Patterns: Other projects
Everything that does not fit the other groups: baskets, bottle holders, flowers, draft dodgers, ditty bags and other handy things made from recycled materials.
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Need a little cozy for your Ipod Nano? Well crochet yourself this quick and easy cozy project!
Free Pattern:
Crochet this cozy using about an ounce of 100% wool yarn with a “G” hook. Chain 13, single crochet (sc) in 2nd stitch from hook and in each stitch down to end of chain (12 sc). Working around the back side of chain, sc in each stitch to create a seamless cozy. Do not join. Continue working in rounds until your cozy measures 3-1/2″ long before felting (approx. 15 rounds.) Slip stitch into last few stitches of final round so your finished edge is smooth. Fasten off and weave under ends on the inside of your cozy. Finished size before felting was 3-1/2″ long by 3-1/4″ wide.
Place your completed cozy inside an old pillowcase and tie it closed with a knot. I felted my cozy 20 minutes on the hottest water I had with an old pair of jeans. Check your cozy after 8-10 minutes of agitation to make sure it hasn’t felted too much. Mine needed more so I put it back into the washer. After a total of 20 minutes, mine was perfect. I pulled it out and cold water rinsed it in my sink. Shape your cozy so it’s square and check to make sure the opening is wide enough to insert your Nano. If it’s a bit tight, just stretch the opening a little. Air dry and shape as it dries if needed.
My final felted cozy measures 2-3/4″ wide by 3-1/8″ long. This cozy is a great way to use up scraps of wool yarn you may have on hand. Just make sure you use 100% wool so your project felts properly.
Here is my cozy with the Ipod Nano inside. It’s soft and thick so it protects the Nano nicely. This frugal project is much better than a store bought cozy plus its handmade!
Felting wool into dryer balls is a good alternative to using dryer sheets or adding fabric softener to your wash. Here are three dryer balls I felted and I have been using them now for over a month. I am happy to report that they worked wonderfully. I have no static cling and my clothes are soft after coming out of the dryer.
Apparently the felted wool balls not only help with static cling by moving around the clothes as they dry but it also may help with drying the clothes faster. I can’t say for sure but it seems as though my clothes aren’t taking as long to dry as normal. I am still hanging most of my clothes outside on the line but I have been using the felted dryer balls for our dress clothes in the dryer with great results.
Materials needed per ball:
2 ounces wool (Scrap pieces used)
1 small stone – quarter size
First step is to get a small stone about the size of a US quarter. The stone adds weigh and provides a firm base for the dryer ball center.
Just start wrapping wool scraps around the stone.
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.
Tutorial Using Vcr Vhs Tape
Materials Needed:
Two vcr vhs video tape cartridges (long play t-120 preferred)
N (9 mm) crochet hook (metal preferred)
Small and large screwdrivers
Scissors
Rewind two old vcr tapes that you don’t have any further use of to begin.
Using two vhs tapes for this project, open up the cases by using your small screwdriver to unscrew the screws in each corner and the middle of the cases. Some varieties of cases do not have screws which you can take out. If you have that type of cartridge you will need to pry open the cases. A large flathead screwdriver works well to get the case open to reach the vhs tape reels.
Click photo to view full-sized
Click photo to view full-sized
Once you have the cases open, remove the reel that is holding the tape. Cut the tape off at the end of the leader tape with your scissors. Now you have two reels with vhs tape on each of them for your crafting project.
Click to view full-sized
Holding two strands of the vhs tape together works well for crocheting. Leave the tape on each reel and as you work your project it will just unwind.
Click photo to view full-sized
Crocheting with vhs tape is a bit hard on the fingers and joints because it isn’t real smooth to work with. Using ribbon yarn as shown below does help in the smoothness of your crocheting and allows the hook to move easier.
Click to view full-sized
Ribbon yarn shown with two strands of vhs tape
Enjoy your project using vhs tape and you can find all my free patterns here for making items with the recycled tape. Please email me if you have any questions.
This is a tutorial on how to make T-yarn from old recycled tee-shirts. T-yarn maybe a new term to you. T-yarn or Tarn is what the yarn is being called that is made from cutting t-shirts into strips for crafting.
The best t-shirts are ones that do not have side seams as you can cut around and around starting at the bottom. First cut off the hem and then with a sharp pair of scissors cut strips about 1/2″ to 3/4″ wide. Cut in one continuous strip as I have shown here.
All photos are clickable to supersize them
I stopped at the armhole openings as this was the end of my continuous strip that is completely one piece cut in rounds. You can cut off the sleeves and start another continuous strip at this point but it’s not as smooth as the main body because you will have curves in your strip where you have to turn the corners.
To create the circular T-yarn, you gently pull on the strip. I found the best way to do this is by taking a short length about 1-2 feet long and stretching it. The stretching causes the tee-shirt strip to turn in on itself thus creating your rounded T-yarn. One important warning is not to pull too hard otherwise the strip breaks. I did have this happen on my first attempts so be advised to gently pull on the strip until it won’t stretch any further. Then you move to the next section of your strand and stretch it again. Continue stretching your strip until the whole long continuous strand has been stretched and is curled as shown in the photo.
Click to supersize
Here is a small sample of what the curled T-yarn looks like when you crochet with it. It’s smooth to work with and has a nice finished look. You can either crochet or knit with the recycled yarn that has been created. This circular T-yarn would make excellent potholders, trivets and of course is perfect for a recycled tote bag. One large tee-shirt netted about 90 yards of T-yarn once stretched. So grab your crochet hook or knitting needles and experiment with this recycled material to create some wonderful eco craft projects.
I needed a little mini flower basket for a garden theme crochet project so I cut some plastic bags very thin to accomplish this tiny recycled plastic basket. The basket is filled with wild Yarrow and Lupine flowers.
I used 2 recycled plastic bags and cut them in long continuous strips just a 1/4 of an inch wide. Here is one bag cut just 1/4 inch wide and rolled into a little plarn ball. As you can see this is thin, single strand plarn. I joined strips with a small knot and then just crocheted over the ends on the inside of the basket to hide the splices.
Mini Crocheted Plarn Flower Basket Pattern
G (4 mm) crochet hook
2 plastic retail bags cut 1/4 inch wide in one continuous single strand
Finished basket size: 3 inches wide x 2.75 inches tall
Directions:
Rnd 1
Ch 2 and SC 5 times in the 2nd ch from hook.
Time for a new recycled plastic bag project. Things have been a little hectic lately and I haven’t been able to craft and post new patterns as frequently as I would like. But this week I was able to get some plastic newspaper bags cut up into plastic bag yarn. I just love this beautiful shade of pink salmon that my local library gets their newspaper delivered in. For those people who may have not read my fat bottom bag post, these beautiful bags are being saved by my local library. I pick them up about twice a week and it’s a wonderful resource for me to be able to obtain unique and colorful bags for my recycled crafting projects.
I actually counted the number of bags I used in this crocheting project. It was 29 plastic bags. I cut them about 1 inch wide and interconnected them together using the loop method. Each newspaper plastic bag results in about 17-18 loops if anyone is interested. Anyway this water bottle holder holds a 32 oz Nalgene bottle or a store bought 1 liter bottle of water. Because these plastic bags are a bit thinner I used a K crochet hook rather than my standard N hook. The smaller hook provided a tighter stitch and a sturdier water bottle holder.
Please enjoy the free crochet pattern below and happy crafting to all!
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Recycled Newspaper Bags Water Bottle Holder Pattern
Material Needed: 29 salmon pink newspaper plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips and connect into plarn.
Plastic newspaper sleeve bags were used in this project. Cut the strips and assemble
just as you do in this plarn making tutorial.
Hook:
Metal K (6.5 mm) crochet hook
Water Bottle Holder Size:
Bag – 5-1/2″ wide, 7″ long, with 4″ round bottom
Strap 40″ long & 2″ wide
Fits water bottles that are 32 oz reusable bottles or 1 liter plastic bottles
With pink plarn, Ch 4, Sl St to join in first st of chain to form ring.
Creating plaid using recycled plastic bags has been on my to-do list for quite some time. This last week I finally set out on what I call my plaid plarn project. I wanted to keep it simple and small as I found making a plaid design with recycled plastic bags very challenging. It was a trial and error project which needed to be tackled on a small item until I could prefect my process. Needless to say, I got a bit frustrated but finally came up with this little wallet as my finished product.
Crocheting the surface chaining is a bit challenging to get the stripes straight. I had to work a few stitches a bit off to get my vertical stripe to look somewhat straight. Below is my piece once I was finished. It’s not perfect but that is the beauty of working with recycled crafts, it doesn’t have to be perfect. You are creating something new from trash so there is always beauty is each finished product. Hope you enjoy this plaid plarn project and remember it doesn’t have to be perfect for you to enjoy your wallet.
Plaid Plarn Wallet Pattern
Materials needed:
One ball of white plastic bags cut into plarn about 3/4 inch wide
Small amount of salmon pink newspaper bags cut into plarn about 3/4 inch wide
Here is my link for plarn making tutorials for newspaper and retail plastic bags.
1) 1/2 inch button
Hooks:
J (6 mm) size metal crochet hook
H (5 mm) size metal crochet hook for button loop
Description: Plaid plastic wallet
Wallet measures 5 inches wide and 9-1/2 inches tall
with 2 inch long flap
Directions:
Using J hook with white plarn, Ch 17.
This week I crocheted a little bucket basket from recycled pink newspaper bags. I created this bucket basket as a gift to my local library for saving all the plastic newspaper bags they receive their newspapers in daily. Each week I pick up these bags and use them in my recycled crafting projects. I feel so fortunate to get these beautiful and uniquely colored bags.
I recycled this jam container for my plastic bag crafting project. As outlined in the pattern below, you insert the plastic jam container inside the crocheted plarn bucket. Once finished, I filled the bucket with candy and presented it to my local library staff. This was their first time really seeing a finished product I crafted from their recycled plastic bags. I think they were happily surprised to see something pretty as well as useful made from their old newspaper bags that I collect from them.
So I hope I have inspired you and you will give this recycled crochet basket project a go. Best wishes and happy green crafting to all!
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Plarn Bucket Basket Pattern
Materials:
One ball of pink plarn (plastic bag yarn) Appox. 20 bags
3 white plastic bags for edging
1 recycled jam container (4 inches wide by 4 inches tall used)
Hook: Metal J (6 mm) US size hook
Description: Crochet basket measures 4 inches wide and 4 inches tall with 8 inch handle
Directions:
Ch 4 and join with a sl st to form a ring.
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