Welcome to plastic bag pattern headquarters! I am building a library of patterns here for crocheting with plastic grocery bags and other recycled materials. Currently I have free patterns available for purses, a plastic bag keeper, shoulder bags, coasters, and other bags.
If you are new to crafting with plastic bags here is the tutorial on how to create yarn from plastic bags.
You may also want to read my tips on crafting with plastic grocery bags, just click here.
I love to share my free patterns and recycling ideas with others to promote recycled crafting. My plan is to continue building this website blog into one of the best resources for crafting with plastic bags as well as covering other materials that can be used. More patterns are being added all the time so please make sure you check back often.
September 2014 update:
It has been over 7 years since I first wrote this post and over the years I have added many new recycled plastic bag patterns to my blog. You can find a list of all the patterns with thumbnail photos of each project at my free patterns page.
Thanks for visiting My Recycled Bags!
VHS Tape Sling Bag
Now here is the same bag with some red fun fur added
This little sling bag is crocheted using old VHS tape. It’s a great way to recycle those old VHS tapes that you may have stashed away and you don’t know what to do with. If you haven’t read my blog about how to use VHS tape to crochet click here for the link.
It will explain how the whole process works so you too can crochet with VHS tape.
Next I used a thrift store button for a closure but my sling bag just needed something more. I had a bit of red fun fur and thought it just might be the answer. What do you think? Should I add more along the bottom edge?
I conducted a recent poll and many people liked the bag without the fun fur. You can embellish the bag if you want. The complete free pattern is below.
Enjoy this recycled bag project!
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Crocheted VHS Video Tape Sling Bag Pattern
Purse measures 8 inches wide and 8 inches long.
Strap length is 45 inches
Material: 2 VHS Video Tape Reels
One button: 1 inch button shown on bag
Hook: Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook
Plastic Bag Keeper
Here is a crocheted plastic bag keeper made from recycled plastic and bread bags. This is the second installment of my to-do list that I promised you all that I would work on. I had never crocheted a bag keeper so last week I tackled this project. I had to experiment a bit with the pattern to figure out how big it should be and also how I was going to create my bag holder. Many bag keepers or holders that I see have elastic holding the bags in. I wanted to keep this a completely recycled product so I tried a few different things before settling on using some pretty red bread bag strips to weave between my stitches. I then gently pulled on my bread bag strip to clinch it up and tied a bow in the front which created my bag holder. You can untie the bow should you need to put in or take out plastic bags without it being clinched up.
Anyway here is my completed recycled plastic bag keeper that you can crochet from plastic bags and bread bags. You could also use ribbon or strips of fabric rather than bread bags to make your bag holder. As always, here is the free pattern to crochet your own recycled bag keeper.
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Free Recycled Plastic Bag Keeper Pattern
Finished Bag Keeper measures 4 inches circular wide and 18 inches long.
Strap holder length is 10 inches.
Material: One large ball of plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips.
Hook: Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook
Recycled Shoulder Bag
This is one of my all time favorite bags that I have created. It’s a crocheted shoulder bag made of recycled tan plastic grocery bags. It is a quick and easy crochet project to try if you are just starting out doing recycled crafts. If you need to know how to create yarn from plastic bags, here is my link to the step by step process to make the plastic bag yarn. If you want a larger bag, just add more stitches to your beginning chain and if you would rather have a deeper bag, just increase your rounds as desired. This pattern is worked in rounds and you do not join at the end of each round. Because of this you do not need to sew side seams together. As you work the first few rounds, the bag will turn up at the sides. Just continue working one Hdc in each stitch around and it naturally forms your purse without having to sew any side seams.
Enjoy this fun eco-friendly project!
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Crocheted Recycled Plastic Shoulder Bag Pattern
Purse measures 9 inches wide and 6 inches long.
Strap length is 42 inches when not tied.
Material: One large ball of plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips.
One button 7/8 inch button shown on bag.
Hook: Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook
For complete pattern just click on read more link below.
I have come across many wonderful websites and blogs that support my ideas about recycling and crafting in the last few weeks. I wanted to share some of them so you too could benefit from their insightful postings.
Nancy of Selangor, MY is a GreenBeing trying to invade the earth with a bunch of similarly inspired “Green” buddies, who practice environmentally friendly habits. Check out her site for wonderful eco-friendly articles and inspirations for recycling.
Stephanie of West Virginia has a fun, down to earth Stop the Ride which shows how to make it from scratch projects. Her blog has posts several times a week and offers weekly prizes for her blog carnival. Lots of fun ideas and unique sharing of creative products that are made from scratch. This site helps with ideas to reduce debt through helpful suggestions on getting back to basics.
Crafts.suite101 site explores painting, sewing, making projects for around the house, quilting, scrapbooking, cardmaking, mosaic, gifts, embroidery, papercrafting, garden crafts, family projects, fabric crafting, rubber stamping, embossing, clay, jewelry making and all things crafting. They look at all of the latest books and products. So if you enjoy creating and discovering, this is a great site to check out.
ThriftyFun is a site where regular folks can share their knowledge and ideas. This link to their website is for one of the most comprehensive lists of uses and ways to recycle plastic bags that I have found. There are numerous thrifty tips from readers on reusing plastic grocery bags. Everything is covered from recycling, reducing, crafting, and more so we all can be green when it comes to plastic bags. Take a moment and review this outstanding reference link.
Recycled Plastic Bag Coasters
I had been asked recently if I had a recycled coaster pattern. At that time, I did not have a pattern nor had I ever crocheted any coasters using recycled plastic bags. I decided that there are many things that I need to crochet using recycled plastic bags. So I have complied a to-do list of items and will attempt to create each item out of recycled materials.
Once I successfully complete each item, I will share the pattern with everyone. Some of the items have been made by other people in the past but I will make and test my own patterns. That way I can post the free patterns all here. I want to build this website into a complete library of free patterns where crafters can come, learn, and try new ideas using recycled materials. My goal is to continue promoting eco-friendly products through recycling and crafting.
So here is this week’s first installment of new projects and patterns from my to-do list – recycled plastic bag coasters!
These are a quick item to crochet. I made this set of four in no time at all. Two were crocheted using all white (with red specks) plastic grocery bags and the other two using grey plastic bags to create a different look.
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Crocheted Recycled Plastic Coasters Pattern
Coasters measure 4 inches wide across.
Material: Plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips — Grey and white bags shown in pattern.
Hook: Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook
This week I have been working on a new recycled idea. A crocheted rag bag using recycled denim. I had a few old denim shirts that I didn’t want to throw away so I decided that I needed to get the ole’ creative juices flowing and use them in a project. It turned out to be a really heavy duty bag. I didn’t trim or fold the strips so that’s why you see the fibers from the material. But I think it turned out cool with the fibers kinda sticking out as they do.
So… this is the result, a recycled denim rag bag!
I used one of the pockets from the shirt to create an inside pocket as shown below.
I hope you enjoy trying this week’s recycling craft idea and as always — here’s the free pattern.
Free Crocheted Recycled Denim Rag Bag Pattern
Bag measures 11 inches wide and 10 inches long.
Material: Two denim shirts cut into 3/4 inch strips (See notes below on different methods.)
For complete pattern click on read more link below.
Cassette Tape Granny Square Motif Bag
This week’s bag is a recycled little purse crocheted from plastic tan grocery bags and brown cassette tapes. This was an interesting and challenging project. Unfortunately I found out that cassette tapes come in several shades of browns after I was halfway done with my bag. I finally had to make my bag much smaller than I had planned. I couldn’t find the same shade of brown cassette tape that I started the project with so my purse became the little bag you see in this post. The strap measures about 37 inches untied. I tied it in a knot at the top to create a shorter strap. Variations of this bag can be made using all plastic bags or any other recycled materials that you may want to substitute. The overall size can be increased by adding additional rounds as desired. Have fun with this week’s bag and enjoy your recycling and crafting project.
Free Recycled Bag Pattern
Size: Approx. 6-1/2 inch square bag with 37 inch strap
Hook: E metal crochet hook used in this Motif pattern.
(Any large size hook can be used but Motif size will vary.)
Materials: Plastic tan grocery bags cut in ¼ inch strips and 2 cassette tapes
I wanted to bring everyone up to date on my latest discoveries and completed projects using different recycled materials. Recently I used VHS tape to crochet an evening bag and also a round Motif bag purse. It works fairly well to crochet using the VHS tape but you do need to pull a bit on your stitches to make them uniform and even. Be careful as it can be a bit hard on your fingers and joints. It is a wonderful way to use those old VHS tapes that so many of us have lying around. The black tape gives a pretty sparkly sheen to your project. It appears to do be an excellent eco-friendly way to recycle those tapes!
Next I experimented using cassette tape as yarn. It’s much narrower and you need to use a small hook. I used single strand tape to make a set of Barbie Fashion Doll purses. The free patterns are available under my pattern link on the right. I must say that crocheting with cassette tape is easier on my joints and smoother to crochet stitches with. Another nice discovery was that you do not need to open up the case to use the brown tape as yarn. You simply use a rewound tape and cut off the clear lead so you just have the brown tape to pull out of the case. You can then just work your project by pulling out the tape as you go. It reels out smoothly and you don’t have to worry about your yarn getting tangled. Be careful as the tape colors do vary so check your color shades when you do your projects.
My latest project consists of plastic bags and cassette tape used as yarn. The brown center was a plastic grocery bag I cut very narrow to match my cassette tape width. I cut the plastic bag strips at about ¼ inch. Now I know this is narrow but you need this to match the brown cassette tape. I believe this is a bit like working with thread. While I don’t work with thread much, this was an easy item to stitch as you don’t need to manhandle your work. The stitching seems to move along effortlessly unlike some of the other recycled materials I use. I will post a picture of the bag here when it is completed.
Knitting Links for Recycled Bags
I will continue to try out new and test other recycled materials here on this website. My motto continues to be that this website blog is dedicated to recycling and crafting. In an effort to expand beyond just crocheted recycled crafts, I wanted to share with you several knitted recycled bags. Thanks to Mike at Pieandcoffee.org who agreed to allow me to link this knitted recycled plastic bag in a post.
So for you knitters out there, click on this link for instructions on creating a knitted recycled tote bag using a different method than I do for the […]
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