roomy enough to hold your phone, a card, and a lip balm for a slow afternoon out. A small flower-shaped wooden button at the top corner adds a finishing touch that feels like it was always meant to be there.
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The classic colorway shown in the reference images uses warm brown for the center, bright sunflower yellow for the petals, hunter green for the leaf rounds, and a natural ecru for the outer border and strap, a combination that reads equally well in late summer and early autumn. You could lean into a more muted palette by swapping the yellow for dusty gold and the green for sage, or go bold with a rust-toned center and burnt orange petals for a harvest-season feel. This bag wears beautifully over a linen dress, a denim jacket, or even a simple white tee, making it one of those rare accessories that sits comfortably in your everyday rotation.
Materials and Tools
For the Crochet Sunflower Cross Bag, a worsted weight cotton yarn is the ideal choice, offering the structure the bag needs to hold its square shape while remaining soft and breathable against warm-weather clothing. The sample shown in the tutorial appears to use a smooth, tightly-twisted 100% cotton or cotton-blend yarn in worsted weight, which gives the DC stitches that clean, defined look that makes the sunflower motif so crisp and readable. A 5mm crochet hook is recommended to achieve a firm, even gauge that keeps the bag from drooping or stretching out of shape over time. You will also want a yarn needle for weaving in your ends, a stitch marker to track your rounds, and a flower-shaped wooden button in amber or honey to finish the closure.
Stitch by Stitch
The Crochet Sunflower Cross Bag calls on a small but satisfying collection of stitches that are well within reach for anyone who has completed a granny square before.
BULLET:SC (single crochet) Used to create the tidy, compact edging along the bag’s border and strap, giving clean lines and a polished finish.
BULLET:DC (double crochet) The primary stitch of the granny square construction, worked in clusters to build both the sunflower petals and the outer white border rounds.
BULLET:CH (chain) Used to form the foundation chain, the turning spaces between DC clusters, and the button loop closure at the top of the bag.
BULLET:SL ST (slip stitch) Worked at the end of each round to join seamlessly, keeping the circular construction of the sunflower motif neat and smooth.
Working round after round of DC clusters and CH spaces has a meditative rhythm to it, especially once your hands learn the pattern repeat and your eyes start to watch the sunflower grow rather than count every stitch.
Construction
The bag is built as two identical granny square panels, each worked from the center magic ring outward, and then joined together along three sides with a SC seam that also forms the structured outer edge. The strap is crocheted as a long, narrow chain foundation and then worked back and forth in SC rows until it reaches the desired width, then attached securely at either side of the bag’s open top. Because the entire construction relies on flat squares rather than shaping or increases in unusual places, this project is genuinely beginner-friendly to intermediate makers, and the full step-by-step video tutorial from August Craft walks through every round clearly so you can follow along at your own pace. For a customization idea, you can adjust the number of outer border rounds on the granny square to make the bag slightly larger, which also lengthens the overall look for a more rectangular silhouette.
Wearing Your Sunflower Cross Bag
The finished Crochet Sunflower Cross Bag wears beautifully as a crossbody for a farmers market morning, slung across a vintage-washed denim jacket with sandals and a straw hat. It also works as a sweet companion bag on a beach day, holding just the essentials while a larger tote takes the towels and sunscreen. Once you hold the finished piece, that cheerful golden sunflower square against your hip, you will want to cast on a second one in a new colorway immediately.
Keeping Your Sunflower Cross Bag Looking Fresh
Because this bag is most likely worked in cotton or a cotton blend, it responds very well to a gentle hand wash in cool water with a mild soap, which preserves both the fiber’s integrity and the vibrancy of the sunflower yellow and deep green shades. Lay the bag flat on a clean towel to dry rather than hanging it, as cotton in a damp state can stretch under its own weight and distort the square’s clean geometry. If you want the edges and corners to look especially sharp, a light blocking session with rust-proof pins and a foam mat before the final dry makes a noticeable difference. Store it flat or lightly stuffed with tissue paper to help it keep its shape between uses.
Every stitch in this little bag is a small act of making something real and lasting with your own two hands, and that is worth celebrating every time you wear it. If you make your own Crochet Sunflower Cross Bag, share it on Pinterest or Instagram and tag your work so other makers can find the inspiration too.
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Tutorial and photos of this sunflower cross bag by: August Craft & Crochet.