I made a hobo bag

[Joia]

out of used grocery bags!
I uploaded the pic from my phone, now I have to get it on photobucket and I'll post it. It came out really cool!

[Joia]

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h238/sarahbtsd/P31165531.jpg

[musicmomma]

wow, how did you do it? :clapping:

[georgi]

That's awesome!!!

[Joia]

long story, it was a weird train of consciousness... I'll tell it when I get back. (from dropping off Rio)

[musicmomma]

ok cool. :smile:

[Joia]

so I was reading mothering magazine and there was this article about crafting and they were commenting on making a rag rug from old jeans. Here I am, looking at a pair of old jeans my husband wants to donate to good will... so in the pic, the chick was crocheting it... I can crochet and I was like, "I can do that!" hence the "rag rug" thread...

So I go to you tube because it's where I learn everything and I do a search for rag rug and I come across this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYw5ZvRdhPQ

then I scroll down on the side and saw this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu48UWAJdME&feature=related

I then watched this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKJbHAWmI5k&feature=related

and then I found a pattern that I liked when I watched this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGl9xr2CaPc&feature=related

I cut up 3 grocery bags full of grocery bags and strung them together.

I followed the pattern, but with a size n hook, so It's pretty big, but perfect for toting groceries home!

[-anna]

wow your bag looks great!
i've only made small baskets out of grocery bag plarn and used a K hook (it was a rainy day and i got bored along with slightly annoyed that grocery bags have taken over a whole cabinet but only had my f-k hook set)

[Joia]

I'm sure with a smaller hook, it would be tighter and stiffer and more like a basket, than a bag... I dunno, I never worked with the stuff before. I had heard of the crocheted "plarn" bags and baskets, but I never gave it enough thought on how to string it all together to make said plarn...

walmart bags and produce bags are the softest and easiest to work with.

[-anna]

working with plarn is tough - too much tension to make it tighter and it tears so i must admit my baskets are a little floppy

[bsktcase]

That is fantastic! Awesome job! I would be proud to go grocery shopping with that! :)

[Joia]

well, I didn't just slip through the stitches, I had to use my finger to get it to go over, I don't know if that makes sense... like instead of pulling through, I used my finger to slide the "plarn" over, then I pulled through the second loop...

[Joia]

next time, I may get all anal and separate out all the brown, then the brown with writing, white, white with black writing, etc... then I can do more of a pattern... but I actually did it "random" on purpose, and I had my kids "help" by opening the rings for me to thread them together, so they made it completely random. I used some clear bags too, which add their own flavor...

[Wende]

That is utmostly, totally the coolest thing ever!!! :lol:

[Joia]

That is utmostly, totally the coolest thing ever!!! :lol:
thanks! I thought so too! I wish I was the creative one that came up with the whole concept...

next I want to make a sun hat... :lol:

[lil pixi]

That's really crazy work for what it's made out of! :eek: :thup:
Awesome!! :smile:

[Joia]

ya think?
thanks! it was a breeze, you just have to be careful not to pull it too much, otherwise, it's just a really simple pattern (why I chose it)

now I have no plastic bags... :lol:

[bsktcase]

Would you be willing to share how you prepared the bags for crocheting? How did you tie them together? Which direction did you cut them?

[-anna]

the second and third youtube videos joia posted show how to cut the bags and loop them together. if you can't view the youtube vids here's a still tutorial
plarn instructions (http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/02/17/instructions-for-cutting-plastic-bags-creating-recycled-plastic-yarn/)

[Joia]

it's in the second and third youtube videos.

I folded the bags sideways, like laying them flat and folding in half side to side, not top to bottom and you keep folding until they are about 2 inches, then you cut off the top and the bottom. when I first started out, I used the handles and the bottoms, just by tying them in, but it was a big pain in the ass for me to work the knots into the "back" so I only used the strips. once you have the bag cut in strips, each strip is actually a loop. I don't know what it's called, but you just thread the loops into each other to make a chain, I used to do it with those jelly bracelets when I was a kid.

The old lady shows it pretty well, but the hippy chick also shows it in the 3rd video...

I took aqll the scraps to my local grocery store and put them in theis plastic bag recycling bin.

[Joia]

the second and third youtube videos joia posted show how to cut the bags and loop them together. if you can't view the youtube vids here's a still tutorial
plarn instructions (http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/02/17/instructions-for-cutting-plastic-bags-creating-recycled-plastic-yarn/)
thanks! you beat me to it, you must have been posting it while I was still writing mine :lol:

awesome site, thanks so much for posting it!

[bsktcase]

I know what you mean by the jelly bracelets! Hahaha! Perfect explanation, thank you!

I'm so excited to try this!:clapping: