For Christmas I made my older sister a bag. The actual crocheting wasn't too difficult, but it took FOREVER. I actually began making it this summer. I didn't expect it to take me so long, but I only had it finished a few days before Christmas. For the most part I am happy with how it turned out. I admit, given the amount of time I put into it I had expected it to fold up larger. Alas.
The folding part was pretty cool - the bag itself, minus the shoulder strap, was crocheted in a single long piece and then folded to make the bag. If I had to do it over again I would probably try to find a self-striping cotton yarn - I don't advise making switches between colors. Or, at least, my OCD tendencies don't like how that turns out much.
The other problem I had with this, as you can see, are that the lines don't match up perfectly straight. This was a result, I am sure, of the fact that my stitches probably changed tension over the 6+ months that I worked on this. So when I sewed it up, they didn't match up as well as I was wanting. Granted, when there are things in the bag, I am sure that no one but myself will notice. One of the issues of being a novice and not getting this done in a reasonable amount of time!
Overall it didn't turn out bad. Sure, there are things I would have wanted to be better and things that I would have changed, but it isn't bad at all. I am making her a little button loop to go over the top and keep it closed for her - because it wasn't long enough to make the top of the bag narrower it tends to hang open a touch too much. So, we'll see if that helps it out like I hope that it will.