Green Crafty Q&A: Weaving Plastic Bags
The Crafting A Green World Q&A series returns for its second installment - this time fueled by one of our long-time readers, Tamara.
Q: Help! I am looking for a place that will show me how to basket weave plastic bags that does not require me to know how to knit or crochet. - Tamara
A: Oh, how I love a challenge! Crocheting is the most common way that I have seen when it comes to using plastic bag “yarn”, but knitting comes in at a close second. Using plastic bags with a traditional weaving technique is just about as easy as using fiber yarns. With a little digging and some ingenious internet searches, I’ve found a few online resources that give step-by-step instructions for weaving plastic bags - sans knitting needles and crochet hooks.
- » See also: A Review of Refashioned Bags: Upcycle Anything into High-Style Handbags
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- United Kingdom (a.k.a. England) crafty website artExchanges features a great plastic bag weaving workshop both in video and photo form.
- Thrifty Fun has a nifty plastic bag rug project, though I’m not sure how functional the finished piece would really be - especially if you have pets or kids.
- Though made with plastic packing strips, this Instructables woven bag project offers detailed photos and step-by-step directions. I believe if you simply replace the packing strips with plastic bag strips, you’ll get the same effect.
Not specifically about weaving plastic bags, Craft Magazine posted an extensive entry about plastic bags crafts on their blog a while back. With info on everything from creating plastic bag yarn and fusing plastic bags together as “fabric” to dress and raincoat tutorials, this is a must-read for anyone looking to reuse their flimsy plastic shoppers.
[[ From basic to brain boggling, we welcome your sustainable stitching queries either via comment on one of our other Q&A posts or directly via e-mail. Knitting, crochet, sewing, quilting, pottery, paper arts … if you make it, we can answer your questions on how to make it better. ]]
[...] posted recently on organisations offering tutorials for weaving plastic bags and Roger2435 points us in the direction of 19 ways to recycle plastic grocery [...]
My friend and fellow interior design student are planning to create some sort of chair and/or furniture pieces using plastic bags and other recyclable/reusable materials. Our finished designs will be sold at a charity auction in the fall. I hope to find useful info here, and would appreciate any hints or advice anyone may have. Thanks!
A couple of years ago my daughter used my table loom to weave rugs, using carpet warp for the warp and plastic bags for the weft. They are great!
I want to do it myself but have lost the web site with directions. Does anyone know where I can find it?
Thanks.
Marilyn
Sonoma County, CA
[...] a sweater… or a scarf: You crafty types can turn those bags into yarn… and then knit, crochet or weave with [...]
Is the video tutorial from artExchange about plastic bags still available? When I clicked on the link no website came up. Do you have the name of the current site? I’m trying to find out how to make a recycled basket from plastic bags in the same manner, can you help me?