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Create Plastic Yarn (Plarn)

What do you do with mountains of spare plastic shopping bags? Recycle them, of course. Simply collect the bags, cut them into strips and knit, weave,or crochet to your heart's content!.

What You'll Need

• Plastic grocery bags
• Scissors

Plastic bags are usually found wadded up or inside-out. To make the plastic yarn correctly, you need to straighten and neatly fold the plastic bag. Tuck in the sides so that they lay flat.

Next, Fold the bag lengthwise, in half, then fold again. Folding the bag means less cutting and straighter plarn pieces. Snip off the handles on the end.

Cut strips according to how strong you want the plastic yarn to be. Strips that are 1" or thicker are the strongest and great for making bags and blankets, while those that are 1/2" or less are going to be a more delicate yarn suited for doilies and lace projects.

Different plastic bags will behave in different ways as plarn. The white Meijer bag and yellow Dollar General bags here are standard plastic bags that are smooth and have little give. The brown Kroger bag is much softer and thinner, while the blue bag my morning paper arrived in is very stretchy. Keep in mind the texture of your bag when clipping strips.

Clip all the way down the bag and discard the bottom piece. Open the strips and you will discover that you've made a bunch of plastic loops.

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Upcycling plastic bags into other products helps keep them out of our landfills and oceans.