Recycled Grocery Bags

A great green project for those who possess basic crochet techniques as well as free time and patience. I crocheted old plastic grocery bags into new stretchy bags that I use each week to carry my groceries or other store bought goodies home. They receive lots of praise from checkers, baggers, and people in line behind me each trip. The bags are perfect for your lighter groceries and will stretch to accomodate almost twice their size. I keep them in my car and have also found them handy for toting home wet towels and bathing suits from the beach. You can be very creative by varying the color bags you use or changing the size of bag or needle.

Start by flattening out your bags

Trim 1" strips of plastic vertically. I used about 15+ bags to recreate each bag.

Tie the strips together end to end with a regular knot. Trim the knot (or leave for a frazzled effect)

To make the bottom of the bag: Use a size "G" hook to single crochet in a circle adding stitches to each row until you reach desired size. Remember the tighter your stitches the stronger your bag will be.

Then continue the same number stitches until the bag is the height you want.

You can add straps by single crocheting or sew on straps of fabric. My favorite bag handles were made with recycled denim. I added stitches around the base of my handles for support.