Plastic bags

I feel really bad whenever I come home from a massive food-shopping trip with more plastic bags. My maternal grandparents’ have always had these beautiful and somewhat mysterious plastic rugs in their house. It took me a few years to ask or realize that they were actually woven from plastic bags!

They are colorful, and very long-lasting. The only downside is that they can be a little slippery. I think my great-aunt may have woven them, because I remember seeing a huge loom in her house and she always had at least one project going.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of the plastic rugs here, but believe me when they are unique and actually really stylish. It has none of that cheap, sterile feel that plastic furniture usually has. Yuck.

Yesterday, I found a tutorial on how to cut your plastic bag into a single strand of “yarn” that you can use to knit with. But really, you could do anything with it that you can do with yarn - crochet, sew, weave… There is a simpler tutorial here but this results in a yarn with lots of knots, as the cutting of the bag results in lots of little strips instead of one.

Some people seem to have created beautiful knitted satchels/bags from old plastic bags, and they are so much more durable and beautiful than a regular plastic bag. Take a look:

from the yarn-making tutorial by coco knits

from here

by vczdavis

beautiful bag by Emily Blades found here

There’s even this stylish 50’s style dress by Cathy Kasdan. Having recently been playing Fallout 3, I can’t help wondering if plastic bags would be a viable material for making clothing from in a post-nuclear world. I wonder if they have a tendency to hoard radiation?

Despite the cuteness of the dress, however, I can in no way imagine that it would be comfortable to wear.

I’m mighty inspired! I’m stopping myself from buying yarn because my yarn-box is overflowing already, but here’s a material I can use without feeling guilt! I hate the stash of plastic bags we have living under the sink, and I look forward to turning it into something far more useful than those flimsy little things (and far more beautiful than the multiple use ones from Spar).

Now… the question is… What should I make?