Green Crafty Q&A: Weaving Plastic Bags

by Victoria Everman February 19, 2008, 6:12 am 19 Comments

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.

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. ]]

Written by Victoria Everman

I think of myself as a creatively versatile eco-powerhouse. Freelance writer, life-long model, on-camera personality, public speaker, official U.S. spokesperson for Twice Shy Clothing - I'm a classic Renaissance woman and mistress-of-all-trades.

Though my days of growing up in the corn fields of central Indiana are behind me, forgetting where I came from is not an option. I lost my father unexpectedly in March of 2006, months before moving from NYC to San Francisco, which helped to amplify my zest for life and thirst to help change the world.

Perpetually looking for fresh ways to share my unquenchable green knowledge, I blog about everything eco on my own website, as well as for All Green Magazine and select others. Additionally, I am the editor/head writer of Crafting a Green World (part of the Green Options blog network) and a writer/web editor for Building Green TV. My diverse articles have been published in variety of reputable magazines, such as: Yoga Journal, Venus, CRAFT, Yogi Times, Recovery Solutions, M+F, and Office Solutions.

In my spare time, you can find me knitting, reading, singing, taking pictures, practicing yoga, taking long walks, and working on my first non-fiction book. Other random facts about me: I'm a Buddhist, latex fan, have four tattoos, and an attempting locavore.

MOVING TO PORTLAND, OREGON IN JUNE 2008