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.
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At round 3 of bottom
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At round 5 as sides curl up
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At round 7 as bowl is created
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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
Recycled Plastic Granny Square Tote Bag
This week’s recycled bag is a medium sized tote bag crocheted using a granny square stitch. It is a 12 inch square motif that was made using white and blue plastic bags. A few months ago I had crocheted a small purse very similar to this pattern. I have had several requests for a larger bag that could be used as a tote or book bag so I created this larger version. As always here is the free pattern below.
Granny Square Motif Tote Pattern
Size: Approx. 12″ square bag with strap 3/4 inches wide and 20 inches long
Hook: N (9 mm) metal crochet hook used in this Motif pattern
Materials: Large ball of white plastic bag yarn (plarn)
and small amount of blue plastic bag plarn for center Motif
Crocheted Grocery Tote Bag
Want to make your plastic bags recyclable? Want to bring your own bag to the grocery store? Want to have your own green eco-friendly shopping bag? Well crochet or knit those plastic bags into a recycled grocery tote bag.
Here is the link for the tutorial for creating plastic bag yarn. Recently this plastic bag yarn has earned the nickname of ‘plarn’ to describe it. I love the term and hope it catches on. Crafting tote bags has become very popular. It’s a wonderful way to save our trees and our landfills. I have several free crochet and knitted patterns available at the patterns links page here so check out your options and make yourself a reusable grocery tote bag!
Inside of Tote Bag
This bag features a roomy expandable heavy bottom, an open mesh upper tote and a wide sling strap handle. If you are a crocheter, below is the free pattern to create this recycled tote for your next shopping trip.
Outside Expandable Bottom
Crocheted Plastic Grocery Tote Bag Pattern
Materials needed: One large ball of plastic bags cut into strips and interlocked to create a ball of plarn yarn — Approx. 56 bags.
Hook: N size metal crochet hook and J for edging
Description: Grocery Tote Bag
Bag measures 12 inches wide at top and 15 inches long with 7 inch oval expandable bottom and 28 inch sling strap handle.
Crochet yourself a hook case from recycled plastic bags!
This project is another installment on my to-do list that I have blogged about recently. If you are not familiar with my to-do list, it is a list of items that I plan to crochet using plastic bags. Once I complete each project, I post the free pattern here at My Recycled Bags for everyone’s use. This week I decided that I needed a crochet hook case and it was on my list to do so… Here is the completed project and free pattern. An inside look of the hook case which holds four crochet hooks.
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Recycled Hook Case Pattern
Hook case measures 5 inches wide and 10 inches long.
Material: One small ball of plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips.
One small button if desired to embellish purse front.
One Velcro stick-on button.
Lining – 6 inch x 5 inch piece of muslin
Hook: Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook
This crocheted Eco tote features a granny square motif and recycled materials to create an unique look. I used yellow and grey plastic grocery bags, vcr vhs tape, and white plastic retail bags in this project. My goal in creating this Eco tote was to crochet a bag that would be strong enough to use as a book bag and could be used for an everyday carry tote. I also crocheted this bag as a Crochet-a-Long (CAL) at one of my favorite craft website forums Crochetville.
My Eco tote measurements are 12″ wide, 13″ long, 1-1/2″ deep at sides with strap that is 1-1/4″ wide and 28″ long. I have included some closeup pictures below to help you in this project. I must warn you that I did have problems keeping my tote bag square. I believe it’s because of the different materials that I used and because the plastic tends to stretch a bit during crocheting.
Closeup of edging on bag
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Closeup of handle attachment
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Plastic Eco Tote Pattern
Size: Approx. 12″ square bag with strap that is 1-1/4 inches wide and 28 inches long.
Hook: N (9 mm) metal crochet hook used in this Motif pattern.
Materials: Plastic bag yarn and 2 partial reels of vcr vhs tape.
Crochet this cute eco-friendly handbag from recycled plastic grocery bags. It’s a great size for an everyday handbag purse. Handbag features a roomy oval bottom and comfortable handles.
Here is a closeup of the bottom and handles.
I want to show these closeups so you can see how the bottom has been made oval by adding increases at the sides. The handles are shown laying flat to show how each side is done to matched each other so that the bag is evenly formed.
I have explained this further in the pattern below. If you have any questions while working this crochet pattern, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
As always enjoy this recycled bag project!
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Crocheted Hand Bag Using Plastic Grocery Bags
Materials needed: One large ball of plastic bags cut into strips and interlocked to create a ball of yarn or Plarn to crochet with.
Hook: M (9 mm) size metal crochet hook
Description: Small handbag tote purse –
Bag measures 10 inches wide at top and 9 inches long with 6 inches oval bottom and 5 inches handles.
Directions:
Crochet this star / flower using plastic bags. This little star or flower was made from recycled plastic bags. It’s a quick and simple project that can be used to make a hair barrette as shown.
The star or flower can be used to embellish any project as it’s a cute addition to any purse or bag. Use your imagination and have fun adding this to your crafting item!
Here’s the free pattern.
My son recently got married and left us this plastic gift bag along with some other trash at our house after they opened some of their gifts here. Being a recycling person, I looked at the trash and saw some treasures.
Above is the picture of the very big plastic gift bag that had been cut to cover a large gift. It was such a pretty plastic bag that I just couldn’t throw it away even though it had been cut into pieces, had splits and other holes in it. I thought wow I could make something out of that plastic. So out came the scissors and I began to cut strips. Now because of the damage to the plastic bag, I couldn’t cut it into circular strips as I do normally with plastic grocery bags. With this I needed to cut long strips and try to avoid tying too many knots because the plastic is so thick. The knots do not hide well when your plastic is thick or heavy gauge.
I cut up as much usable plastic off the bag pieces to create 1 inch wide yarn. I used a smaller hook — an H (5 mm) metal hook to crochet these items. I must say it was a bit hard on my finger joints. The thick plastic is difficult to work with and it caused me to pull harder on my work as I crocheted.
I crocheted this coaster out of my recycled wedding bag. The coaster is crocheted using the same pattern as the link here but with 1 inch single strand strips of plastic bag. You also need to add one additional round to make the coaster big enough as I used an H hook instead of the bigger hook I usually use.
Star and Pot Scrubber
The star is also a new project for me. I am experimenting with it using plastic bags for a hair barrette. You could also use the star as an embellishment to any project you may be crafting. I am crocheting more stars now and will be posting the pattern here shortly.
Then I crocheted this pot scrubber out of my recycled wedding bag. The scrubber pattern is below and varies just slightly from my other scrubber that is coming out soon using plastic bags.
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Crocheted Scrubber Pattern using a Recycled Wedding Bag
Scrubber measures 3-3/4 inches wide across.
Material: Single strand plastic cut into 1 inch long strips
Hook: Metal H hook
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