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Year: 2007

Crocheted Plastic Bag Patterns

Cindy13 Comments

Welcome to plastic bag pattern headquarters! I am building a library of patterns here for crocheting with plastic grocery bags and other recycled materials. Currently I have free patterns available for purses, a plastic bag keeper, shoulder bags, coasters, and other bags.

If you are new to crafting with plastic bags here is the tutorial on how to create yarn from plastic bags.

You may also want to read my tips on crafting with plastic grocery bags, just click here.

I love to share my free patterns and recycling ideas with others to promote recycled crafting. My plan is to continue building this website blog into one of the best resources for crafting with plastic bags as well as covering other materials that can be used. More patterns are being added all the time so please make sure you check back often.

September 2014 update:
It has been over 7 years since I first wrote this post and over the years I have added many new recycled plastic bag patterns to my blog. You can find a list of all the patterns with thumbnail photos of each project at my free patterns page.

Thanks for visiting My Recycled Bags!

Crocheted Sling Bag of Recycled VHS Tape

Cindy31 Comments

VHS Tape Sling Bag


Now here is the same bag with some red fun fur added

This little sling bag is crocheted using old VHS tape. It’s a great way to recycle those old VHS tapes that you may have stashed away and you don’t know what to do with. If you haven’t read my blog about how to use VHS tape to crochet click here for the link.
It will explain how the whole process works so you too can crochet with VHS tape.

Next I used a thrift store button for a closure but my sling bag just needed something more. I had a bit of red fun fur and thought it just might be the answer. What do you think? Should I add more along the bottom edge?

I conducted a recent poll and many people liked the bag without the fun fur. You can embellish the bag if you want. The complete free pattern is below.

Enjoy this recycled bag project!
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Crocheted VHS Video Tape Sling Bag Pattern

Purse measures 8 inches wide and 8 inches long.
Strap length is 45 inches

Material: 2 VHS Video Tape Reels
One button: 1 inch button shown on bag

Hook: Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook

Crocheted Plastic Bag Keeper from Recycled Bags

Cindy13 Comments

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

Crochet a Recycled Plastic Shoulder Bag

Cindy14 Comments


Recycled Shoulder Bag

This is one of my all time favorite bags that I have created. It’s a crocheted shoulder bag made of recycled tan plastic grocery bags. It is a quick and easy crochet project to try if you are just starting out doing recycled crafts. If you need to know how to create yarn from plastic bags, here is my link to the step by step process to make the plastic bag yarn. If you want a larger bag, just add more stitches to your beginning chain and if you would rather have a deeper bag, just increase your rounds as desired. This pattern is worked in rounds and you do not join at the end of each round. Because of this you do not need to sew side seams together. As you work the first few rounds, the bag will turn up at the sides. Just continue working one Hdc in each stitch around and it naturally forms your purse without having to sew any side seams.

Enjoy this fun eco-friendly project!

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Crocheted Recycled Plastic Shoulder Bag Pattern
Purse measures 9 inches wide and 6 inches long.
Strap length is 42 inches when not tied.

Material: One large ball of plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips.
One button 7/8 inch button shown on bag.

Hook: Metal N (9 mm) crochet hook

For complete pattern just click on read more link below.

Sharing Other Great Websites

Cindy3 Comments

I have come across many wonderful websites and blogs that support my ideas about recycling and crafting in the last few weeks. I wanted to share some of them so you too could benefit from their insightful postings.

Nancy of Selangor, MY is a GreenBeing trying to invade the earth with a bunch of similarly inspired “Green” buddies, who practice environmentally friendly habits. Check out her site for wonderful eco-friendly articles and inspirations for recycling.

Stephanie of West Virginia has a fun, down to earth Stop the Ride which shows how to make it from scratch projects. Her blog has posts several times a week and offers weekly prizes for her blog carnival. Lots of fun ideas and unique sharing of creative products that are made from scratch. This site helps with ideas to reduce debt through helpful suggestions on getting back to basics.

Crafts.suite101 site explores painting, sewing, making projects for around the house, quilting, scrapbooking, cardmaking, mosaic, gifts, embroidery, papercrafting, garden crafts, family projects, fabric crafting, rubber stamping, embossing, clay, jewelry making and all things crafting. They look at all of the latest books and products. So if you enjoy creating and discovering, this is a great site to check out.


ThriftyFun is a site where regular folks can share their knowledge and ideas. This link to their website is for one of the most comprehensive lists of uses and ways to recycle plastic bags that I have found. There are numerous thrifty tips from readers on reusing plastic grocery bags. Everything is covered from recycling, reducing, crafting, and more so we all can be green when it comes to plastic bags. Take a moment and review this outstanding reference link.