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!
Here is my newest recycled plastic bag tote. It is crocheted using 4 colorful bags for the center granny square motifs. If you have lots of white plastic bags, this is an excellent way to use them up and still make an attractive and stylish tote bag. You only need 4 solid colored bags to crochet this plarn project along with about 30 white plastic bags.
This granny square tote features two longer straps so the bag can be carried over the shoulder. The 4 inch depth makes it handy for carrying books, your lunch, or anything else that you might like to use this cute tote for.
As always, please enjoy my free crochet pattern and happy green crafting to all!
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Granny Square Motif Tote Pattern
Materials needed:
One large ball of White plastic bag yarn or Plarn approx. 30-35 bags
One plastic bag in each of the center colors: blue, yellow, orange and green
Hooks: N (9 mm) and H (5 mm) size metal crochet hooks
Size: Approx. 5-1/4″ Motif if using 1 inch strips of cut plastic bags
Finished Tote bag measurements: 11 inches wide, 11 inches, 4″ depth, 17″ handles
With center color Ch 4, Sl St to form ring.
Crochet this recycled trellis tote bag which has been shared from a reader friend of mine Diane. Diane has shared other patterns at my blog and here is her latest recycled creation using plarn. She has added some flowers to finish off her tote bag and asked me to share the free pattern below.
If you need a tutorial on how to make yarn from plastic bags into plarn, here is the link. Thanks Diane and please enjoy her free crocheted tote bag pattern.
Free Trellis Tote Bag Pattern
Materials needed:
One ball of Plarn (approx. 25-30 bags)
Hook: N (9 mm) metal crochet hook
Description: Tote bag/handbag
Bag measures: 11 inches wide by 12 inches long
Direction:
Ch 24 somewhat loosely
I just finished crocheting another plarn clothespin bag from recycled plastic bags. This pattern and project is one of the most favorite plarn patterns here at My Recycled Bags. Not only do many people copy and crochet this pattern for their personal use but I also sell many of this recycled bag each year.
Please feel free to crochet this handy clothespin bag for yourself or as a gift for the upcoming Christmas season. Here is the free pattern link. Maybe you don’t crochet and would like to purchase one of these upcycled clothespin bags. If so you can find this item offered here for sale.
I want to share some of my readers creations that have been emailed to me. Several of my crafty readers have sent me photos of their completed plarn (plastic bag yarn), VCR, and cassette tape recycled bags. I just love seeing everyone’s finished projects and hope you enjoy them too. Click on any of the photos to supersize them.
Libby’s Motif Tote Bag
Libby from Texas used my colorful granny square motif pattern to crochet her bag. She did put one more row of sc around the top before starting the handle. You can find the free pattern link for this recycled plastic tote bag here.
Libby’s Cassette Tape Beaded Bag
Libby’s brown evening purse was made with two strands of cassette tape and two strands of brown ribbon that came from a sweater she unraveled. How cool is that its double recycled! She wanted a purse with beads in the strap, so she added some beautiful beads and used a nifty knitter for the rest of the strap. A magnetic button closure was added with beads glued to cover the prongs on the outside.
Another reader Diane has been busy creating several of my recycled bag patterns. First she shared with me the hobo bag that she made using this recycled plastic bag pattern. She tweaked the pattern by adding a cell phone pocket, used a zipper instead of a magnetic snap and put other pockets in the lining.
Diane’s Blue Ribbon Hobo Purse
Diane also crocheted a plastic tote bag using my colorful motif pattern. She completed her tote bag by lining it with some pretty material that matched her motifs.
Then Diane used my green shopping bag pattern found here to crochet her yellow reusable grocery bag.
Next Bonnye shared some VCR tape bags she crocheted with fun fur added. As shown below she used recycled VCR video tape and fun fur together to create some very cool looking bags!
Thanks to all my readers who sent in photos sharing their recycled crafting projects. I really enjoyed all your beautiful work with upcycled materials. Keep those great green craft projects coming!
Recycled your old tee-shirts into a cute handbag. I crocheted this purse using two t-shirts and a part of another for the striping. I added a flower as an embellishment and here is my final result.
Click to supersize photos
Here is a photo showing how I cut around the tee-shirt to create “yarn” to crochet with. You just continue cutting in one continuous strip and go around corners as shown. If you do need to join two strips, either overlap and weave under your ends or join splicing strips together by either hand or machine stitching the ends together. Another method that doesn’t require sewing the strips together is to make a small slit hole at the end of the two strips you need to splice together. The slit should be cut lengthwise only about 1/2 inch from the end of the strip and should only be big enough to allow the next strip to pass through it. Hold the two strips with the holes together then take the uncut end and lace it through two holes. Pull the strip completely through the holes and pull tight to make the splice as small as possible.
Have fun with this project by recycling your tee-shirts into a charming eco-friendly handbag. The materials are free and so is the crochet pattern below.
Free Crocheted Recycled Tee-Shirt Bag Pattern
Bag measures 10 inches wide and 9″ long with 8″ handles.
Material: Three different colored tee-shirts cut into 1/2″ to 3/4 inch strips
Hook: Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook
Chain 12
I have been saving grey plastic bags for several years until I had enough to crochet this recycled plastic bag (plarn) net market bag. I’m happy to say that I was finally able to finish the bag using this unique colored plastic bags. You may recognize this open netted bag as it is a variation of another market bag I crocheted that had long straps. Both recycled bag patterns feature an expandable sturdy bottom and an open netting look for the main body of the bag.
If you prefer the longer straps on your market bag, here is the free pattern link for the white market bag with 18 inch long straps that is pictured below.
So mix and match the straps or bag colors as desired to create your eco-friendly market tote bag. Below is the pattern for the grey market bag with 8 inch handles. Enjoy the project and happy recycled green crafting to all!
Free Recycled Plastic Net Market Bag Pattern
Bag measures 14 inches wide and 14″ long with 8 inch handles
Materials: One large ball of plarn (plastic bag yarn) Appox. 45 bags
My picture tutorial is found here on how to make plarn yarn from plastic bags
Hook: Metal N (9 mm) US size hook
Chain 24
It’s been quite a while since I crocheted with cassette tape and created a recycled bag from it. So I figured I’d better break out some of those old tapes that I have been storing and get busy with a new recycled craft project. I call this the clam shell clutchClam Shell Cassette Tape Clutch Pattern
Clutch measures 10 inches wide and 5-1/2 inches long at mid point.
Materials:
2 cassette tapes (60 min. tapes)
1 ball Lion Brand Trellis Pastel Garden lacy ribbon yarn (1-1/2 ozs)
1 Velcro button
1 Gold button for embellishment
Hook: Metal J (6 mm) crochet hook
Ch 10 using 2 strands of cassette tape and one strand of Lion Brand yarn.
Pattern is crocheted using 3 strands of material held together throughout project.
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