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Patterns: Plastic Bags / Plarn

Patterns made from plarn, yarn cut from plastic grocery bags. Totes, purses, scrubbers, rugs, baskets and holiday decorations that keep bags out of the landfill.

Floppy Plarn Hat Pattern

September 5, 2009 16 comments
Plarn Floppy Hat

Several people have asked about hats lately so here is a recycled floppy hat made from plastic bags or plarn. It’s crocheted using plarn and you can add ribbon to the finished project as shown in the pictures.

Here are several photos showing the floppy hat. It stretches nicely to fit your head as shown above. I hope you enjoy this recycled hat project and happy green crafting to all!

Recycled Floppy Plarn Hat Pattern

Materials needed:
One ball of plastic bags cut into strips to create a ball of plarn approx. 22-25 bags
2 yards of ribbon

Hook: N (9 mm) USA size metal hook

Description: Floppy plarn hat measures flat 9 inches long from top center to edge with 19″ head circumstance and 4″ brim

Directions:
Ch 4 and join with a Sl St to form a ring. (Don’t turn throughout)

Flower Power Plarn Tote Bag

June 18, 2009 6 comments
Flower Power Plarn Tote Bag

It’s a Flower Power Plarn Tote Bag!

As I have stated before, white plastic bags are about all I can get on a consistent basis so here is my latest idea to bring more color and charm to my recycled tote bags. I added several colorful flowers that have been crocheted from recycled plastic bags. Since each flower takes only about one plastic bag, it is easy to add some bright and pretty flowers to a otherwise plain tote bag. To view the finished details of the above tote, just click on the photo to supersize it. I also added some ribbon and a bow tie at the center front of my recycled tote to complete the project.

Below you will find another addition to my library of plarn patterns that I offer here free. Here is the link to see a complete list of all my free patterns.

Free Crocheted Flower Power Tote Bag Pattern

Materials needed:
One large ball of plastic bag yarn aka Plarn approx. 40-45 bags
A few plastic bags of several different colors for flowers
Small amount of ribbon for bow tie if desired

Hooks:
Q USA size plastic hook
N USA size metal hook for handles and J hook for flowers
Description: Large Plarn Tote Bag
Bag measures 13 inches wide and 14 inches long

Directions:
Using Q hook, Ch 20.

Free Granny Square Bag Pattern – Recycled Plastic Bags

February 10, 2007 21 comments
Granny Sq Bag

Granny Square Motif Bag

Crocheted using recycled plastic bags this Granny Square Bag
is a quick and fun project!

Size: Approx. 8-9 inch square bag if using 3/4 to 1 inch strips of cut plastic bags into plarn.
Hook: N metal crochet hook used in this Motif pattern.
(Any large size hook can be used but Motif size will vary.)

With center color (White shown) Ch 4, Sl St to form ring.

Free Recycled Valentines Bag Pattern

January 15, 2009 30 comments
Valentine

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, here is a cute recycled plastic Valentine’s heart bag that you can crochet. It’s made from recycled plastic grocery bags into a handy bag that can hold Valentine cards. When I designed this recycled bag, I had a little girl in mind and thought she could use it to take all her Valentines to school in.

It would also make a cute gift bag for Valentine’s Day. You could fill it with candy and a card and give it to your favorite Valentine. A bonus of course is that this plarn bag could be used as a little purse all year long.

Here is the free crochet pattern so you too can create this fun little Valentine’s Day heart bag!

Free Pattern for Crocheted Valentine Heart Bag

Materials needed: One ball of plastic bag yarn aka Plarn
(Approx. 12 plastic grocery bags)

2 yards of red fun fur yarn
Small scrap piece of red felt
Red thread for sewing on heart

Hook: J (6 mm) size metal crochet hook

Description: Plastic Valentine’s Bag
Bag measures 7 inches wide and 6-1/2 inches long

Directions:
Ch 20

Free Small Crocheted Motif Pattern Using Recycled Plastic Bags

January 28, 2007 4 comments
Small Pink Motif

Small Crocheted Plastic Bag Motif Pattern

Size: Approx. 2-1/2 inches Motif if using 3/4 to 1 inch strips of cut plastic bags.
Hook: N metal crochet hook used in this Motif pattern.
(Any large size hook can be used but Motif size will vary.)

Click on read more link below to view complete pattern.

Fun Fur Recycled Tote

November 9, 2007 12 comments
FunFurTote

Crochet yourself a plastic bag “plarn” recycled tote bag! This bag is crocheted using recycled plastic grocery bags and one roll of fun fur I purchased from the dollar store. Total cost of the project is $1.00. You can’t beat this project as it’s frugal and eco-friendly. As more and more people are going green, crafting with recycled materials is growing in popularity. With the holiday season growing near, consider green crafting as a wonderful alternative this year.

As always, below you will find the free pattern for your personal use.

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Free Pattern for Crocheted Plarn Fun Fur Tote Bag

Materials needed:
One large ball of plastic bag yarn aka Plarn (approx. 50-60 bags)
One 50 gm ball of Fun Fur (Pastels shown)

Hook: N size U. S. metal hook
Description: Tote Bag
Bag measures 12 inches wide and 12 inches long with 10 inch handles

Directions:
Ch 27 with just white plarn alone.

Fused Plastic Valentine’s Heart

January 29, 2009 16 comments
plasticfusing4-a

Here is a quick fused plastic bag craft idea for Valentine’s Day. This project involves no sewing or crocheting. It’s makes a perfect kid’s craft project that focuses on using recycled materials. This project was inspired by a recent comment I received from someone who wanted a recycled bag for Valentine’s day but didn’t know how to crochet. So here’s what I came up with. By using some pieces of red and white recycled plastic bags, some scrap yarn, a bit of ribbon and a small remnant of red felt, you or your children can put together this cute Valentine’s heart bag.

Below you will find the picture tutorial that I made while I was creating this little Valentine’s heart bag. Here is the step-by-step picture tutorial on how to DIY.

Gingham Plarn Purse

October 5, 2012 3 comments
Gingham Plarn Purse

A gingham pattern is very unique when you crochet it. I decided that I would try the idea using plastic bags made into plarn. I used recycled white, grey, and black plastic bags for the project.

This idea came from Delights-Gems gingham crochet tutorial for crafting a potholder. Click on the link to see Delight’s picture tutorial that is very helpful in working the gingham pattern. I made a few changes for the plastic bag version of gingham pieces which I will outline below in the pattern details.

Gingham Plastic Bag Plarn Purse Pattern

Materials:
White, grey, and black plastic bags cut into 1 inch wide plarn. Approx. 12-15 bags of each color needed.
Here is my plastic bag picture tutorial if you need more information on how to create yarn from recycled plastic bags.

Magnetic closure
Fabric for lining 12″ by 12″
Plastic purse handles
Nylon thread and needle

Hook:
J (6 mm) US size metal crochet hook

The three colors of plarn is needed to complete this purse. I found it worked easier to assemble short strands of the colors rather than using big balls of each color. The colors don’t get tangled up if you have just short lengths of “yarn” as you leave the dropped colors attached as you work the gingham pattern.

With white plarn, Ch 34, Hdc in the 3rd st from hook and in the next two sts. (3 Hdc’s in each set as shown in original tutorial.) *Ch 3, Skip 3 sts and then Hdc in next 3 sts*.

Granny Square Motif Tote

May 27, 2007 2 comments
MedMotifTote


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



About Me

Hello, I’m Cindy or aka RecycleCindy. Welcome to my blog site that is dedicated to recycling and crafting. I love to crochet and create crafts and other useful things from recycled materials. I share many free tutorials and patterns for creating recycled projects as well as other handmade items.


Here is a direct link to all my free patterns available here on My Recycled Bags.


Thank you for stopping by to visit and for your interest in My Recycled Bags!