I call my latest recycled bag A Slice of Plarn. It is crocheted using salmon colored plastic newspaper bags. The finished purse looks like a slice of tangerine or orange to me and therefore this is how this plastic bag project got its name.
The pattern I used is for a crocheted hobo bag that is available free over at Crochetspot blog site. I adapted the pattern just a bit to allow for the difference between using plastic bag yarn and regular yarn. I worked the pattern in half double crochet stitch rather than double crochet. I also worked a row of single crochet along the inside wedge edges just to give it a smoother finished.
My finished bag is 9 inches tall and about 10 inches wide. I worked just single crochet stitches on the strap to provide a stronger strap so the plastic wouldn’t stretch too much when the purse is used.
My button loop includes another round of single crochet around the basic chain that the original pattern calls for. Again because I was working with plarn, I felt that my loop need the extra round of stitching to make a secure closure.
So whether you want to make your purse with recycled plastic bags or yarn, I hope you enjoy the project and thanks to Rachel for another great free pattern over at Crochetspot.
This week I present a dual handled plarn tote bag. A reader recently asked if I had a free pattern for not only a shoulder strap but also a bag with handles to grip with your hands. So I got busy and crocheted this tote bag for her. It’s like the best of both worlds — You can throw this jumbo tote bag over your shoulder or grasp it by the smaller handles.
This is another over-sized tote bag project that is similar to my jumbo plarn beach bag which features one long shoulder strap that has a pull through front closure. I think this tote bag would make an excellent farmer’s market bag as you have so much room inside and the two different ways to carry it around.
So whether you want one long strap or dual handles on your plarn tote bag, you can mix and match these two free crochet patterns that I am posting at my blog. Best wishes and happy crafting to all!
Free Jumbo Dual Handled Tote Bag Pattern
Materials needed:
One very large ball of plastic bag yarn Plarn
Approx. 80 white plastic grocery bags for main bag and
16 orange plastic bags for stripes
Hook: N (9 mm) U.S. size metal hook
Description: Dual Handled Plarn Tote Bag
Bag measures 16 inches wide and 20 inches long with 30 inch shoulder strap and 9 inch handles
Directions:
Ch 34
I present the jumbo plarn beach bag. This is the largest recycled plastic bag that I have ever crocheted. It measures 16 inches wide by 20 inches tall. It features a 30 inch long strap that you pull through the front opening to secure your beach bag closed. Then because the strap is long, you can throw it over your shoulder and off you can go.
So if you need a jumbo beach bag or maybe you want an extra large grocery tote, this plastic bag pattern will definitely fill your needs. It also allows you to use several different colors of recycled plastic bags for the stripes. The colorful stripes add a nice touch to the otherwise plain white bags that are so abundant.
Free Jumbo Plarn Beach Bag Pattern
Materials needed:
One very large ball of plastic bag yarn or Plarn
Approx. 80 white plastic grocery bags for main bag
15 grey and 8 pink plastic bags for stripes
Hook: N (9 mm) U.S. size metal hook
Description: Jumbo Plarn Beach Bag
Bag measures 16 inches wide and 20 inches long with 30 inch strap
Directions:
Ch 34
I just finished participating in a crochet along (CAL) over at my Trash to Treasures group at Ravelry. Several of the members of the group crocheted this checkbook wallet organizer from recycled plastic bags. We each crocheted the plarn pattern that Crochooley shared in what she called a crochet – plarn along (C-PAL) that she hosted at Ravelry. Crochooley is a fellow plastic bag crafter whose blog is found here.
Here is an inside picture of my checkbook wallet which is complete with a pen holder and an ID slot. The checkbook wallet has a strap band closure and features a big flower decoration that uses a pop tab for the flower center.
Click on any of the photos to super-size them.
Here is a picture of the flap edging I did. I found working the reverse single crochet (SC) around the flap just didn’t work for me. With the outside facing out, I started at the right corner of the flap and worked regular SC stitching around the flap edge as shown and then down around the front of the wallet and back up the flap back to the beginning.
I enjoyed making this checkbook wallet and found the pattern fairly easy to follow. Crochooley was very helpful when I had questions concerning this recycled bag pattern. So if you are looking for a cool and basically free craft project, I recommend checking out this cute checkbook wallet organizer.
Time to kick of the holiday crafting with this little plarn Christmas bag I crocheted. Isn’t it adorable and guess what — its free to make. All you need is a few recycled plastic bags to create this cute little striped gift bag. So grab about 3 red, green, and a white plastic bag and cut them into plarn. For this project you want your plarn to be real thin so I cut my strips only about 1/2 inch wide.
With the built-in handle, you have a ready made gift bag perfect for that special little gift item or you can slip a gift card into your recycled plastic gift bag. My inspiration was Kristy’s ornament pattern as I tried doing it in plarn (plastic bag yarn) and it came out way too big. So I just modified the top and added the handle for a closure.
My little plarn Christmas bag is 6 inches wide by 3 inches tall. The handle is 3 inches long. Using a H crochet hook, I basically followed the pattern by Kristy until row 18 which was my last row to work. I marked the center of my bag by laying it down flat. Sc around in each stitch of this last row — at the center chain 3 and skip 2 stitches to create your hole for the handle. Then Sc in each stitch around to other center mark for the handle, chain 22 for handle. Skip 2 stitches and Sc into last stitches of row and finish off.
Volia — Your recycled Christmas gift bag is complete. You also can come and join the fun over at Retro Housewife’s Green Holiday Carnival that I am participating in this weekend.
Time for a new recycled plastic bag project. Things have been a little hectic lately and I haven’t been able to craft and post new patterns as frequently as I would like. But this week I was able to get some plastic newspaper bags cut up into plastic bag yarn. I just love this beautiful shade of pink salmon that my local library gets their newspaper delivered in. For those people who may have not read my fat bottom bag post, these beautiful bags are being saved by my local library. I pick them up about twice a week and it’s a wonderful resource for me to be able to obtain unique and colorful bags for my recycled crafting projects.
I actually counted the number of bags I used in this crocheting project. It was 29 plastic bags. I cut them about 1 inch wide and interconnected them together using the loop method. Each newspaper plastic bag results in about 17-18 loops if anyone is interested. Anyway this water bottle holder holds a 32 oz Nalgene bottle or a store bought 1 liter bottle of water. Because these plastic bags are a bit thinner I used a K crochet hook rather than my standard N hook. The smaller hook provided a tighter stitch and a sturdier water bottle holder.
Please enjoy the free crochet pattern below and happy crafting to all!
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Recycled Newspaper Bags Water Bottle Holder Pattern
Material Needed: 29 salmon pink newspaper plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips and connect into plarn.
Plastic newspaper sleeve bags were used in this project. Cut the strips and assemble
just as you do in this plarn making tutorial.
Hook:
Metal K (6.5 mm) crochet hook
Water Bottle Holder Size:
Bag – 5-1/2″ wide, 7″ long, with 4″ round bottom
Strap 40″ long & 2″ wide
Fits water bottles that are 32 oz reusable bottles or 1 liter plastic bottles
With pink plarn, Ch 4, Sl St to join in first st of chain to form ring.
Halloween is just around the corner and I’ve been saving plastic orange newspaper bags for quite awhile so I could crochet a recycled trick or treat bag. I just got it finished in time and am here to share the project with everyone.
This trick or treat bag features a milk jug base so its nice and sturdy. With a sharp pair of scissors, just cut around the bottom of the milk jug as shown in the photo below. The jug I used had a line around the base so it made it easy to cut it evenly around the bottom. By recycling a plastic milk jug, you create a trick or treat basket that will hold its shape and your candy nicely.
Once you finish crocheting the bag, you can always add more embellishments like eyes and a mouth to the project. I took a few pieces of VCR tape and created a quick face for my trick or treat bag. So this concludes my Halloween project for the year. Enjoy the free crochet pattern below — Happy Halloween!
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Trick or Treat Plastic Plarn Basket
Materials needed: One ball of orange plastic bags cut into strips 3/4 inch wide and interlocked
to create a ball of plarn – (Approx. 20-25 bags)
Small amount of green plastic bags cut into plarn for strap
One plastic milk jug
Here is my picture tutorial on how to make yarn from recycled plastic bags.
Hook: K (6.5 mm) metal crochet hook
Description: Orange Trick or Treat Basket –
Basket measures 9 inches across front and 6-1/2 inches tall with 14 inch handle strap.
Directions:
Ch 3 and join with a Sl St to form a ring.
I have been working for several weeks now on a custom-ordered recycled bread bag project. The client wanted a fat bottom bag (FBB) crocheted from bread bags. What made the project unique was that the bread bags are from her husband’s bread factory. She collected bread bags from the factory’s floor of damaged products and mailed them to me to crochet her FBB.
I cut the bread bags into strips about 1/2 inch wide and created plarn using the same method I do for plastic grocery bags. I didn’t count the number of bags used but I believe its around 50 bread bags. I used the FBB English pattern here. I added the flap and button option which is detailed at my plastic fat bottom post link which also has the English chart link as the original pattern is written in Portuguese.
Working with the bread bags was much harder than the thin newspaper bags that I used in my first plarn FBB. The bread bags are so stiff making it difficult to do the gathering portion of the bag. But I was able to get it accomplished and lined the bag for my special order customer.
Here are some photos of the project as it progressed.
Beginning of crocheted shell of FBB
Shell and lining completed
The final photo shows the flap with the button sewn in place. I am excited for my customer to receive her custom-made repurposed bread bags. I hope she enjoys her unique recycled fat bottom purse.
Here is my latest felted wool purse project. It’s crocheted using 3 different colors of wool yarn. I crocheted each section using the blue, teal, and then creme yarn. Below are my before felting pictures of the bag and a side shot.
I felted my pieces on the hottest setting on my washer for about 18 minutes.
Here is a picture taken after I felted the main bag.
Click on photos to supersize
Here are photos of each side of my strap which was crocheted using one of main colors on each side.
I finished off the felted purse by attaching the strap and lining my bag complete with a zipper. Here is a my purse lining tutorial if you need instructions for lining a crocheted bag. The full detailed crochet pattern is below — Enjoy!
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Free Pattern for Crocheted Felted 3-Color Striped Purse
Materials needed:
3) 100% Wool Yarn (100 grams/110 yard skeins each)
Blue, Teal, and Cream colors used
Small amount of fabric for lining and pockets
9 Inch Zipper
Hook: H (5 mm) U.S. size metal hook
Description: Felted Blue Striped Bag
After felting bag measures 13 inches wide at base and 9 inches long with 39 inches strap
Directions:
Using blue wool yarn, Ch 45.
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