Making this as a gift for a dear friend.

Finished Bag Dimensions: 15.5” wide x 11.5” high in the center (below handles) and 13.5” high on each side edge.

Button Closure for this Bag:

Finished Flap Dimensions: 2 1/2” wide X 7” long

I decided to add a sc thermal stitch button closure with an added lock and twist clasp. Here is what I did to complete the flap:

I located the top center along the back side of the bag and determined that my flap would need to be 11 stitches wide in order to accommodate my clasp nicely. So, I attached my yarn 5 stitches to the right of the center stitch and worked 11 sc along the top back edge.

Then, working in SC thermal stitch, I continued rows of thermal stitch until it was 5” in length. At this point, I double checked the flap against the front to see where I wanted to place the clasp tab opening. It looked to be just about right. I wanted to make certain it was long enough to close without being too tight, or if I needed to add more length before working a button hole row. Perfect!

Preparing for the Button Hole Row: I worked 4 sc ts, 3 finishing sc ts (as described in the pattern), followed by 4 sc ts.

On the next row, I worked 4 sc ts, 3 ch sts (checking to make sure the ch-3 “opening” would be big enough for the clasp tab), 4 sc ts, creating the button hole with the 3 ch stitches.

I continued to work rows of thermal stitch until the entire flap was 7” in length and then added my butterfly twist/lock clasp.