
Last month I purchased a sunshine umbrella. It’s one of those clothes line things you unfold and put in the ground to hang your clothes on to dry. I haven’t had anything outside to hang my clothes on for quite awhile at this home. But wanting to do the eco friendly thing, I want to hang my clothes outside to dry. It saves electricity and money on my power bill and of course is environmentally friendly!
Anyway I didn’t have a clothes pin bag. So I got busy and crochet myself one. I love to make things that I need from recycled materials and hope others do too. If you need to know how to make plastic bag yarn, here is the link. Once you have your yarn, you are ready to go!
Here is a picture of the little hanger I used for the inside. It is 10 inches long and fits perfectly inside my peg bag. You might also use a baby hanger as they are small.
So what are you waiting for, grab that crochet hook and get to work!
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Free Pattern for Crocheted Clothes Pin Bag
Materials needed:
One large ball of plastic bag yarn aka Plarn
One 8-10 inch long plastic hanger to fit inside bag
Hook: N (9 mm) size metal crochet hook
Description: Clothes Pin Bag
Bag measures 12 inches wide and 12 inches long
Directions:
Ch 28

I finally got around to crocheting a Barbie fashion doll dress out of recycled cassette tape. It’s been something that I have wanted to complete way back when I crocheted my Barbie doll purses. I had fun digging out my old Barbie doll which hasn’t had a clothes change in probably 30 years. The old girl looks pretty good for being at least 40 years old. I thought the gold boots really went well with her new halter dress too. I also whipped up a little hat to go with her new outfit.
You use just a small amount of cassette tape to crochet this outfit. Use the link above to choose a purse or shoulder bag to finish off your recycled Barbie outfit. I hope you all have as much fun making this outfit as I did. Enjoy!
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Free Barbie Fashion Doll Halter Dress & Hat Pattern
Material: Cassette Tape
Hook: E USA size crochet hook
Halter Dress
With cassette tape as yarn, Ch 24, Sl St to join in first st of chain to form ring.

I just recently completed this water bottle carrier or holder. It’s another item off my to-do list. This carrier holds a 1 liter bottle of water. I crocheted a wider and longer strap so this may be worn as a sling bag over your shoulder and across your body. The strap is 40 inches long so you have a nice comfortable length to carry this bottle. I found this worked well as this 1 liter bottle is a bit heavy when full. Also because the bag is crocheted using recycled plastic bags, you don’t have to worry about it getting wet from the condensation from the cold bottle. Don’t know how to make plastic bag yarn? — here is the tutorial link.
Here is the free pattern that I share with all my readers. Take care and blessings to all.
Free Water Bottle Holder Pattern
Material: Plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips – 1 Ball of plarn
Hook:
Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook
Water Bottle Holder Size:
Bag – 5-1/2 inches wide, 7-3/4 inches long, with 4-1/2 inches round bottom
Strap – 40 inches long & 2 inches wide
With plastic bag yarn, Ch 4, Sl St to join in first st of chain to form ring.

Here is another item that I have wanted to make out of plastic bag yarn. It’s a crocheted baby bib made using recycled plastic bags and cotton yarn. I added the cotton to give the bib some absorbency. You can just wipe it clean or machine wash as needed. Line dry only! If you put it in the dryer, the plastic will melt.
The bib has a small Velcro closure on the top for easy on and off. I cut just a small square from a long strip of Velcro that I had. It’s about 3/4 of an inch wide and is machine stitched to the back side of strap. I used white plastic bags and some leftover blue variegated cotton yarn for this project. But you can probably use just about any color combination you desired to create your bib. I finished off my bib by working Sc stitches all around the outside edge and neck opening using just the cotton yarn.
This gives the bib a nice smooth finished edge.
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Free Pattern for Crocheted Baby Bib
Materials needed:
One ball of plastic bag yarn aka plarn
One partial ball of peaches & cream cotton yarn (Shaded Denim used)
One small Velcro strip for button
Hook: N (9 mm) size metal crochet hook
J (6 mm) hook for working edge only
Description: Baby Bib measures 9 inches wide at middle and 11-1/2 inches long
Work project by holding one strand of plarn and one strand of cotton together as you crochet.
Directions:
Ch 16 using “N” Hook

Here is yet another great looking tote bag you can crochet from recycled trash. This granny square motif bag was created using plastic bags for the center and 2 reels of old vcr tapes. The tote bag measures 11 inches square with a 26 inch strap handle.
As always, here is the free pattern.
VHS Video Tape Motif Tote Pattern
Size: 11 inch square bag with 26 inch long strap
Hook: N (9 mm) metal crochet hook used in this Motif pattern
Materials: Yellow and Grey plastic bags cut and tied into yarn (plarn)
2 Vcr video tapes (T-120s)
With center color (Yellow shown) Ch 4, Sl St to form ring.

Crochet yourself this cute summer tote from plarn. What is plarn? Well if you haven’t heard the term yet, it refers to the yarn created from recycled plastic bags. I believe Sonnets and Stitches from Crochetville.org was the first to coin the term.
Here is my link to a picture tutorial on how to make plarn. So check it out and recycle all those plastic bags into something of beauty. It’s truly trash to treasure at this website!
Free Pattern for Crocheted Plarn Tote Bag
Materials needed: One very large ball of plastic bag yarn Plarn
Hook: N (9 mm) size metal hook
Description: Tote Bag
Bag measures 12″ wide and 12″ long with 4″ expandable bottom
Directions:
Ch 28

This is my latest recycled bag project which is crocheted from Vhs video tapes and ribbon yarn. Here is the link for the tutorial on how to use Vhs tape as yarn. This tote bag measures 13″ by 12″ and has a handy grip handle. You could also crochet this bag using recycled plastic bags. If you use plastic bag yarn or plarn, you only need to use one ball of plarn and the strand of ribbon yarn as you work the pattern. Vhs video tape is much lighter which requires the double strand (2 reels) to be used in this project.
Here is a closeup of the combination of Vcr tape and ribbon yarn.
Free Pattern for Crocheted Vhs Video Tape Tote Bag
Materials needed:
2 Vhs Video long play tapes (T-120)
2 rolls of Lion Brand ribbon yarn – Incredible #51659, 110 yards ea roll
Hook: N (9 mm) size metal crochet hook
Description: Tote Bag
Bag measures 13 inches wide and 12 inches long with 4 inch oval expandable bottom
Directions:
Using 2 strands of vhs video tape with one strand of ribbon yarn Ch 28.

Here is a seamless reusable lunch sack bag. The lunch sack is crocheted from recycled plastic bags. This project is another installment of my to-do list which I am working on. The list is made up of items that I have never made before and I use recycled material to create each item. Once the item is completed, I share it here along with the free crochet pattern so everyone can have an opportunity to make the recycled project too.
This week, I completed my lunch sack which is a seamless bag. I have used this seamless method for quite a while now and wanted to share it here on my blog. You can use it on many different projects when you don’t want to have to sew or weave sides together on your project. It also leaves your item with a nice appearance as you do not have a joining stitch. I have step-by-step pictures of how the seamless bag method works below.
Click on photo to view full-size
At round 3 of bottom
Click on photo to view full-size
At round 5 as sides curl up
Click on photo to view full-size
At round 7 as bowl is created
Click on photo to view full-size
Finished bag with expandable bottom
Free Reusable Lunch Sack Bag Pattern
Materials needed: One large ball of plastic bags cut into strips and interlocked to create a ball of plarn
Strip of Velcro for flap closure (I used 4″ strip)
Hook: N (9 mm) size metal crochet hook
Description: Plastic Lunch Sack Bag
Bag measures 8 inches wide at top and 11 inches long with 3-1/2 inches oval expandable bottom and 19 inch long strap.
Directions:

Here is my parade of pot scrubbers crocheted from recycled plastic bags!
I used several different types of plastic to create these pot scrubbies. The yellow and white/red ones were crocheted using the pattern below with a “N” hook. The white/gold one was made from a recycled plastic wedding bag. You can read about that project here. This scrubber was made using a “H” hook rather than the bigger hook as the plastic yarn was single strand. It is a much tighter stitched scrubber than the ones with the bigger hook. Here is the free pattern link for that scrubber.
So depending on your project either use the pattern below for pot scrubbers made from recycled plastic grocery bags or the link above for the single strand plastic strips.
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Free Crocheted Pot Scrubber Pattern using Plastic Grocery Bags
Scrubber measures 3-1/2 inches wide across. (Make 2 round disks)
Material: Plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips
Hook: Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook
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