How to Make Plarn from Plastic Grocery Bags

White grocery bag, and plarn on a crochet hook, all against a wooden background. Text on the image reads: Banana Moon Studio.

How to make plarn from grocery bags

“Plarn” is plastic yarn, usually made from recycled plastic items. I’d like to show you how to make plarn from plastic grocery bags. The great thing about this is that you can reuse what would be trash, to make something useful! People have used plastic grocery bag plarn to make sleeping and sitting mats, as well as bags and baskets. I’m sure there have been other creative uses as well! What will you make with your plarn?

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So far I’m using the baskets I’ve made to hold yarn, of all things! I’m thinking of making one to hold our charging cords and bricks in the living room. And I think I might make some sitting matts for my husband and I to use while hiking!

It can be fun to combine different colors of plastic bags into one project to make stripes or blocks of color. What colors of plastic bags are available to you? Most of mine are white with blue print, but you may find red, blue, green, or yellow bags depending on where you shop. You could even help friends, family, or neighbors reuse their plastic bags by taking up a collection. Who knows what colors you’ll get that way?!

I recently published a free pattern to make round baskets of any size from plastic grocery bags! The pattern is called “Plastic Baskets” and you can get it here on my website! To make the baskets you will need a VERY large crochet hook. Mine is labeled Q (16 mm). You can get one of those here.