I crocheted this pink and orange striped tote bag from recycled plastic bags. The pink and orange bags are newspaper bags and the white bags are just normal plastic retail sacks. As most people know, white bags are abundant while its hard to find colorful bags but I’m lucky to obtain the pretty pink and orange bags from my local library. They save the bags that they receive their daily newspapers in and I collect them weekly.
I used my jumbo plarn beach bag pattern to crochet this bag with just a few minor changes from the original pattern. My base was a chain of 30 as I didn’t want quite as large a tote bag for this project. I also just crocheted 41 total rounds. The result is a tote bag that measures 14-1/2″ wide by 17″ long with a 30 inch long pull-through strap.
You can check out my plarn making tutorials here whether you are using newspaper plastic bags or regular plastic bags to create your plastic bag yarn.
This tote bag makes an excellent market bag as the long strap can be slipped over your shoulder or looped around your hand for carrying. You can craft this tote bag project or if you aren’t a crocheter, my pink and orange recycled plastic tote is for sale here.
I think most people know the yarn you can create from recycling old t-shirts is called t-yarn or tarn. But did you know that you can also recycle old cotton jersey sheets to make the same type of material?
I recycled an old cotton sheet to create this crocheted oven mitt. I cut the sheet into very thin strips and curled it as outlined in t-yarn making tutorial. I used half a twin sheet which is probably less than two t-shirts should be using tees to make your oven mitt.
Here is my cotton sheet before I started. I was lucky to get it free from the rag box at my local thrift store as it had a few holes and some minor discoloration. As you cut the strips you can work around any holes and the color differences really don’t show in the yarn that is created.
This recycled oven mitt project fits a woman’s size medium hand. Should you need a larger mitt, just do a few more rounds as indicated in the crochet pattern below. As always, I hope you enjoy my free pattern and have fun creating your own t-yarn oven mitt.
****************************************************************************************************************************
Free T-Yarn Oven Mitt Pattern
Materials needed:
About half a twin jersey sheet or a couple of t -shirts cut into 3/8 inch wide strips and
gently pulled to curl your t-yarn or tarn
Fabric for the lining and one piece of insul-bright for heat protection
Hook: H (5 mm) U.S. size metal crochet hook
Size:
Woman’s medium sized hand
Finished Oven Mitt: 6″ wide x 10-1/2″ long with 7-1/2″ opening
Using t-yarn, Ch 44 and join with a Sl St to form a ring. My ring was approx. 7 inches wide if measured flat.
Rnd 1
Sc around the entire chain as you work along the ring. This allows you to slide the sts as needed
to get a smooth band around the ring. Join with a Sl St into beg Sc. (Approx 50 Sc)
Do NOT turn your work in this project. This project is worked in rounds.
This tutorial shows how you can recycle plastic newspaper bags into plastic bag yarn or plarn. Converting these narrow plastic bag sleeves into yarn is very similar to cutting retail bags to make plastic bag yarn. I have create a picture tutorial outlining the steps below. This method can be used for any narrow plastic bags like newspaper sleeves, English muffin bags, packing pillows and any other skinny plastic bags. The result is short plastic loops that can be joined into one long continuous strip for crocheting, knitting, or weaving.
First step is to take the newspaper bag which measures 7-1/2″ wide x 21″ long and flatten it out.
Click on any photo to supersize
Step 2 is to fold it in half lengthwise.
Step 3 is to fold it once more lengthwise. Now you are ready for the cutting stage.
Step 4 you cut strips 1 inch wide across the short length of the bag. This creates 1 inch wide loops of plastic.
Step 5 is closeup of the 1 inch wide plarn loops. Because the end is sealed off, cut a very thin strip at the end of bag to open up the last loop.
Step 6 shows how you interconnect the loops and then pull the knot tight.
If you cut the strips about 1 inch wide, it will result in about 19 loops per newspaper bag. Once joined together, this nets about 3-3/4 yards of plastic bag yarn per newspaper bag. Continue to add loops to your chain of plarn rings to make your recycled plastic bag yarn for whatever crafting project you may have in mind.
Recent Comments