I shared in a recent post about weaving the strap handle for this recycled tote bag. I made the strap using a spool knitter and variegated the plastic bag strips with grey and pink loops to form the woven strap. Then I crocheted the body of the bag using an open netting type stitch for the project. Here is the completed recycled tote bag.
Here is a closeup of the strap and top edge of the bag.
Below you will find the complete pattern to crochet the recycled tote bag. I hope you enjoy the pattern and don’t hesitate to contact me should you have any questions as you work this pattern or any of my other free patterns.
Grey and Pink Recycled Plastic Tote Bag Pattern
Materials:
Plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips – approx. 30+ bags
Hook: Metal J (6 mm) crochet hook
Description:
Recycled Plastic Tote bag: 10 inches by 12-1/2 inches long with 25 inches strap
All crochet directions are in US terms.
Round 1
With grey plarn, Ch 30, Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in ea st and then working around the backside of chain, Sc in ea st along the other side of original chain.
With the 4th of July just around the corner, I thought it was a good time for a red, white and blue parade of projects. These are taken from my prior shared patterns and feature a variety of fun items for the upcoming celebration of our country.
First a few projects honoring the US flag. Here is a crocheted dishcloth and matching potholder. Here is the pattern link for the crocheted flag dishcloth and the details for the flag potholder pattern.
Maybe you need to water bottle holder, if so check out this handy plarn water bottle holder made from recycled plastic newspaper bags. The free crochet pattern for the plarn water bottle holder is found here.
Should you need a tote bag to carry all your things, you might consider this all American plarn tote bag. You can find this plarn tote pattern here.
Need something a little smaller,
I crocheted another double layered towel topper which is similar to my pointed handle towel topper. The main difference in this towel topper is that it’s a heavier, more basic pattern for the topper. It has a waffle looking texture to the pattern and so I named it the Waffle Towel Topper pattern.
This towel topper is crocheted using sugar n’cream weight cotton yarn with a G crochet hook. I used a kitchen towel folded in half that requires no cutting or sewing. For more details on how to fold and start a double layered towel topper, see this tutorial link with pictures on how to begin the towel topper.
Crocheted Waffle Kitchen Towel Topper Pattern
Materials needed:
1- Kitchen towel (17 inches wide x 26 inches long used but any size will work)
1-1/2 oz. white Sugar and Cream cotton yarn
1- one inch button
Hooks:
#7 Steel hook
G (4 mm) hook
All directions are in USA terms.
Directions:
Row 1
Fold the towel in half and use the steel crochet hook to poke holes and then Sc evenly along the top edge of towel making the stitches with the G hook.
I needed to make a strap for my grey and pink colored recycled bag so I used a spool knitter. There are many variations of this 4-prong tool and you weave the loops around the posts by slipping the bottom existing loop off and over the new loop. You work around to each post in this manner to weave a long braided-style strap.
I love how by using the grey and then pink bags, the strap has a variegated look about it.
Here is a photo of the spool knitter I used which is made by Rugworks.
The handle is being made from recycled plastic bags made into plarn. I created a striped look for the strap handle by attaching two pink plastic bag loops together and then adding one grey loop. Then two more pink strands and one more grey and just keep repeating the process.
Have some produce nets that you wonder how you can recycle them? Want to reuse them in a handy and useful way? Well how about crocheting them in a useful scrubber pad.
Here are two scrubbies I crocheted using the plastic produce nets that lettuce and other veggies come in from your grocery store. Most of my produce nets are green but I have been given red, yellow, and orange colored ones from friends. The nice thing about using the recycled nets is that you don’t need but just a few to crochet a nice kitchen scrubbing pad. I crochet the nets along with cotton yarn to make a soft but firm textured surface.
You can use these scrubbers in the sink and bath tub without fear of scratching the surfaces. They also can be used on Teflon pans that have non-stick coatings as they are soft enough to not scratch the coated surfaces.
Depending on the size of scrubber pads you desire, at most you need 3 to 4 nets cut into strands for the larger scrubber shown. You join the strands together as shown in my produce net-cutting tutorial to create a recycled netting “yarn.” You then crochet the scrubbers using the netting yarn held together along with a strand of regular cotton yarn to make the scrubbies.
Okay got you hooked? Pun intend – so grab a crochet hook and check out the basic diagonal pattern below.
Keeping with my red, white, and blue patriotic theme, I present the In Between Dishcloth. I gave it that name as you double crochet the stitches in between each other for the main body of the cloth. The result is a simple but cute dishcloth pattern that works up fast and is easy to crochet.
The free crochet pattern below is written for the blue dishcloth as the main color. For the red dishcloth, you just substitute your main yarn using red cotton to start the dishcloth. Then trim around the red cloth using white and finishing with the blue cotton.
In Between Dishcloth Pattern
Hook:
G (4 mm) Crochet Hook
Materials:
1.25 ozs blue cotton yarn
1/4 oz each of red and white cotton yarn for tirm
Description:
9 inch square dishcloth
All crochet directions are in USA terms.
Directions:
Row 1
Ch 27 with blue cotton, Dc in 3rd ch from hook and in ea st.
Summer in America brings out the flags and other patriotic items in red, white and blues. It’s fun to decorate and use the colorful patriotic items around the house and at picnics. So with that in mind, I thought I’d crochet a few dishcloths and potholders.
I used my US flag dishcloth pattern to crochet the potholder and matching cloth. For the potholder, I recycled a plastic water bottle ring and just single crocheted around the ring and joined with a slip stitch into the corner to finish off the hanging loop.
Below is the finished off flag kitchen set.
Japanese Knot Bags are very handy and feature two handles. One handle is shorter than the other so you can pull the longer handle through the shorter as a quick and unique closure for the bag. I thought a Japanese Knot would be a cool idea for a recycled tote bag.
I used mainly recycled grey Walmart plastic bags to crochet the tote bag with 4 blue plastic bags for the stripe. It took about 50 plastic bags cut 1 inch wide and made into plarn (plastic bag yarn) to crochet my Japanese knot tote bag. I loved how the blue really helped set off the bag to give it a nice look to an otherwise boring grey bag. Overall I am very happy with the results of my latest crocheted reusable bag.
Here is a closeup of the top with the Japanese knot used for the plastic bag tote closure.
As always, here is the free crochet pattern so everyone can crochet their own recycled Japanese knot tote bag.
Japanese Knot Plarn Tote Pattern
Hook: N (9mm) size metal crochet hook
All directions are in US crochet terms.
Description:
Bag measures 14″ wide flat across the front, 12″ tall, 9-1/2″ round bottom with one handle 10″ long and the other 15″ long.
Directions:
Ch 3 and join with a Sl St to form a ring.
It has been 7 years since my cancer surgery and follow-up treatments. I just wanted to post an update and give thanks for my 7 year mark of beating the beast!
It has been a long and scary journey but I am doing well. After undergoing surgery, chemo and radiation treatment, I can say that I am NED (no evidence of disease) and am just so happy to be healthy.
For all of you that have followed my journey and cheered me on, I thank you. I just am so blessed and grateful to God for his healing through it all.
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