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


Tag Archive | "plastic bags"

Orange Plarn Trick or Treat Bag

October 15, 2011 8 comments

Using these orange plastic bags to create a trick or treat bag was a great way to recycle my newspaper bags. Here is my picture tutorial for cutting the newspaper bags to create plarn so you can crochet with the material.

For this project, I wanted to create large comfortable handles that could be put over a child’s arms for easy carrying of this basket type bag. I recycled a microwave dinner tray and cut the top rim off. I then hole punched around the base evenly so I could crochet into the plastic tray for the base of this bag. The dinner tray provides a flat and sturdy bottom to the bag which allows the bag to stand up nicely on its own.

Enjoy crocheting this recycled bag project and happy Halloween everyone!

********************************************************************************************************************************
Free Crocheted Pattern for a Recycled Plastic Trick or Treat Bag

Materials needed:
Orange plastic bags cut into 1” strips for plarn (approx 25 newspaper sacks used)

1) Plastic frozen dinner dinner tray with the rim cut off
(One used in project was 6-3/4” long & 3-1/2″ wide)

Hooks:
G (4.25 mm) sized metal hook for base row only
J (6 mm) sized metal hook

Description: Recycled Plastic Halloween Trick or Treat Bag

Bag measures 7” long, 5” wide and 6” tall with 8-1/2″ handles

Directions:
Using the tray after cutting off the rim, punch holes around the base as shown in the photo.
I used a heavy duty hole punch to put the holes around the base.
[…]

Variegated Plarn Tote Bag

September 18, 2011 6 comments

I present my latest creation — Variegated plastic bag yarn or plarn as it so commonly is known as in the crafting world. Pink, orange, and white plastic bags were used to crochet this variegated recycled bag. The pink and orange bags are plastic bags that newspapers are delivered in and the white is from just regular retail bags. I used these 3 colors to create my variegated look by assembling 3 loops of pink plarn, 2 white loops, 3 orange loops, and 2 white loops, then repeat this order for the variegated look. Here is my plarn making tutorials for creating yarn from newspaper or retail plastic bags should you need to see how to make plastic yarn.

This plarn ball was made using newspaper and retail bags together to create the variegated colored yarn. As I outlined below, if color pooling becomes a problem just add another white strip of plarn to offset the pooling. I found if I added an additional white strip to the 2 white ones, it solved the pooling issues with the tote bag as I crocheted it.

Enjoy the free crochet pattern below and happy crafting to all!

**********************************************************************************************************************************

Variegated Plarn Tote Bag Pattern

Materials needed:
Plastic bag yarn “Plarn” – Approx. 50 white plastic grocery bags along with 20 pink and 20 orange plastic bags for the variegated yarn

This variegated plarn is created by assembling 3 loops of pink plarn, 2 white loops, 3 orange loops, and then 2 white loops, repeat pattern for variegated look.

Hook: “N” (9 mm) size metal hook

Description: Recycled Plastic Tote Bag
Bag standing up measures 14” wide and 11” tall with 12” handles
with measurements flat 17″ across, 12″ high, and 11″ long base.

Directions:
The bottom of bag is crocheted with just plain white bags. Using just white plarn, Ch 20.

Rnd 1
Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in ea chain st down to end. Continue around other side of chain by working a Sc in ea st to other end. […]

Plarn Scrubbie Coral

September 3, 2011 3 comments

I crocheted these scrubbies using recycled plastic bags that were cut into plarn. It reminds me so much of sea coral that I just had to call the scrubbers scrubbie coral. The inspiration for these scrubbies came from my friend Kristy who shared her cotton scrubbies at her blog Texiles4you.

People ask me all the time about the amount of plarn created by each plastic bag and while it may differ with one type of plastic bag to another, I found the standard white retail bags yield me about 7 yards of plarn when cut them 1″ wide and assembled using the looping method. The orange plastic newspaper bags provided me with 6 yards due to their smaller size.

With that in mind, you need 4 plastic bags to make each one of these scrubbies. The white scrubbies were crocheted just 4 rounds. I found I liked a bigger scrubbie so I crocheted the orange one five full rounds. By crocheting 5 rounds you use all of the plarn created from the 4 plastic bags where the smaller scrubbers only use a little over 3 bags.

You will find as your crochet each round that it begins to twist which is normal. The more rounds you crochet, the more twist you get. Have fun with the colors and mix and match them. I plan to crochet more of these scrubbies and add a different color just on the final round which should create an even more unique coral look for the scrubbies.

***************************************************************************************************************************
Plarn Scrubbie Coral Pattern

Materials needed:
Plastic bag yarn “Plarn” – 4 plastic bags cut into 1 inch wide strips
as shown in my plarn making tutorial

Hook: “N” (9 mm) size metal hook

Description: Recycled Plastic Scrubbie
Scrubbies are about 3-1/2 – 4″ wide depending on if you do 4 or 5 rounds

Directions:
Rnd 1
Ch 2 and work 8 Sc in the 2nd ch from hook. Do not join and continue working in rounds. Use a stitch marker if necessary so you know where each round starts.

Rnd 2
Work 2 Sc in each st.

Rnd 3-5
Work 3 Sc in ea st.
Option: For a smaller scrubbie, crochet just 4 rounds.

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

Abbreviations:
Ch – Chain
Ea – Each
FO – Finish Off
Hdc – Half Double Crochet
Inc – Increase
Plarn – Plastic Bag Yarn
Rnd – Round
Sc – Single Crochet
Sk – Skip
Sl St – Slip Stitch
St – Stitch

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. ©2011

****Please do not copy my patterns on your blog site or post my patterns on Internet sites. I do not allow my patterns to be republished without expressed written permission. Posting of my patterns, without […]

Orange Crush Plarn Purse

June 1, 2011 7 comments

This week I present my latest recycled plastic bag project. I call this my orange crush plarn purse. The purse was crocheted using orange newspaper bags and white plastic grocery bags. You can check out my plarn making tutorials that show how to make the bags into a yarn from either newspaper or plastic retail bags. The base was made using just the recycled bags from orange newspaper delivery sleeves. I then crocheted with two strands of plarn held together — one strand orange and one white. This combination created the orange and white color blend for the main body of the purse which was crocheted using a granny stitch.

Next I added a beautiful pair of purse handles that I picked up from my local thrift store. I was so excited to purchase these brand new, still in the package, handles for just 99 cents. The black handles just added a great final touch to the purse.

This cute purse crochet pattern can be found free over at Debi’s Hooks and Yarns blogspot. I modified her pattern by working 10 rounds in the granny stitch as I needed just a bit more height for my purse. Debi crocheted her bag using two strands of worst weight yarn so you can change up this pattern pretty easily depending on if you want to use plarn, yarn, or even tarn (t-shirt yarn).

Until next time, happy crafting and make it a great day![…]

All American Plarn Bag

July 17, 2010 4 comments

I present my All American Plarn Recycled Bag! It is crocheted using red and blue newspaper bags and white grocery bags that were recycled into plarn. Here is my plarn making tutorial and I use the same method for cutting and attaching the newspaper strips together. They are much shorter strips but it’s the same loop method as regular plastic grocery sacks for making your plarn.

I got these nice wooden handles from a local thrift store for just 99 cents. This is my first recycled purse project using round wooden handles and I wanted to make sure to attach them firmly to my bag. I ended up working two rows of single crochet stitches around the handles and into the bag. I have explained the process below and hopefully it’s understandable to everyone. You could work this same pattern with bulky yarn and end up with about the same sized bag. Either way I hope everyone enjoys my free crochet pattern below. Happy Crafting!

*****************************************************************************************************************************

All American Plarn Recycled Bag Pattern

Materials needed:
Plastic bags cut into 1 inch wide plarn strips in red, white and blue.
(Approx. 17-18 bags in each color.)
1) pair of 7 Inch wide wooden handles

Hook: “N” (9 mm) U.S. size metal hook
Description: Red, White and Blue Plarn Striped Bag
13-1/2” wide by 12” tall with 9” at top opening

Directions:
Using salmon red plarn, Ch 26. […]


Recent Visitors

Archives

  • [—]2012 (5)
  • [+]2011 (50)
  • [+]2010 (69)
  • [+]2009 (58)
  • [+]2008 (65)
  • [+]2007 (63)

About Me

Hello, I’m Cindy or aka RecycleCindy. I love to learn and share information about crocheted and other items crafted from recycled materials. This is a green, eco-friendly website that is dedicated to recycling and crafting.
This blog and my life have taken on a new journey when on March 10, 2008, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I have added a special area on my blog in which I chronicle my journey into the pink.
Thank you for stopping by to visit and for your interest in My Recycled Bags!

Calendar

February 2012
S M T W T F S
« Jan    
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
26272829