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
It is a new year and time for a new recycled bag! What better way to kick off a new year but with a new homemade reusable and upcycled tote bag. This tote bag was crocheted using about 45 brown plastic bags and 12 reddish-colored newspaper delivery sacks.
Here is a closeup of the top and handles.
This bag is very similar to my basic crocheted tote bag pattern but with a few changes including two stripes. The two stripes were added by cutting up 12 recycled plastic bags that newspapers are delivered in. Here is the tutorial link for cutting newspaper sacks into plarn to use as yarn.
I have provided the full new crochet pattern below for everyone’s personal use. As always, my patterns are free and I hope people will enjoy them.
Two Stripe Plarn Tote Bag Crochet Pattern
Materials needed: Plastic bag yarn “Plarn” in main color brown (40+ bags) cut 1 inch wide
and approx. 12 contrasting colored plastic bags for stripes
Hook: N (9 mm) size metal hook
Description: Recycled Plastic Tote Bag
Bag measures 12 inches wide and 12 inches long with 5 inch handles
Directions:
Ch 28
I have had lots of time on my hands lately to crochet with all the stay-at-home orders. I thought it was time to break into my huge stash of plastic bags and crochet a new recycled plastic tote bag. This bag was crocheted using mainly white plastic retail bags made into plarn and I added blue and green yarn to give it a Seattle Seahawks color theme.
This tote bag was crocheted using my free ultimate recycled bag pattern. I added stripes using regular yarn by doing 3 blue HDC (half double crochet stitch) rows, 3 green HDC and then 3 more blue HDC rows along with plastic bag yarn to crochet this bag.
Finished size is 12″ wide by 13″ long with 7″ handles. I think it would make a nice book bag so I may donate it to the next library fundraiser. So in honor of my beloved Seahawks,
Here is my version of the Bloomin’ Bag pattern from Cathy Phillips. The free pattern link is available on Ravelry where you can download a PDF of the crochet pattern.
My tote bag was crocheted using Red Heart with Love Metallic yarn in fuchsia. I used about 410 yards of yarn for my bag.
I changed up the pattern just a bit to make it taller by crocheting one additional set of repeats of the main bag body. I then crocheted different handles using the same method I do for my recycled tote bags.
For my Bloomin’ Bag handles, I started in 7 inches from sides, chained 36 for handles, leaving 22 stitches unworked, then sc in each stitch until other side. Repeat for other side’s handle to match first side.
Row 2 – Sc in each stitch and work 38 sc around handle chain, repeat for other side.
Row 3-5 – Sc in each sts around.
Finished size of my Bloomin’ Bag with measurements taken flat are:
20” wide by 13” tall with 11” handles.
Overall a very good pattern and I love the look of the stitch design. Next I want to crochet this pattern using recycled plastic bags.
A customer asked me if I could crochet her a large plastic bag tote to store her paper for recycling. She wanted a very large tote bag 18 inches wide, with a 7 inches base and 12 inches tall. Of course it had to have handles for carrying and be made from recycled plastic bags. I love a challenge and to crochet such a recycled tote bag was fun.
I used around 90 recycled plastic sacks cut 1 inch wide to complete this recycled paper holding tote. I used the double strand plarn making method to crochet this tote. Here are a few photos of the completed bag.
Here is a photo of the recycled tote bag laying flat.
Here is a new recycled plastic bag yarn project. This pattern is called a Japanese Knot bag as it features 2 handles. One long and one shorter, which closes by sliding the longer handle through the shorter one as shown. The Japanese-styled bags are often times made smaller and worn over the wrist.
This tote bag is crocheted using recycled plastic bags made into yarn known as plarn. It can be worn over the wrist or also draped over your shoulder.
Here is the free Japanese Knot Bag pattern written using plarn but it also can be crocheted using bulky yarn or 2 strands of worst weight yarns held together.
The finished size of this recycled tote bag is
I have a new resource for brown plastic bags! Local Safeway stores have gone back to the brown plastic retail bags and I just love recycling them into new reusable tote bags.
Here is the recycled plastic bag or plarn tote bag I crocheted with the brown retail sacks. I also used some red plastic newspaper bags that an on-line friend sent me that her Wall Street Journal was delivered in. The red bags were just right to compliment the brown bags with the red writing on them and made for a nice stripe on the tote bag.
But the special thing about this recycled tote bag is the dual handles. It has the normal hand grip handle in the middle and also a 30 inch long shoulder strap. So you can either grip the bag with your hands or throw the long strap over your shoulder.
I followed one of my basic crocheted plarn tote bag patterns found here but with a few modifications. My changes were for the first six rounds, I worked single crochet (SC) stitches
I crocheted this latest recycled plastic bag or plarn tote using lots of white plastic bags and a few red and grey plastic bags. Recycling all the white retail plastic bags I get can be challenging. Let’s face it, the white bags are boring and need something to help brighten up the project when you crochet or knit with them. So by adding some colorful bags, I created a few stripes to spice up this recycled tote bag.
I used the free recycled round grocery tote pattern to crochet this bag. I just changed up the stripes of colored plarn a bit for a different look than the original pattern. But otherwise it’s the same pattern. As with any pattern, you can always just make a few changes which will result in a new look.
Below is another picture taken with the tote bag laying down flat.
Here is my latest recycled plastic tote bag. It was inspired by the Seattle Seahawks and I used their team colors when I crocheted the tote. I used what I loving call boring white plastic bags in this crocheted tote bag. White plastic bags are very plentiful but need something to spice them up so blue and apple green acrylic yarn in Seattle Seahawks colors were added for stripes and trim.
I crocheted the tote bag using my flat bottom tote bag pattern. The crochet pattern is free and you just need to alternate some crocheted stripes using your favorite team colors as shown. Adding colorful yarns is a great way to pretty-up those boring white plastic bags and you end up with a cool-looking recycled tote bag.
Here is a photo taken laying flat of the recycled plastic tote bag.
If you are looking for more free recycled plastic yarn or plarn patterns, here is the direct link
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