I fell in love with this crocheted ditty bag pattern when I first saw it. It’s so cute and has a handy strap that threads through the front of the bag. You may recognize this pattern by Dot Matthews that she created and used regular worst yarn to crochet her bag. I wanted to try crocheting the pattern using recycled plastic bags or plarn. Here is my finished plastic ditty bag.

Because plastic bag yarn is thicker, my ditty bag came out a bit larger than Dot’s bag. I followed Dot’s pattern except that I had to crochet 27 rounds before doing the handle rather than her pattern that calls for 22 rounds. Other than that, I crocheted the bag according to the free pattern available here.

Click on any of the photos to supersize

My finished plastic ditty bag measures 7 inches tall, 7 inches across the bottom and has a 14 inch long handle strap. So whether you want to crochet with regular yarn or plarn, this pattern makes for a cute ditty bag and would be wonderful reusable gift bag project too.

Just in time for Valentine’s day, here are several recycled craft projects that you can make. First I want to share this cute Valentine’s bag that Carmen sent me a picture of. She crocheted this using my recycled Valentine’s bag pattern and added some red plastic bags to trim her creation.

Next maybe you need a holder for your Valentines, if so here is a fused plastic bag project with a full picture tutorial found here.

For those crafters that enjoy working with recycled denim, here are a few little denim heart purses. The purses are lined and have several different embellishment options as shown in the tutorial.

Well that concludes my recycled crafting roundup for Valentine’s day.

Happy Valentine’s day!

I love crocheting with recycled t-shirts. I cut this t-shirt into 1/4 inch strips and curled it as shown in my tutorial for curled t-yarn or tarn. I was inspired by the diagonal dishcloth pattern when I crocheted this baby bib. I had to frog the bib several times to get the size and shape right but I think the finished bib turned out pretty good. I cut the bottom hem off the t-shirt and used it for the two tie straps for the baby bib. You could also crochet your tie straps if you’d rather but I like using the hem strips as they are stretchy and already sewn for you.

I’m not sure why the bib looks red but it’s really pink. I think my camera is getting old and color blind — lol. Anyway here is my t-shirt yarn ball before I started which shows the pink color better.

This bib was crocheted for my little granddaughter. She’s four months old now and this should fit her nicely. It’s of course very washable and durable as it’s made completely from a recycled cotton t-shirt. The best part is that this baby bib was free making it a very frugal and green crafting project at the same time!

Free Pattern for Crocheted Diagonal T-Yarn Baby Bib

Materials needed:
One pink t-shirt cut into ¼” wide strip and stretched to curl into t-yarn – approx. 110 yards
Cut two 14” long strips using the t-shirt hem and stitch ends closed

Hook:
“H” USA size crochet hook

Description:
Baby Bib measures 9” across and 8” long from neck edge to bottom center
Straps are each 14” long

Directions:
Ch 14 (more…)

My blog is three years old today! Wow it is exciting to have made it this long and I look forward to many more years of recycled crafting and blogging.

First and foremost I want to thank all my readers and fellow crafters who have inspired, shared, and otherwise supported me and my blog over the last three years. As many of you know, I’ve faced my worst fears when I discovered that I had cancer back in March of 2008. But I persevered and kept on crafting and so far thank God, have beaten cancer and kept this blog going.

So as I move into another year of blogging, I wish you all the best and hope you will continue the journey along with me and my blog. Thank you again for all your love and support over the past three years.

Here is a quick little crochet project using recycled plastic bread bags. I cut the bread bags into strips just as I do here in my tutorial to create what I call plarn (plastic bag yarn.) I used about 5 or 6 different colored bags to crochet this coaster. It’s a great way to upcycle bread bags and other heavier plastic into a useful item that otherwise might end up in our landfills.

Plastic Bread Bag Coaster with Fringe

I used an aluminum “H” crochet hook and cut my plastic bags about 3/4″ wide. Starting with a magic circle, Sc 6 times into circle. Don’t join but just mark the beginning of round so you know where it is. Next round, work 2 Sc in each stitch. Next round, work a Sc in next stitch, then 2 Sc in next stitch and repeat around. Next round, work a Sc in the next two stitches, then 2 Sc in next stitch and repeat around. Next round, work a Sc in the next 3 stitches, then 2 Sc in next stitch and repeat around. (Each round increase the number of Sc’s and then do your 2 Sc’s.)

Continue working in rounds and adjust stitches as needed so your coaster lays down flat. I did 6 rounds and finished with a few Sl Sts on last round so my edge was smooth and the coaster is round. I used scraps of plastic about 1-1/2 inch long to make my fringe around the outside of the coaster. I then trimmed the edges so the fringe measures about an inch long. My coaster’s middle is about 4-1/2 inches wide. You can make smaller or larger coasters as desired. Remember when crafting with recycled materials, it’s not an exact science so adjust your pattern as needed. The important thing is to recycle or upcycle that old plastic!