This month marks the 18th year of my blogging here at My Recycled Bags. You can read my first blog entries here from January 2007. In 2007 is when I began this blog site and started sharing about crafting and recycling plastic bags and other recycled materials.
So after 18 years, I am still here though I don’t post as much as I used to. I do still offer all my patterns for free and am willing to help out anyone who has questions about crafting with plastic bags or other materials. Share a comment below
In March, I crocheted a recycled plastic bag or plarn basket for an upcoming fundraiser. The post and details about the basket are found here.
I filled the basket with some jar opening helpers, dishcloths, a towel with a crocheted topper, a candle, a potholder, a notepad and some wine. Hopefully a fun assortment of different things which will be a auction favorite for my local Relay For Life.
The jar opening helpers are crocheted with just a bit of cotton and the pattern is available here.
Next in the basket is:
Here is my latest recycled plastic bag project. It is a crocheted plarn basket made from plastic bags cut about one inch wide and assembled. Just follow the plarn link for more information on how I make my plarn yarn for crocheting.
The basket was crocheted using the free recycled plastic basket pattern but seamless. For this project, I did not do the ch-2 or joins. I just working in the round with out joining.
I added 3 rounds of single crochet (SC) in pink bags for contrast before starting the handle portion of the basket.
For handles on this basket, I chained 14 and skipped 9 stitches for opening for the handles on each side. For the next round, work 16 single crochet (SC) around each handle. Then continue working
I wanted to revisited some of my recycled Valentine’s themed projects. Over the years, I have crocheted and sewn several fun projects that might inspire some of you to try these for Valentine’s Day. Plus it’s eye candy for any plarn and denim lovers out there.
Here is a recycled plastic Valentine’s card holder that adults and children can both make together. It uses some pieces of red and white recycled plastic bags, scrap yarn, ribbon and a small remnant of red felt to make. The full picture tutorial and directions can be found at the fused plastic Valentine’s heart link.
Here is a little Valentine’s basket that is crocheted using recycled plastic bags or plarn.
This little basket or bag could be used to hold Valentine cards or as a little gift bag for a loved one. The free pattern is found here.
I promised some recycled denim projects and here are a few cute little purses to share.
I shared last month that I was working on a new crocheted recycled tote bag. I call this recycled bag my harvest tote bag. I used mainly white retail bags for the tote but added orange and black bags to create a Halloween harvest themed tote.
As you can imagine, orange and black plastic bags are hard to come by. So with such few of these bags available, I was only able to use them sparely in crocheting this recycled tote bag project. I used the free recycled grocery tote pattern to crochet the project. Just follow the original pattern with the following changes. The harvest stripes were crocheted with one round of black plarn followed by four rounds with orange plarn and then one more round using black plarn. My plarn (plastic bag yarn) is made by
I started crocheting a new plastic bag aka plarn project. I am using one of my original plastic bag tote patterns to crochet this bag. The pattern features a single crochet base so it’s nice and sturdy for groceries or other such needs.
I still have plenty of old plastic bags on hand but I don’t collect as any as I used to. Many areas and stores don’t use the thinner plastic retail bags any longer. This ball of plastic bag yarn was made by cutting the plastic retail sacks in 1 inch strips using the looping method.
Here is my progress so far in the photo below.
Introducing the latest of my recycled bags. This is a wheelchair or walker tote that is crocheted all in recycled plastic bags. Some people also call them a wheelchair carrier as you use them to carry things such as books, newspapers or tissues.
This recycled bag was crocheted using the free puff stitch wheelchair tote pattern. It features a red, white and blue striped theme. As it is hard to find these special colored bags, I only crocheted the puff stitches on the front of the tote. Each puff stripe row used less than 2 colored plastic bags made into plarn to crochet.
I used a K (6.5 mm) crochet hook to work this tote bag. Final finished size is 10.5 inches wide by 9 inches long with 6.75 inch straps. I added
For an upcoming Library fundraiser, I have been working on this auction bucket of items.
The bucket includes a recycled tote bag crocheted from plastic bags made into plarn, a potholder towel, a heart cloth, a bottle of wine, wooden spoons, candles, chocolates, and a crocheted dish scrubbie.
Here are photos of the potholder towel and the dish scrubbie I crocheted with cotton yarn and a strip of netting held together.
I have been busy crocheting a recycled tote bag for a future charity fundraiser. This bag was crocheted using the free ultimate grocery bag pattern.
The pattern creates a 13 inches long reusable tote bag. I used around 50 plastic retail sacks to crochet the bag. The green handles were plarn I made from lightweight grocery bags that I recycled. Here is a closeup photo below to show the crocheted green handles.
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