She’s a Singer 66 treadle in a cabinet some call the schoolhouse cabinet. Apparently this cabinet was used in school home ec classrooms because they were a cheaper model sold by Singer and thus the name. I’m told this machine has the Filigree decals.

I was so excited to find this machine in such great condition. This later model even has reverse which is a real bonus. Plus it came with the original owner’s manual and a box of attachments. It just needed a new belt as the old one was dry rotted and broke. So I oiled it all up and installed a new belt, it was time to test it out.

I threaded it all up and after a few starts to get the hang of treadling again, it sewed like a charm. You see I haven’t used a treadle machine in over 40+ years. When I was very young, we had a black Singer 66 treadle in my Dad’s farm shop. He let me “play” on it and this is how I first learned to sew. I made doll clothes and learned to do basic stitching. Anyway this is how I first started sewing and making things by hand. That old sewing machine is long gone but I’ve always had a soft spot for treadles.

In the future I will share some sewing projects and recycled materials ideas that I have made using my treadle. I hope you have enjoyed seeing my acquisition and if you weren’t already familiar with a Singer treadle, maybe you will have a new appreciation for this vintage beauty. […]

Doll’s head is 10-3/4 inches around. The hat I crocheted is about 11 inches around and 4-1/4 inches long.

Shoulder straps measure 3-1/3 inches long, dress from shoulder to hem is 7-1/2 inches long and 12 inches around chest with back closed with Velcro closure.

Crocheted Baby Doll Dress and Hat Pattern

Fits a 14 inch tall baby doll with 11 to 11-1/2 inch chest

G (4 mm) crochet hook
2 oz of Caron (aran weight) yarn for dress and less than 1 oz for hat
1 strip of Velcro for back closure

Ch 45

Row 1
Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in ea st across. Ch 1, turn. (44)

Row 2-9
Sc in ea st across. Ch 1, turn. (44) (2-1/4 inches long at this point.)

Row 10
Sc in 1st st *Ch 1, Sk 1 st, Sc in next st*. Repeat between * and Sc in the last st of row and join to beg Sc.
Work in rounds from this point on without turning.

Row 11
Ch 2, work 2 Hdc in same sp between joining (space between the joining). Work 3 Hdc in ea Ch-1 sp around. Join with Sl St to beg Ch-2. (22-Hdc shells)

Row 12
Ch 3, Dc, Ch 1, 2 Dc in sm sp between shell (3-Hdc’s of prior row). Then 2 Dc, Ch 1, 2 Dc in each sp between shells around. End with Sl St to beg Ch-3.

Row 13-17
Sl St to Ch-1 sp, Ch 3, Dc, Ch 1, 2 Dc in Ch-1 space. Continue working Dc shells (2 Dc, Ch 1, 2 Dc), in each Ch-1 sp around. Join to top of beg Ch-3 at end of round. Leaving yarn attached at lower hem back edge, Sc in ea st and space around bottom edge of top. Join with Sl St to 1st Sc. FO.

Straps:
Row 1
Count over 6 sts from back edge and attach yarn for strap. Sc in sm st and in the next 2 sts. Ch 1, turn. (3 Sc)

Row 2-12
Sc in ea st across. Ch 1, turn. Repeat until strap measures 3 inches long in length which was 12 rows using Caron yarn. Leave 3″ long tail to attach strap to front.

Skip over 6 sts for armhole and attach yarn at front. Use the tail to whip st across 3 sts to secure strap at front.

Repeat strap for the other side making sure the straps match each other on placement.
Photos below taken before the edging was added.

Edging: Attach yarn at back left bottom opening, Sc evenly up the left side edge and around the inside of […]

So I needed a medium-sized skillet for cooking and bought myself a new Lodge cast iron #10SK 12 inch skillet. Of course I needed a new handle cover for the new pan. I have crocheted pot covers for my other cast iron pans and they are so handy. You don’t need a potholder to move it and the handle cover is always on the pan. I just leave the cover on the pan as generally the handle doesn’t need cleaning or seasoning.

Here is the free crochet pattern for the t-shirt yarn handle cover. I cut my t-shirt strip in one continuous strand about 1/4 inch wide. Then I gently stretch the narrow strand which causes it to curl in on itself. I call this material curled t-yarn.

This skillet handle is a bit narrower than my big cast iron 14 inch pan so I had to work a decrease on each side of the cover on one round before the end. That tightened it up and then I used the tail at the end to weave it closed even a bit tighter so it fits snug on the handle.

If you haven’t already discovered the joy of cooking on cast iron, I hope you will try it. It is so important to clean and season cast iron properly after each use. Without good seasoning of the pan, you will find cooking miserable with everything sticking in the pan. Here is a good informational article on how to clean and season cast iron cookware. With proper seasoning, you will love cooking on cast iron and find it’s almost like using a non-stick pan.[…]

When I asked about the sizes they needed for their dolls, I was told just to crochet newborn baby sized items. So I used my crocheted cuffed baby booties pattern to make the booties. I used sport and fingering yarn to crochet the booties following the pattern exactly to make the off-white and blue booties below. As you can see, the booties are different sizes but I figure that they have many different sizes of dolls so the booties should fit one of their dolls.

For the rose colored hat and bootie set pictured at the top, I crocheted them with some worst weight yarn. Because this yarn was heavier, I altered the booties by only crocheting 18 stitches around for the toe portion. Then I only chained 7 stitches for the cuff and only did a total of 7 rows for the cuff. The result is a bootie that is about 3 inches long and 1-1/2 inches wide standing.

The hat pattern I used is just a basic baby beanie pattern. Just use whatever baby hat pattern you like. I added a reverse single crochet (crab stitch) around the rose hat for trim. I used several different yarns, so my baby doll hats range from 4-1/4 inches to 5 inches wide. As I mentioned, they can use many different sizes of baby doll items so I don’t think you have to worry about getting any exact measurements.

I had fun crocheting these baby doll booties and hats. I add a flower to this last one to brighten it up. I plan on crocheting a few more items before shipping them off to the Molly’s Babies organization. So if you enjoy charity crocheting like I do, please consider crocheting some baby doll items that you can donation to this much honorable cause. […]

I have tons of white plastic bags as many people do. Most people that craft with recycled plastic bags find it difficult to find pretty colorful bags. You can usually find a few unique colors but it’s almost impossible to find enough bags to crochet a complete tote bag. So I’m always on the quest to find new ways to embellish my white tote bags. Here is my latest crocheted recycled plastic bag. It’s a red, white and blue striped reusable tote bag. It uses around 30 white retail bags and only about 3 blue plastic bags and 3 red newspaper bags. As you can see, just a few colorful bags can dress up an otherwise boring white plastic bag tote.

To crochet this recycled tote bag you basically use my Ultimate Grocery Bag pattern and add the stripes using the red and blue plastic bags cut into plarn. I also changed up the handles a bit and will detail the changes below to explain how to crochet this recycled plastic tote bag.

I used a N (9 mm) crochet hook to work this tote bag. The finished size is 13 inches wide and 14 inches long with 9 inch handles.

Following the basic pattern link, crochet with white plastic bag yarn (plarn) for 19 rounds. End at side of bag with a slip stitch.

Attach blue plarn yarn at side of bag and Hdc (Half Double Crochet) in each stitch around. Work 2 rounds with blue plarn and end at side of bag where you began with a slip stitch.

Work one round with white plarn in same manner as you did with the blue. End with slip stitch into beginning stitch at side of bag.

Attach red plarn and work Hdc in each stitch. Work 2 rounds with red, ending at side of bag with a slip stitch.

Now attach white plarn and work 4 rounds. End round at side of the bag.

Handles:
Lay the bag down flat. Mark center 18 stitches at center front and back of tote bag. These will be the openings for your handles.

Round 1:
Hdc in each stitch to the mark for handle opening, Chain 20 and skip those 18 stitches at front center. Then Hdc in each stitch around to back where you have mark for the handle opening for the other side. Chain 20 and skip the 18 stitches at back. Hdc in each remaining stitch to finish round. The end of the round will be at the side of the bag where you began. (Don’t join at this point and just work in the round.)

Round 2:
Hdc in each stitch around to handle chain. Sc around the chain for the handle evenly. Then Hdc in each stitch of bag around to the other side handle chain. Sc around that chain evenly also. Finish round with a Hdc in each remaining stitch of round.

Round 3-5
Hdc in each stitch of bag and Sc in each stitch […]

You can find all of my crochet free plastic bag patterns here at my site. Over the years I have shared all my patterns free so that everyone could enjoy crafting with recycled plastic materials. I have used every type of recycled plastic such as retails bags, toilet paper packaging, hotdog and hamburger bun packages, frozen vegetable packages, paper towel packaging, bread bags, hashbrown bags, and taco shell bags.

Trash Rug from Recycled Plastic

Recycling plastic to create yarn has endless possibilities. I only named a handful of plastic items you can make plarn from. Plarn (PLastic yARN) is the term my friend Joy coined first over at Crochetville to name what the material was called that you cut into strips to create a yarn that you can craft with. You can find my plarn tutorials here on how to create yarn from plastic.

Some recycled bags can be patriotic like this All American Plarn Tote.

Other projects can be useful in the kitchen like these kitchen scrubbies.

Maybe you need a rug. Plastic rugs made from recycled plastic make outstanding rugs. You can just hose them off if they get dirty and they make great doormats.

So whatever you may want to crochet as a plarn project, I hope you will find My Recycled Bags.com a useful resource. It you need help with a pattern or just using recycled materials, please contact me. I love to share and help people discover the joy of crafting with recycled materials. […]

It’s just the right size if you have a large square bar of soap. Here is my plarn soap dish with a scrubbie also crocheted from recycled plastic bags.

Here is a plarn soap dish pictured with a oval bar of soap along with a crocheted dishcloth to match.

Here is one other crocheted soap dish with white plastic retail bags along with a scrubbie added with a cotton yarn trim. The cotton yarn edging adds a colorful touch to the otherwise boring white bags. You can also use the soap dish crocheted from recycled plastic bags as a scrubbie holder. Just rinse it out in warm water if it gets too soapy or dirty. Either way this recycled soap dish is a handy holder and provides a useful way to reuse those plastic bags you may have stuffed in your kitchen drawers and cabinets.

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Free Crocheted Plarn Soap Dish Pattern

Materials needed:
3 — plastic bags cut into strips 3/4” wide and interlocked to create plarn
Here is the link to my plarn-making tutorials should you need it

Hook:
“J” ( 6 mm) US size metal crochet hook

Gauge: 3 Sc = 1 inch; 3 rows = 1 inch

Description:
Recycled Plastic Soap Dish – measures 5-1/2” long by 3” wide

Directions:
Row 1
Ch 13, Sc in the 2nd st from the hook and in each st across. Then turn and work Sc down the other side of chain in each st. ( 24 sts) Don’t join but work in the round until advised otherwise.

Row 2
Sc in same end st again. 2 Sc in next st (at end) and 1 Sc in ea st down to the other end, work 2 Sc in each of the two end sts, then Sc back down to the other end. (28 sts)
Click to Supersize

Rnd 3 – 4
2 Scs in the each of the three end sts of strip, then 1 Sc in ea of the sts down to the other end. Work 2 Scs in the each of the three end sts and then 1 Sc in ea st down to the end. (34)
Click to Supersize

Rnd 5
Sc in each st around.

Rnd 6
Ch 1, Sc in BLO in ea st. Join with Sl St to Ch-1 beg.

Rnd 7
Ch 1, working in both loops now, Sc in each st around. Join with Sl St to Ch-1. FO.

If you have any questions or find discrepancies in this pattern, please email me using contact tab.

Abbreviations:
Beg – Beginning
BLO – Back Loop Only
Ch – Chain
Dc – Double Crochet
Ea – Each
FO – Finish Off
Plarn – Plastic Bag Yarn
Rnd […]

I have the free crochet pattern written below for the crocodile stitch oven mitt. If you haven’t tried working the crocodile scales yet in the round, I think you will enjoy crocheting this pattern. Please read the complete pattern through before beginning and adjust the opening should you need a larger size as my wrist is small so I made my opening tighter.

Crocodile Stitch Oven Mitt Pattern

J (6 mm) hook and G (4-4.25 mm) hook

Materials:
2 skeins of Red Heart Super Saver Chunky (Bulky) yarn in Windsor Blue
1/2 oz. of white cotton yarn
Fabric for lining

Finished crocheted oven mitt measures 10” long by 7-1/2” wide with a 5” wide opening at top

Special Stitch:
Crocodile Scale Stitch: Dc 5 stitches down first post of the 2-Dc base set, Ch 1, and then work 5 Dc up the 2nd Dc of the 2-Dc set.

Directions:
With J hook and chunky yarn, Ch 42. Join to form a ring making sure your chain is not twisted.

Rnd 1
Ch 3, Dc in next st, *Ch 2, Sk 2, 2 Dc in next st*. *Repeat to end and join with a Sl St to top of Ch-3. (14 2-Dc sets; 14 2-st spaces) Do Not Turn. Oven mitt is worked in the round.

Rnd 2
Ch 1, work crocodile scale stitch around the 1st 2-Dc set, skip next 2-Dc set, work crocodile scale stitch around the 3rd 2-Dc set. *Skip next 2-Dc set and work crocodile scale stitch around next 2-Dc set*. * Repeat to end and join with a Sl St to top of Ch-1. (7 Scales made)

Rnd 3
Sl St over and into the center hole of the next scale, Ch 3 and Dc in same space. *Ch 2, 2 Dc in space between the next scales making sure you go through both layers front to back, between the 2-Dc sets*. * Repeat to end and join with a Sl St to top of Ch-3.

Tip: At end of round 3, you should have a Ch-2 and then Sl St into top of Ch-3.

Rnd 4
Ch 1, Sk 1st 2-Dc set and work crocodile scale stitch around the next 2-Dc set so scales are staggered over each other from prior round. *Sk next 2-Dc set and work crocodile scale stitch around the next 2-Dc set*. * Repeat to end and join with a Sl St to top of Ch-1.

Repeat Rnd 3 and 4
Until you have 10 scale rounds completed. The scale round will be the last round you complete. FO.

Close bottom edge of oven mitt with a piece of the blue chunky yarn by doing […]