PLARN CROCHET BASKETS

I love to find new ways to recycled and up-cycled household waste. We often use items from our recycling bin to make crafts. My current obsession is using old plastic bags to make crochet baskets. The end result is surprisingly pretty and also very strong and durable. I have made a few baskets now, they make great storage baskets for all our craft supplies!

MATERIALS:

• Plastic bags
• Crochet hook - I used a 6mm hook for this basket
• Scissors

HOW TO:

I'm not an expert on crochet so I'm not going to pretend to teach you, however I did find these great tutorials for basic crochet stitches HERE and how to crochet a circle HERE.

Begin by cutting up the plastic bag into a long strip of PLARN (plastic yarn). To do this, cut the bottom off the bag making a tube, then starting at the bottom cut one long continuous strip of plastic about 1.5cm wide going around and around your plastic bag.

Now begin crocheting a circle for the base making it as large as you would like your basket to be. Once the base is the size you want it just continue using single crochet stitches all the way round to make the sides of your basket. To change colours, just tie on a new length of PLARN and continue crocheting leaving about a 6cm end of plastic. Once you have finished the crochet you can weave these ends into the basket to secure and then trim off any excess. My crochet looked nicer on the inside than the outside so once I had finished I turned my basket inside out.

Happy crafting friends!