Turning Plastic Bags into Yarn

Here's a great way to turn your unwanted plastic bags into plastic yarn! 'Why?!' You ask? Well this plastic thread that you have can be used to make many nifty gifts and its saving the world too =D I've personally used this method and find its the best. Enjoy!

By 'Mike'

Reusable bag titan Rajiv Badlani points out that because you can’t convince every shopper to use cloth shopping bags, there will always be some plastic bags out there. He plans to recycle these into textiles.

You can do something similar at home, with shopping bags or the plastic bags they put your newspaper in on rainy days. All you have to do is cut the bags into ribbons, twist the ribbons into a sort of yarn, and then knit or crochet the yarn into whatever you like. This is an inexpensive way to make holiday gifts for the environmentalists on your list.

The best technique I’ve seen was taught to me by Ines Beron. She has put her own instructions on-line; what follows is my explanation of her technique, with links to her photos and instructions.

Trim the bottom seam from the bag


Unfold as much of the bag as possible and flatten it out



Fold the bag not quite in half widthwise (with the fold perpendicular to the seam you cut off). Let one of the edges stick out about 1 inch. Fold the part you already folded in half, repeating until the folded part is also about 1 inch wide.


Cut off the handles




About every inch, cut the folded part of the bag widthwise. Try not to cut into the unfolded part of the bag



Grab the unfolded part of the bag, and shake gently. The folded part will unroll into a fringe


Open up the unfolded part of the bag and spread flat


Make a cut from the center (widthwise) of the unfolded part to the nearest cut, diagonally


The last cut will be similar to the first, finishing in the center, widthwise, of the unfolded part.

Now you have turned the plastic bag into a single long, thin, plastic ribbon. Roll it into a ball.