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Recycled Wine Tote Bag

Here is my latest recycled bag project. It’s a smaller version of Japanese knot bag wine tote that I crocheted a few years ago. For this plarn wine tote, I crocheted it a few stitches less around and only went up to a standing height of 9.5 inches.

The full written free Japanese Knot Plarn Tote pattern is found here. Just remember for this smaller tote bag use a K (6.5 mm) crochet hook. Adjust the original pattern as desired to reach the size for the tote that you need. The beauty in these patterns is that you can always tweak them to get the desired outcomes.

Below is a photo of my recycled wine tote with a small bottle of wine.

Grey and Pink Plarn Recycled Bag

I shared in a recent post about weaving the strap handle for this recycled tote bag. I made the strap using a spool knitter and variegated the plastic bag strips with grey and pink loops to form the woven strap. Then I crocheted the body of the bag using an open netting type stitch for the project. Here is the completed recycled tote bag.

Here is a closeup of the strap and top edge of the bag.

Below you will find the complete pattern to crochet the recycled tote bag. I hope you enjoy the pattern and don’t hesitate to contact me should you have any questions as you work this pattern or any of my other free patterns.

Grey and Pink Recycled Plastic Tote Bag Pattern

Materials:
Plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips – approx. 30+ bags
Hook: Metal J (6 mm) crochet hook

Description:
Recycled Plastic Tote bag: 10 inches by 12-1/2 inches long with 25 inches strap

All crochet directions are in US terms.

Round 1
With grey plarn, Ch 30, Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in ea st and then working around the backside of chain, Sc in ea st along the other side of original chain.

Being Creative Finding Colorful Plastic for Plarn

People frequently ask me where I find all the different colored bags for recycled bag projects. I admit it is harder to find pretty colors of plastic bags to turn into yarn or plarn as it is referred to now. Plarn is the plastic yarn made by cutting recycled plastic into strips. One tip I want to share today is that you must be creative finding colorful plastic to recycle into plarn.

One such example is this large red plastic bag that hash browns are sold in.

It is mostly a nice bright red color and can be cut into a thin strip to make plarn. Because this plastic is very thick, I cut it in one long continuous strip about 1/2 inch wide.

Free Recycled Plastic Bag Plarn Patterns

Are you looking for free patterns to use recycled plastic bags? Maybe you already know that you can make plarn by cutting plastic bags into strips to create yarn that you can craft with. Whether you are new to crafting with recycled materials or a veteran who has made recycled tote bags, plarn purses, plastic bag rugs, or any of the other many items that can be made from recycled plastic, I hope you will enjoy seeing this roundup of plastic creations.


Recycled Plastic Fat Bottom Purse


Recycled Plastic Trash Rug


Plarn Reusable Produce Bag


Gingham Plarn Purse


Round Recycled Plastic Bag Rug

Crafting with Plastic Bags

It has been over six years now since I started this recycled bags blog. When I first started out I wanted to share the idea of using plastic bags for craft projects. I wanted to promote the reuse and repurposing of plastic for useful items. Over the years, I have crocheted tote bags, rugs, scrubbies, purses, baby bibs, soap dishes, coasters, baskets, gift bags, water bottle holders and much more using recycled plastic.

You can find all of my crochet free plastic bag patterns here at my site. Over the years I have shared all my patterns free so that everyone could enjoy crafting with recycled plastic materials. I have used every type of recycled plastic such as retails bags, toilet paper packaging, hotdog and hamburger bun packages, frozen vegetable packages, paper towel packaging, bread bags, hashbrown bags, and taco shell bags.


Trash Rug from Recycled Plastic

Recycling plastic to create yarn has endless possibilities. I only named a handful of plastic items you can make plarn from. Plarn (PLastic yARN) is the term my friend Joy coined first over at Crochetville