Come Learn and Share Information about Recycling, Crocheting & Recycled Crafting


Crocheted Plastic Eco Tote

April 29, 2007 7 comments
Eco Tote sm

This crocheted Eco tote features a granny square motif and recycled materials to create an unique look. I used yellow and grey plastic grocery bags, vcr vhs tape, and white plastic retail bags in this project. My goal in creating this Eco tote was to crochet a bag that would be strong enough to use as a book bag and could be used for an everyday carry tote. I also crocheted this bag as a Crochet-a-Long (CAL) at one of my favorite craft website forums Crochetville.

My Eco tote measurements are 12″ wide, 13″ long, 1-1/2″ deep at sides with strap that is 1-1/4″ wide and 28″ long. I have included some closeup pictures below to help you in this project. I must warn you that I did have problems keeping my tote bag square. I believe it’s because of the different materials that I used and because the plastic tends to stretch a bit during crocheting.

Closeup of edging on bag

Click to view full-sized

Closeup of handle attachment

Click to view full-sized

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Plastic Eco Tote Pattern

Size: Approx. 12″ square bag with strap that is 1-1/4 inches wide and 28 inches long.
Hook: N (9 mm) metal crochet hook used in this Motif pattern.
Materials: Plastic bag yarn and 2 partial reels of vcr vhs tape.

Crochet a Recycled Handbag from Plastic Grocery Bags

April 22, 2007 27 comments
Tan Handbag

Crochet this cute eco-friendly handbag from recycled plastic grocery bags. It’s a great size for an everyday handbag purse. Handbag features a roomy oval bottom and comfortable handles.

Here is a closeup of the bottom and handles.

I want to show these closeups so you can see how the bottom has been made oval by adding increases at the sides. The handles are shown laying flat to show how each side is done to matched each other so that the bag is evenly formed.

I have explained this further in the pattern below. If you have any questions while working this crochet pattern, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

As always enjoy this recycled bag project!

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Crocheted Hand Bag Using Plastic Grocery Bags

Materials needed: One large ball of plastic bags cut into strips and interlocked to create a ball of yarn or Plarn to crochet with.

Hook: M (9 mm) size metal crochet hook

Description: Small handbag tote purse –
Bag measures 10 inches wide at top and 9 inches long with 6 inches oval bottom and 5 inches handles.

Directions:

Crochet a Star from Plastic Bags

April 18, 2007 5 comments
Star Back

Crochet this star / flower using plastic bags. This little star or flower was made from recycled plastic bags. It’s a quick and simple project that can be used to make a hair barrette as shown.

The star or flower can be used to embellish any project as it’s a cute addition to any purse or bag. Use your imagination and have fun adding this to your crafting item!

Here’s the free pattern.

Recycling a Plastic Wedding Bag

April 15, 2007 6 comments
Wedding Coaster

My son recently got married and left us this plastic gift bag along with some other trash at our house after they opened some of their gifts here. Being a recycling person, I looked at the trash and saw some treasures.

Above is the picture of the very big plastic gift bag that had been cut to cover a large gift. It was such a pretty plastic bag that I just couldn’t throw it away even though it had been cut into pieces, had splits and other holes in it. I thought wow I could make something out of that plastic. So out came the scissors and I began to cut strips. Now because of the damage to the plastic bag, I couldn’t cut it into circular strips as I do normally with plastic grocery bags. With this I needed to cut long strips and try to avoid tying too many knots because the plastic is so thick. The knots do not hide well when your plastic is thick or heavy gauge.

I cut up as much usable plastic off the bag pieces to create 1 inch wide yarn. I used a smaller hook — an H (5 mm) metal hook to crochet these items. I must say it was a bit hard on my finger joints. The thick plastic is difficult to work with and it caused me to pull harder on my work as I crocheted.

I crocheted this coaster out of my recycled wedding bag. The coaster is crocheted using the same pattern as the link here but with 1 inch single strand strips of plastic bag. You also need to add one additional round to make the coaster big enough as I used an H hook instead of the bigger hook I usually use.


Star and Pot Scrubber

The star is also a new project for me. I am experimenting with it using plastic bags for a hair barrette. You could also use the star as an embellishment to any project you may be crafting. I am crocheting more stars now and will be posting the pattern here shortly.

Then I crocheted this pot scrubber out of my recycled wedding bag. The scrubber pattern is below and varies just slightly from my other scrubber that is coming out soon using plastic bags.
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Crocheted Scrubber Pattern using a Recycled Wedding Bag

Scrubber measures 3-3/4 inches wide across.

Material: Single strand plastic cut into 1 inch long strips

Hook: Metal H hook

Crocheted Plastic Bag Patterns

April 12, 2007 13 comments
YarnBall

Welcome to plastic bag pattern headquarters! I am building a library of patterns here for crocheting with plastic grocery bags and other recycled materials. Currently I have free patterns available for purses, a plastic bag keeper, shoulder bags, coasters, and other bags.

If you are new to crafting with plastic bags here is the tutorial on how to create yarn from plastic bags.

You may also want to read my tips on crafting with plastic grocery bags, just click here.

I love to share my free patterns and recycling ideas with others to promote recycled crafting. My plan is to continue building this website blog into one of the best resources for crafting with plastic bags as well as covering other materials that can be used. More patterns are being added all the time so please make sure you check back often.

September 2014 update:
It has been over 7 years since I first wrote this post and over the years I have added many new recycled plastic bag patterns to my blog. You can find a list of all the patterns with thumbnail photos of each project at my free patterns page.

Thanks for visiting My Recycled Bags!

Crocheted Sling Bag of Recycled VHS Tape

April 9, 2007 31 comments
Sling Bag with Fur

VHS Tape Sling Bag


Now here is the same bag with some red fun fur added

This little sling bag is crocheted using old VHS tape. It’s a great way to recycle those old VHS tapes that you may have stashed away and you don’t know what to do with. If you haven’t read my blog about how to use VHS tape to crochet click here for the link.
It will explain how the whole process works so you too can crochet with VHS tape.

Next I used a thrift store button for a closure but my sling bag just needed something more. I had a bit of red fun fur and thought it just might be the answer. What do you think? Should I add more along the bottom edge?

I conducted a recent poll and many people liked the bag without the fun fur. You can embellish the bag if you want. The complete free pattern is below.

Enjoy this recycled bag project!
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Crocheted VHS Video Tape Sling Bag Pattern

Purse measures 8 inches wide and 8 inches long.
Strap length is 45 inches

Material: 2 VHS Video Tape Reels
One button: 1 inch button shown on bag

Hook: Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook

Crocheted Plastic Bag Keeper from Recycled Bags

April 4, 2007 13 comments
Small Bag Keeper Pic

Plastic Bag Keeper

Here is a crocheted plastic bag keeper made from recycled plastic and bread bags. This is the second installment of my to-do list that I promised you all that I would work on. I had never crocheted a bag keeper so last week I tackled this project. I had to experiment a bit with the pattern to figure out how big it should be and also how I was going to create my bag holder. Many bag keepers or holders that I see have elastic holding the bags in. I wanted to keep this a completely recycled product so I tried a few different things before settling on using some pretty red bread bag strips to weave between my stitches. I then gently pulled on my bread bag strip to clinch it up and tied a bow in the front which created my bag holder. You can untie the bow should you need to put in or take out plastic bags without it being clinched up.

Anyway here is my completed recycled plastic bag keeper that you can crochet from plastic bags and bread bags. You could also use ribbon or strips of fabric rather than bread bags to make your bag holder. As always, here is the free pattern to crochet your own recycled bag keeper.

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Free Recycled Plastic Bag Keeper Pattern

Finished Bag Keeper measures 4 inches circular wide and 18 inches long.
Strap holder length is 10 inches.

Material: One large ball of plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips.

Hook: Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook



About Me

Hello, I’m Cindy or aka RecycleCindy. Welcome to my blog site that is dedicated to recycling and crafting. I love to crochet and create crafts and other useful things from recycled materials. I share many free tutorials and patterns for creating recycled projects as well as other handmade items.


Here is a direct link to all my free patterns available here on My Recycled Bags.


Thank you for stopping by to visit and for your interest in My Recycled Bags!