Crochet baby doll crib

After two very unsuccessful attempts of crocheting a crib for my daughters baby boy doll (out of fabric strips) ... I finally did it! Yeah! After making this tiny handbag I really liked the way the material would hold its shape. And I thought I could make a crib with handles - like the ones you can buy for babys or sometimes have on the pram. I thought shouldn't be too hard. I just make an oval or rectangular bottom and sides ... Well, turned out to get the pattern right wasn't the problem. But the size! I started out at first trying to make an oval. But since I didn't know how much each row would add to the height and width of the material I didn't know with how many stitches I was supposed to start. I just started - even redid the beginning once - but in the end what was supposed to be the bottom piece turned out to narrow but to long. :-( Since I hate redoing things I just left it - figured I can turn it into another project at some point - and started all over again. This time I figured a rectangular bottom should be easier, since you can measure the chain to start with directly at the doll ... and then just keep going until you reach the required lenght. Well, turned out that you have to make the starting chain a bit shorter than your actually width - don't know why. So I AGAIN ended up with a piece to wide. To add to the frustration before I could reach the required length I ran out of the fabric I had used. I really wanted to have the bottom piece one colour or pattern ... so I started over a third time. This time I used an old bed sheet - therefore I could be SURE not to run out of fabric again! :-) And finally I got the size of the bottom piece just right. Adding the sides wasn't a problem and also the handles turned out nice. I was surprised that it is not as sturdy as the tiny handbag. I suppose it depends on what kind of fabric you are using. But my daughter loves it and carries her baby boy around with her. :-)