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
• » Get Crafting a Green World by RSS or sign up by email.

• 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. ]]

Tweet This Post