A long-time WIP

Hello my lovelies! OK, so confession is in order, I'm afraid. I haven't been doing much crochet-wise lately. Mind you, I did work on the flip side of the future mandala bag, but, ahem, I might possibly have forgotten to take pictures in time for today's Granny Square Challenge. Duh.

Sooo, today, I am taking you back in time, to a WIP that has been lurking around my crochet lair for a good 2 years. This is a bag made with classic granny squares in variegated yarn, those very ones (same ball of yarn, by the way, Lang Jawoll Magic, most likely discontinued by now)...

...and block-coloured cotton yarn (Rico Essentials DK for the most part). The reason why said WIP has been on such an extended hiatus is that I am not quite sure how to make the bag rigid enough.

Anyway, here's the thing, without any kind of rigid fabric propping it up:

The oversized buttons are actually meant to hide the unsightly seam that can be created when working in rounds of UK dcs. That was before I knew of this amazing technique to get an almost invisible join. Give it a try, you will not regret it.

Obviously, the bag will have a lining, which is actually fully finished and ready to be inserted.

BUT... and this is where my 'problem' lies: the bag is a boxy shape and is too floppy to look good as is. It needs some kind of propping up. So I went with cross-stitch fabric and started to sew panels into the sides and bottom of the bag, like so...

At some point along the way, I had doubts, and the project has been in limbo ever since. Which is a shame, because I find this bag so lovely. It's probably a self-confidence thing. Hopefully it will pass. Surely I will be able to finish it one day... I'll keep you posted of course :)

In the meantime, Granny Square fest is this way as usual, and I'll see you very soon!

Thanks for reading :)