How Do I Knit a Shopping Bag?
Why not recycle your supermarket plastic bags by knitting them into a reusable shopping bag? A technique of folding and cutting plastic bags turns them into a long yarn for knitting. Your shopping bag will be just as water-proof and flexible as ordinary supermarket bags but more beautiful and sturdier. Fold it into your purse and use it as often as you like, washing it with soap and water when it gets dirty.
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Things You'll Need
- Supermarket plastic bags
- Scissors
- Straight knitting needles, size 10
- Crochet hook
- Sewing needle
- Wooden handles
Instructions
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Cut off the very bottom of a supermarket plastic bag and discard, then lay the bag flat on a table. Fold it in half width-wise, so that the handles are on top of each other, then fold again from the opposite end leaving a 1-inch margin over the first fold. Continue folding, always leaving the 1-inch margin intact, until the fold is also 1 inch wide.
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2
Cut off the handles. Then, without cutting the 1-inch margin, cut the folded portion at 1-inch intervals. Shake the bag loose and spread it flat on the table.
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3
Separate the first cut strip from the rest of the bag by cutting diagonally from the central margin to the edge. Continue making diagonal cuts across the central margin of the bag to connect the cut strips on the right and left into a continuous thread.
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4
Fold the shopping bag yarn into a skein by wrapping it around your spread fingers. Knit the shopping bag with a pair of straight knitting needles, size 10. Cast on (add loops over your knitting needle) by forming knots by hand over one straight needle. The number of knots depends on what size shopping bag you desire. Alternate between knit and purl stitches for a strong, ribbed shopping bag. (See Resources for knitting video tutorial.)
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Repeat the steps for cutting more shopping bag yarn when your skein runs out. Tie the new yarn to the end of the old with a simple knot and continue knitting. Hide the knot on the reverse side of your knitted bag and thread its ends in place with a crochet needle.
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Cast off (drop the loops from your knitting needle) using a crochet hook. Repeat to knit the second side of your shopping bag. Seam the sections using the same plastic bag yarn. For extra strong handles, connect wooden handles to the top of your shopping bag by looping the yarn into the handle then seaming to the top of the shopping bag.
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Tips & Warnings
Tip 1: Make your shopping bag as small or as large as you please. Keep adding plastic bag yarn until you reach the size you desire.
Tip 2: Cut plastic bags in different colors to form a variety of yarns and alternate knitting with different colors for a multi-colored shopping bag.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit crocher bag image by bright from Fotolia.com
