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Tag: tote-bag

Pink and Grey Plastic Bag Tote

CindyLeave a comment

I present a pink and grey plastic bag tote featuring a netting stitch look. I crocheted this tote bag using recycled grey retail bags and pink plastic newspaper sacks. Both types of plastic bags were cut into strips using these plarn making tutorials.

I just love the fish net look of this stitch in pink plarn. It’s just so pretty looking. The contrast between the pink plarn and grey really works well together.

I made some minor changes from the original plastic net market bag pattern. I used a J (6 mm) crochet hook when I crocheted the pink plarn section. The pink recycled bags are thinner and the J hook makes a tighter stitch. I also did 23 rounds finishing

Recycled Dog Food Bag

Cindy4 Comments

I’ve had recycling a dog food bag on my to-do list for quite some time. I’ve saved several of the plastic webbed food bags and just needed to rinse them out and upcycle them into tote bags. The first step was to remove the dog food odor and clean them.

I opened the bottom seam of the bag as it was just taped closed. I washed them out in the bath tub and then rinsed once with white vinegar and let them air dry. There still was a hint of dog food smell so I sprayed down the inside of the bag using a homemade citrus-vinegar solution. After another rinse and dry, the bags smelled clean with no hint of dog food.

Once the bags are all clean and dry, I was ready to start cutting. For the larger tote, I cut the bottom off just above the writing and details of the bag. I did this to try and eliminate some of the boring part of the bag. I then cut part of the top off and folded over the top edge twice to make a nice hem. The finished size of the recycled dog food tote bag is 17 inches tall, 15 inch wide and 6 inches deep at the base. I used some webbing strap material to add the handles and just folded them under the hem before sewing the top hem in place. This secured the handles in place and hid the ends of the webbing. The finished length of the handles are 10 inches long on my bag shown.

Here is the inside of the tote bag with the bottom sewn

Fade to White Plarn Tote Bag

Cindy2 Comments

I’ve had this idea in my head for awhile on how to create a tote bag that fades from black to white using recycled plastic bags or plarn. Here is what I came up with. I used recycled black plastic bags to start and then grey bags to the dirty-white colored bags and ended with white plastic bags.

I used the ultimate plarn tote bag pattern to crochet the bag with just some minor changes. On round 3 at the curve of the ends, I crocheted 2 Half Double Crochets (Hdc) in the first stitch at the curve. Then I worked just 1 Hdc in next stitch and 2 Hdc in the stitch at the other part of the curve. Repeat for the other side’s end.

For round 4 curve, you want to identify the 4 stitches on the curve of each end. Crochet 2 Hdc in the first stitch, then 1 Hdc in each of the next 2 stitches and 2 Hdc in the next stitch. Repeat for the other end. This should give you a nice rounded corner on each side of your bag.

Now follow the original pattern directions, changing colors as follows:

Red White and Blue Striped Plarn Tote

Cindy8 Comments

I have tons of white plastic bags as many people do. Most people that craft with recycled plastic bags find it difficult to find pretty colorful bags. You can usually find a few unique colors but it’s almost impossible to find enough bags to crochet a complete tote bag. So I’m always on the quest to find new ways to embellish my white tote bags. Here is my latest crocheted recycled plastic bag. It’s a red, white and blue striped reusable tote bag. It uses around 30 white retail bags and only about 3 blue plastic bags and 3 red newspaper bags. As you can see, just a few colorful bags can dress up an otherwise boring white plastic bag tote.

To crochet this recycled tote bag you basically use my Ultimate Grocery Bag pattern and add the stripes using the red and blue plastic bags cut into plarn. I also changed up the handles a bit and will detail the changes below to explain how to crochet this recycled plastic tote bag.

I used a N (9 mm) crochet hook to work this tote bag. The finished size is 13 inches wide and 14 inches long with 9 inch handles.

Following the basic pattern link, crochet with white plastic bag yarn (plarn) for 19 rounds. End at side of bag with a slip stitch.

Variegated Plarn Tote Bag

Cindy7 Comments

I present my latest creation — Variegated plastic bag yarn or plarn as it so commonly is known as in the crafting world. Pink, orange, and white plastic bags were used to crochet this variegated recycled bag. The pink and orange bags are plastic bags that newspapers are delivered in and the white is from just regular retail bags. I used these 3 colors to create my variegated look by assembling 3 loops of pink plarn, 2 white loops, 3 orange loops, and 2 white loops, then repeat this order for the variegated look. Here is my plarn making tutorials for creating yarn from newspaper or retail plastic bags should you need to see how to make plastic yarn.


This plarn ball was made using newspaper and retail bags together to create the variegated colored yarn. As I outlined below, if color pooling becomes a problem just add another white strip of plarn to offset the pooling. I found if I added an additional white strip to the 2 white ones, it solved the pooling issues with the tote bag as I crocheted it.

Enjoy the free crochet pattern below and happy crafting to all!

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Variegated Plarn Tote Bag Pattern

Materials needed:
Plastic bag yarn or Plarn – Approx. 50 white plastic grocery bags along with 20 pink and 20 orange plastic bags for the variegated yarn

This variegated plarn is created by assembling 3 loops of pink plarn, 2 white loops, 3 orange loops, and then 2 white loops, repeat pattern for variegated look.

Hook: N (9 mm) size metal hook

Description: Recycled Plastic Tote Bag
Bag standing up measures 14″ wide and 11″ tall with 12″ handles
with measurements flat 17″ across, 12″ high, and 11″ long base.

Directions:
The bottom of bag is crocheted with just plain white bags. Using just white plarn, Ch 20.

Rnd 1
Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in ea chain st down to end. Continue around other side of chain by working a Sc in ea st to other end.