Have you ever had an enormous collection of plastic grocery bags just taking up space in some corner of your cupboards, and you hate to just throw them out; but you don't re-use them for anything, either ?
 Do you enjoy crafts, such as knitting and crochet ? 
Then, I may have just the perfect answer for all of those plastic bags that keep piling up under there ! 


PLARN ! !

 Plarn is "yarn" made out of plastic bags.  You can use plarn pretty much the same way as you would use yarn in a knitting or crochet pattern, assuming that you are making something that would also work if it were made out of plastic instead of regular yarn.


I use the plarn to make things like small throw  rugs, and even slippers out  of. They last forever, wash and dry perfectly; and it makes me feel good to know that I am recycling something rather than throwing it away. I like to use a strand of plarn along with a strand of pretty colored yarn, and then the project will come out in bright colors.


The Picture is of a plarn bathroom rug that I made for a friend of mine. She showed me the colors in her bathroom (turquoise and gold, predominantly ), and I bought color-coordinated yarn for her throw rug, and also made matching slippers.
Often, I use up my leftover yarn scraps in the throw rugs or slippers, and it also makes a great dog or cat blanket if you make a rectangular one and then fold it over so it is double thickness for them to sleep on.


Making plarn is simple. There are many excellent tutorials on youtube that you can watch; but here is what I do.
Taking the plastic bag, shake it out so it is not crumpled, and then lay it out flat. Fold it over lengthwise several times until you have a narrow strip of plastic bag with handles on the top. Cut off the top and bottom of the bag.  Then, cut the rest of the bag into strips about an inch wide.
When you are done, you will have a pile of folded up loops, which you open up and connect to each other , making a strip of plarn.
I roll it into a ball as I finish each bag, and when I have a ball a little larger than a big grapefruit; I stop that ball, and start a new one.
I separate the bags into different colors, so the balls will be all one color of bag, but you can also mix colors if you want.




Making plarn is simple[/nobbc]

Fantastic idea for SURE!! I've actually got a purse made from this and the guy who did it made it smell like lavender somehow, was awesome.

I'm not sure if it's something I would try unless it was to make a giant bag to take to the beach or something (waterproof already!) but it's definitely an awesome idea!

I really love this idea. It is ultra creative. I have too many plastic bags hanging around the house. I would love to invest in this.