Come Learn and Share Information about Recycling, Crocheting & Recycled Crafting


Patterns: Kitchen / Bath

Dishcloths, pot scrubbers, potholders, oven mitts, towel toppers and bag holders for the kitchen and bathroom, in cotton yarn, plarn and T-shirt yarn.

Crocheted Plastic Bag Keeper from Recycled Bags

April 4, 2007 13 comments
Small Bag Keeper Pic

Plastic Bag Keeper

Here is a crocheted plastic bag keeper made from recycled plastic and bread bags. This is the second installment of my to-do list that I promised you all that I would work on. I had never crocheted a bag keeper so last week I tackled this project. I had to experiment a bit with the pattern to figure out how big it should be and also how I was going to create my bag holder. Many bag keepers or holders that I see have elastic holding the bags in. I wanted to keep this a completely recycled product so I tried a few different things before settling on using some pretty red bread bag strips to weave between my stitches. I then gently pulled on my bread bag strip to clinch it up and tied a bow in the front which created my bag holder. You can untie the bow should you need to put in or take out plastic bags without it being clinched up.

Anyway here is my completed recycled plastic bag keeper that you can crochet from plastic bags and bread bags. You could also use ribbon or strips of fabric rather than bread bags to make your bag holder. As always, here is the free pattern to crochet your own recycled bag keeper.

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Free Recycled Plastic Bag Keeper Pattern

Finished Bag Keeper measures 4 inches circular wide and 18 inches long.
Strap holder length is 10 inches.

Material: One large ball of plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips.

Hook: Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook

Crocheted Star Facecloth Pattern

July 23, 2012 2 comments
Crocheted Star Facecloth Pattern


I have been crocheting many washcloths and facecloths lately. I want to share this quick little crochet pattern for a star shaped facecloth. It’s a variation of my star dishcloth pattern but smaller. I love these smaller cloths as they make wonderful facecloths. Not too big and they work up so quickly. Also they are great for using those scrap pieces of cotton that you have leftover in your stash.


Each cloth measures about 7 inches from the top corner to the lower corner. I believe you only need a little over an ounce of cotton to do each facecloth. Have fun and mix and match the colors to create your own facecloths. As always, happy crocheting and I hope you enjoy the free pattern below.

Star Facecloth Pattern

Cloth measures: 7 inches
Hook: H (5 mm) US sized hook (you can use a G hook too)

Materials:
Sugar & Cream Cotton scraps (about 1+ ozs)

With center color, Ch 5, Sl St to form ring.

Crocodile Stitch Oven Mitt

April 13, 2013 6 comments
Crocodile Stitch Oven Mitt

I created this oven mitt by crocheting the crocodile stitch in the round. Working the crocodile stitch in the round is so much easier than making two panels to join together. While the oven mitt is very thick with the crocodile scales, I did line it just to be sure that a person’s hand was protected.

I have the free crochet pattern written below for the crocodile stitch oven mitt. If you haven’t tried working the crocodile scales yet in the round, I think you will enjoy crocheting this pattern. Please read the complete pattern through before beginning and adjust the opening should you need a larger size as my wrist is small so I made my opening tighter.

Crocodile Stitch Oven Mitt Pattern

J (6 mm) hook and G (4-4.25 mm) hook

Materials:
2 skeins of Red Heart Super Saver Chunky (Bulky) yarn in Windsor Blue
1/2 oz. of white cotton yarn
Fabric for lining

Finished crocheted oven mitt measures 10 inches long by 7-1/2 inches wide with a 5 inches wide opening at top

Special Stitch:
Crocodile Scale Stitch: Dc 5 stitches down first post of the 2-Dc base set, Ch 1, and then work 5 Dc up the 2nd Dc of the 2-Dc set.

Directions:
With J hook and chunky yarn, Ch 42. Join to form a ring making sure your chain is not twisted.

Curled T-Yarn Trivet Hotpad

June 7, 2009 22 comments
T-Yarn Trivet Hotpad

Here is my first curled T-shirt yarn or T-yarn project. Curled T-yarn is created by cutting an old recycled tee-shirt into strips and then stretching the strip so it curls in on itself. This creates a circular-type yarn from the t-shirt strip. Here is my picture tutorial on how I make recycled curled T-shirt yarn. My finished project is done in a basic motif granny stitch pattern. This trivet hotpad is not only very frugal as it didn’t cost me anything, it’s also an excellent way to upcycle old tee-shirts into a new cool reusable item.

All photos are clickable to supersize them


Here is a closeup of the T-yarn once its cut and stretched.

Free T-Yarn Motif Hotpad Crochet Pattern

Materials needed:
One large t-shirt without side seams (blue) – Cut and stretched into approx. 65 yards of T-yarn
Small amount of contrasting T-Yarn (white)

Hook: J U.S. size metal crochet hook

Finished Hotpad Trivet: 7 inches wide

With center color Ch 4, Sl St to form ring.

Diagonal Cotton Dish Towel with Ring

September 24, 2012 1 comment
Diagonal Cotton Dish Towel with Ring

I present my diagonal cotton dish towel that I crocheted that features a ring as a hanger. I love using the round recycled rings as I can hang up my towel over any hook or knob in the kitchen. I crocheted one kitchen towel using regular weight cotton and another using sport weight cotton below.

Sport weight cotton hanging towel.

Cotton Diagonal Dish Towel Pattern

Materials needed:
3-3/4 ozs. Cotton yarn (Summer Prints used for main color)
1/2 oz. Cotton for trim in Hot Blue and Yellow
Plastic milk or juice jug ring 1-1/2 inches wide

Measurements: 17 inches long from top to bottom corner and 19 inches wide from tip to tip.

Hook:
H (5 mm) crochet hook

Directions:
Ch 28.

Row 1
Working in back loops only (BLO), Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in next 13 sts, 3 Sc in next st and then Sc in the remaining 13 sts. Ch 1, turn. (29 sts)

Dishcloths with Plastic Scrubber

February 16, 2008 17 comments
Dishcloths with Plastic Scrubber

Here are three different dishcloths with built-in plastic scrubbers I’ve crocheted recently. The centers are made using recycled plastic bags to create cotton dishcloths with scrubbing power. Quite a while back I made some scrubbers from plastic bags found here. Recently I thought about combining a pot scrubber with a dishcloth. These three products are my results. Just remember machine wash gentle and hang dry otherwise the centers will melt in your dryer. So check it out and make yourself a cute pot scrubber dishcloth today!

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Here is part I of the patterns for each dishcloth shown above. Part I has the blue green dishcloth and the round red one. Part II will be coming soon that will have the pattern for the pink motif square dishcloth.

Free Blue Green Round Dishcloth with Scrubber Pattern

Dishcloth measures: 10 inch round
Hook: Metal H (5 mm) US sized hook

Materials:
1- Sugar & Cream Cotton yarn ball Summer Splash (used about 3/4 of ball)
Small amount of Green and Blue plastic bag plarn for scrubber center

With center color (Green shown) Ch 5, Sl St to form ring.

Double Layer Towel Toppers

November 8, 2008 49 comments
Red Towel Topper

I have been working on a project of crocheted towel toppers. I wanted to be able to create the topper without cutting and eventually not having to machine sew the top of the towel. Another goal of the project was to have a double layer 2-ply towel. Here is my first finished double towel topper below.

All photos are clickable to view supersized

Here is a picture tutorial and free crochet pattern below for making a double towel topper.

Fold the towel in half with right sides facing out. Machine stitch along the top edge using a basting stitch.

Then using some cotton blend sport weight yarn and a steel #7 crochet hook, single crochet along the top edge through both layers of the towel.


Here is another method I used where I did not machine stitch along the top edge. The steps are fold, press, pin, and then single crochet along the top edge of the towel through both layers.

Again I used a steel crochet hook #7 to poke the holes for the first row. Then I switched to a “G” crochet hook after the first row to finish the towel topper.


Finished no sew double towel topper which I call the fold and pin method.

Free Double Layer Towel Topper Crochet Pattern

Materials needed:
1- Kitchen towel or decorative towel
1- oz. Red Heart Carefree Cotton Blend – White used
1- 3/4″ button

Hooks:
#7 Steel hook
G (4 mm) USA size hook

Directions:
Using either the fold and stitch or fold and pin method, prepare top of towel to begin Sc stitching along top edge. […]

Double Layered Waffle Towel Topper Pattern

June 14, 2015 12 comments
Double Layered Waffle Towel Topper Pattern

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.

Flag Washcloth or Dishcloth Pattern

June 23, 2012 1 comment
Flag Washcloth or Dishcloth Pattern


Here is my latest free crochet washcloth or dishcloth pattern. This cloth represents a flag and I was inspired by the flag afghan square that was featured over at Crochet ‘N’ More. I have been making facecloths for charity and thought this would make a wonderful cloth with its patriotic theme.



Flag Washcloth – Dishcloth Pattern

Hook:
G (4 mm) USA crochet hook

Materials:
3/4 oz white cotton yarn
3/4 oz red cotton yarn
1/4 oz blue cotton yarn

Description:
8-1/2 inch Square Washcloth or Dishcloth

Directions:
Row 1
With white yarn, Ch 29, then Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in ea st down to last st. On last loop of last st drop white yarn and pick up red yarn. (28)



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!