How-To-Make Plarn Photo Tutorial

Since I posted my beach bag tutorial, I thought I’d also do a quick one about how to make the “plarn” aka plastic yarn. I used old grocery bags to do this, and if you’re like me (meaning you really need to get some reusable shopping bags) then you’ll have a plethora of these lying around.

What you’ll need:
Plastic grocery bags
Scissors

First thing you do is collect your bags. I like to keep all my bags from the same store together so my plarn is all the same color. You could definitely mix them up though to get a different effect in the plarn when you’re crocheting. Here’s about half of what’s shoved under my kitchen sink.

First, take a single bag and lay it out flat.

Then, fold it in half lengthwise…

…And in half again twice more.

Cut off the top handles and the seam at the bottom.

Then cut the main section of the bag into about 1-inch sections.

Take two sections and unfold them.

Make a half-hitch knot with the two loops and gently tighten it.

Continue adding to one end of the plarn and roll into a ball as you extend. You should end up with something like this.

Now you’re ready to go! You will definitely need a larger hook (Size K or bigger) to work with this stuff. It’s more challenging than yarn, so be prepared to do smaller sections of work at a time because your wrists might get tired. Happy Crocheting!

My “Plarn” Crochet Beach Bag

So me and the husband decided to take advantage of his leave time and our fairly close proximity to the gulf coast and have a beach vacation. I haven’t been to the beach in ages, and I realized that I didn’t have a beach bag. Gasp! I’ve been working hard to reign in my impulse spending, and since I had already bought a pair of shoes and a dress (both of which don’t really fit in my overcrowded closet), I decided to make my own bag. I’d been wanting to whip my hooks out anyway, and Jeremy was glad our bank account wasn’t going to suffer anymore that week. I looked online a bit for a pattern, but couldn’t find one I liked, so I made one up. My first solo project! (Forgive me if there’s any major mistakes or weirdness…I’ve never written a pattern before.)

First of all, I used plarn (plastic yarn), which I made from old grocery bags. I’ll post an how-to on making it yourself. It’s super easy to do…and it’s a cheap source of yarn. I wish I had kept track of how many bags you need, but like I said, it’s my first pattern.

What you’ll need:
1 large ball of plarn
1 small ball of another color plarn
Size K crochet hook or larger

Instructions:

Chain 48. Double crochet in third chain from hook and each consecutive chain. At the end of the row, chain 2 and turn. Repeat 39 times. (You can do more rows if you want you bag to be taller.) it should look something like this.

At this point you’ll need to make the panels. I chose to make my striped since my bag was such a boring color. I used brown and white.

Chain 14. Double crochet in third chain from hook and each consecutive chain. Chain 2 and turn. At the end of the second row, pick up the second color plarn. Chain 2 and turn. Crochet two rows then switch color. This is how I did my color switching.

I didn’t bother cutting the plarn at the end of each row. I just carried it over at each color switch and cut it when I was finished. Alternate colors until you have nine stripes. Repeat for second panel.

Next, line up one of the panels with the edge of the main section and slip stitch the pieces together around the two long sides of the panel and one short side. Repeat one the other side with the second panel. It should look something like this.

If you pull the slip stitches to the outside of the main section, you’ll end up with this nifty edging.

Almost done! Ok finally we need a handle. I used my opposing color in the stripes to make it a little more interesting. Single crochet in each stitch across the top of one side panel. As you turn across the wider side of the bag, crochet 10 single crochet. Chain for as long as you want your handle to be. Count 10 stitches from the opposite side of that same side and complete 10 single crochets. Repeat on the opposite side. When you reach the stitch you began with, slip stitch. Chain 1 and repeat. When you reach the handle, single crochet around the chain handle. I just did singles until my handle felt pretty sturdy. Repeat with the other handle. And that’s it! You have yourself a durable beach bag.

I got quite a few beach supplies in this baby and it held up great! The best part is that if it gets dirty you can just hose if off and let it dry. I even took it shopping one day. If it can hold the entire contents of my purse, it very well could hold anything!