Crocheted Sling Bag of Recycled VHS Tape
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 Tape Sling Bag Pattern
Purse measures 8 inches wide and 8” long.
Strap length is 45 inches
Material: 2 VHS Tape Reels
One button: 1” button shown on bag
Hook: Metal “N” hook
Chain 18
Round 1
Hdc in 2nd ch from hook in each chain.
Continue around the corner and down the back side of chain by working a Hdc in every chain stitch.
Round 2 - 13
Hdc in each st around and do not connect at end of rounds, just continue working Hdc in rounds until 13 rounds are completed.
Round 14
Mark front center of bag. Hdc in each st to within 3 sts at center front. Ch 4 and leave the 3 center sts unworked for buttonhole. Then Hdc in each st around.
Round 15
Hdc in each st around to buttonhole opening. Work 4 Hdc in opening (around the chain) for buttonhole then Hdc in each remaining st around to finish round.
Round 16
Hdc in each st around and finish round at side of bag to make strap. Make sure your buttonhole is centered and your strap beginning is at the side of bag. Do not finish off. Leave attached to begin strap.
Strap:
Start strap at side of bag. Chain until strap measures 44 inches. Attach strap to opposite side of purse with a Sl St. Turn and work back up the chain by working a Sc around the chain until you get back to opposite end of strap handle. Adjust your Sc stitches around chain as needed to provide a smooth strap for your bag. Make sure your strap is not twisted before attaching the strap end to the opposite side of bag. Attach your yarn with a Sl St next to the st where you started the strap. Fasten off and weave ends under on inside of the bag.
Sew button on purse under buttonhole space.
Optional embellishments: Add fun fur around the top edge of bag by working 2 Sc in ea st at top.
If you have any questions or find discrepancies in this pattern, please email me using contact tab above.
Abbreviations:
Ch - Chain
Hdc - Half Double Crochet
Sc - Single Crochet
Sl St - Slip Stitch
Sk - Skip
Rnd - Round
This pattern is copyrighted by Cindy of My Recycled Bags {dot com} and may only be used for private individual use. No commercial sales or use is permitted. Links to this pattern are acceptable. ©2007
Filed under: Crocheted Bags, Vcr Video Tape Crafts on April 9th, 2007
hi Cindy-
i love your bag- saw it on craftster- it’s such a great recycling idea, and awesome looking. re: trim or not- has anyone suggested doing something removable? you could have lots of options, depending on where you were going or doing. at first i was thinking velcro, but that wouldn”t work if you wanted plain and simple. perhaps there are some snaps, or big hooks & eyes or something that would blend in or add a kind of subtle edge across the top?. with, without, whatever- it’s super!
good luck-
missie
this is great!
got your link from sewgreen.blogspot.com
I think the red on top is fun, but on the bottom too may be too much.
what an excellent recycler you are :0)
isn’t vhs tape not all that great to hand chemical wise?
Tina,
I have not found anything to indicate that the tape is harmful to handle. It is very similar to microfilm or microfiche that was designed to be handled by the human hand.
Hi Cindy,
I looked at your website via the link through your post on thriftyfun. You have great ideas!!! As for your VHS bag. I liked it without the red fur. I think if it looks classy just the way it is or if embellishment were to be added, anything in black would look more classy.
You are an excellent recycler!!!
I’ve knit with VHS tape before and I specifically emailed a manufacturer to find out if I should be concerned about handling the tape. I was told it’s fine (those of you conspiracy-theory types might not trust the word of a large corporation, but that’s another story). However, toxic or not, I hate how the black stuff flakes off all over the place.
Follow-up from Cindy
Sam, I have never had the vcr tape flake or come off while crafting with it or using the bags made from this material. Possibly your material was different or damaged. I have never experienced any problem crafting with vcr vhs tape. I encourage everyone to use these recycled materials without worry.
Really great idea and very pretty and useful. Because I do not know how to crochet it would be so helpful if you had the same patterns for us knitters. Do you have a pattern for knitting using the bag strips??
Thanks, Dutchie
Dutchie–
I myself do not knit. Therefore the patterns that I create are all crocheted. Here is a post I did which has some knitted items. Click here http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/03/09/update-on-crafting-with-recycled-materials/
There is a link toward the end of the article to a knitted bag. You could use the pattern as a base to knit with vhs tape. Hold two strands together when you are doing your project. Try that out and see how it works. Do you have a pattern for a knitted bag with yarn that you like? Just use vcr tape and do the same pattern. It should work out okay — just make sure you check your gauge so the size comes out good for you.
Good luck and thanks for visiting my site!!
Cindy
Daily Tip: Getting Rid of VHS…
VHS has been vanishing from your home movie collection and the rental store shelves for some time now, but there are still VHS tapes lurking about (especially if you haven’t switched to DVR just yet.) While it isn’t as easy as tossing them in the re…
[...] if you want to go the crafty route, here are some step by step instructions on crocheting a small sling bag out of VHS [...]
Thank you so much for getting this idea out there. I am currently stationed in Germany with my husband and volunteer at the recycle center on base. There are two of us there that are teaching classes on how to turn trash into treasure and we too crochet with all kinds of wonderful different materials. I would love to share some of my bag pictures with you as well. I have been experimenting with mixing yarns in with the VCR tapes and the end product is really cool looking. Not to mention that added yarn really speeds up the crocheting time.
Thanks for all that you are doing.
Much Peace
Teresa
Re: Repurposing VHS Tapes for Art…
http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/04/09/crocheted-sling-bag-of-recycled-vhs-…...
[...] this little red fun fur VCR bag? If so here is the free pattern which has a crocheted strap or you can use a Spool Knitter to create a woven strap. This tool also [...]
Hope you’re better real soon! My sister in law has just been through it and is doing fine now so keep up the spirit like she did. Thanks for the super recycling projects. Just want to let you know that you can make your own “spool knitter”. I’m trying to remember what we used to call it…I think a “granny spool” but you take an old wooden thread spool(hard to find now but also worth recycling) and hammer 4 small nails into one end of the spool and you have your own “spool knitter”. It’s good for straps for dresses also and you can coil and stitch the tubes together also.