Begging for Bags

So, I was super excited to try the recycled plastic bag tote.  

Thanks to everyone who has voted...keep voting to pick my next project!

I saw the picture of the bag (see "Not so Lazy Days of Summer") and I thought it was a really awesome idea.  This is a way to recycle and have a fun craft to make. Let me start by telling you I TOTALLY underestimated the number of bags that I would need to complete this project.  Needless to say, I am not finished yet.  Let me show you what I have so far so if you want your own you can start saving your bags right away!

Lay bag out flat

Fold the bag in half.

And then in half again.

Cut off ends and cut it into strips.

This is where I ran into some problems.  Not all plastic bags are created equal.  The thinner the bag, the thicker the strips need to be.  If you cut heavy bags too thick they will not crochet easily.  I tried to use the same weight bags but I did need to play around with it quite a bit before I was happy with my final product.

So now you should have a ton of strips cut. You want to connect them together so you are crocheting a double width of plastic.  This will keep the plastic from tearing apart.  

 Pull together and repeat a gazillion times.  Remember not to pull too hard.  

Make sure your strips pull flat and even, this will keep problems from happening later.

Roll into a plastic "yarn" ball.

You can use almost any crochet pattern. 

I made two balls of "yarn".  One in red and white and one in shades of blue.  I started with the red and white and chained 25 using a Q hook.  I then single crocheted in the second chain and continued all the way around (on both sides).  I did not stop, but continued in a spiral around and around.  I added in two rows of blue by simply cutting the plastic and tying the ends.  I then attached the blue to the red and then back again.

So far so good.  As of right now bag is 18" wide and 9" high.

This is as far as I have gotten.  I plan on visiting my favorite "red and white bag" store later on this week and asking if I can have some of their recycled bags.  Cross your fingers that they will share.  What do you think?