Crochet with Plastic Bags - Granny Squares: a Tote Bag or a Coaster

1. Intro & Class Project: Did you know you can turn plastic bags into beautiful things instead of throwing them in the trash? Well, you can. In this class, we will learn how to make plastic yn, how to cache a gran square. How to make the double coche stitch and how to make a bag. I will also show you other layouts for the bag. Hi, I'm Nama. I'm a graphic designer and artist. Over the years, I've made many bags with different designs and stitches. I'm happy to share this technique with you. You can also reuse plastic bags and make new things out of them. Your project is to make a granny square. You can make a single square to use as a coster or make a set of them. And if you have enough squares, you can make a bag. The pattern and the layout files are attached to this class. By the way, if you are looking for a simpler pattern, check out my other class, Crochet with plastic bags. For this project, we will need a crochet hook, any size you have or you like. For this project, I use number five. We will need good scissors, A R needle, and of course, plastic bags. In the next lesson, we will learn how to make plastic y and how to coche gran square. 2. Making The Squares: In this video, we will make the squares. I have a lot of these bags. Unfortunately, it is difficult to avoid getting them. This is how we get the vegetables from the supermarkets deliveries. I also have these kinds of colorful bags. Because I have a lot of white bags and a few colorful, I will make the inside of the squares with the color, and the rest of the rows will be white. Sometimes you can't plan ahead because it's difficult to estimate how many bags we need. But you don't have to. Use the bags that you have at that moment. You can make each row different color and each square can be different and unique. You will start by making a yarn out of the bag, flatten the bag, fold, fold again, cut off the edge, and also the seam. I use a number five hook, which is relatively small, so I will cut the bags 2 centimeters wide. I put a template of that size here and cut. You don't have to use the template, but if you want to maintain a uniform wit, you can use it at least initially. I made this one out of thick paper. After cutting a few loops with the template, you can estimate the width without it. It won't be super accurate, but it's perfectly fine. It's your choice whether to use the template or not. We have loops from one bag. To combine the loops, open one, open a second, Insert the end of the second loop into the first one. Open the end and pass the rest of the loop the end and pull gently. Stretch it a little to find the end and repeat it again with the third loop, and again with all the other loops to make the yarn. How do we know what weight we need to cut? Just make a test. Take a bag, fold, and cut, for example, two centimetres wide. Open the loop, fold and insert the ho. You can see how the yard sits inside the hook. It is snugly inside the socket and does not stick out. If so, then the size of cut was correct. If it is larger and sticks out, then make the loops narrower. I made a test like that, and I know that I need to cut the bags of this type with a width of about 2 centimeters and cut the thinner bags about 2.5 centimeters. It doesn't have to be exact. It's okay if it's not uniform completely. It's a handmade project, and that's part of the char. Take the, hold it close, and make the first loop. Let's start crocheting the first row. The circle consists of 12 columns. It is a stitch called double coche. We'll start with the first ring of chain. Hold here and coches. Insert the coche hook into the last chain and close with a slip stitch to form a circle. Into this hole, we will now coche 12 do coche. The first one will be just two chains. Then we will cocher another 11 do coche into this hole. How to make a double coche? Rap the yarn on the hook once. Insert the hook, take out the yarn and pull a little so that it is not too tight. Now we have on the hook three loops. Take the yarn with the hook and pass it through two loops. Then again, take a an with the hook and pass it through the remaining two loops. And that is a double coche. We'll do it again. Now we have three do coche, including the first chains. We will continue to make them until we have a total of 12 do coche. When we have 12, we close the circle. Insert the hook into the top of the first column and close it with a slip stitch. Because of switching to a different color, I'll cut the yarn. Hide the end of the yarn behind with a smaller coche hook or with a yarn needle. We have this circle that will be the first of the square. I will now make a y from this bag because it is thinner, I use a 2.5 centimeter template. The second row. We will crochet the next row in the space between the double coche. Insert the hook between two coche. Always start a row with two chains. And crochet two do coche into the same place. Here will be the corner of the square, so to make the corner, make two chains. Then three more double coche into the same space. Now we have three do coche here, a corner and three coche. We will move on to the next group. Count three. Then in the space after the th, make three again. O. You may have noticed that I didn't coche a chain between them. I'll explain about that in a moment. So we have this corner one side of the square, and now we will make the next corner with two chains, and again, three double coche in the same place. Don't make a chain in the space between the groups. Just count three coche, and then in the space after the third, make three coche. It's time for the corner again, two chains, and three coche in the same place. A gap of three coche. Three coche in the space. A corner of two chains and three. All we have to do is connect the last column to the first one. Make a steep stitch at the top of the double coche. In this pattern, we don't make stitches in the spaces between the groups. So the double coche spreads and creates a triangle. It gives a denser and stiffer square, which is great for bags. But there are many designs of garnet squares. So if you prefer a different pattern, that's fine too. For the next row, you can cut the yarn and change the color. I want to continue with the same ya, so I will change the direction and flip it. Third row, turn the work, coche two chains, and in the same space, make two more double coche. From now on, the pattern is the same, three double coche, and two chains in the corner. Make three double coche in the gap. When we reach the corner, we make two chains to create the corner and make three double coche in the same space. Three double coche in the same place, three double coche in the next space, a corner and three and so on. H. Oh. Oh. We will connect the last column in the row with a slip stitch to the top of the first column, not in the gap, but at the top of the column. Oh. This has three rows. I want to make four rows so that it fits the size of the bag that I want. I continue with the same color, so I flip the square again. To chains and continue in the same way. The same pattern is repeated. T double coin in the gaps. When you reach the corner, three do coche, two chains, and three do coche. We will finish the last dow of the square. You can of course crochet more rows if you want a bigger square, or if you want the bag to be larger. For this project, I chose to crochet squares of four rows. How do we finish the last? You can close as before with a slip stitch. But you can make a more elegant closure. Cut the, take it out. Insert the hook in the back like this, and pull the yarn. Insert the hook in the back at the top of the loop and pull the back. So we have a stitch that looks like all the others. Tie the at the back and hide the end. Because we turned it over several times, it is not clear which is the front and which is the back, but you can choose which side looks better. For the back of this project, we will need 27 squares. Three groups of nine squares. You can make other designs. In the next video, we will see examples of other ways to arrange the squares. 3. Other Bag Designs: The bag we're making in this class has 27 squares, nine squares in the front, nine in the back, and another nine around the edges. But you can make other designs. For example, this bag has eight large squares instead of 27 small ones, four squares in front and in the back, and a long rectangle on the sides. This bag has one large square of ten rows, and also this one. You can make a completely different arrangement. This diamond shaped bag has 13 squares connected all around. You can see the layout of the diamond bag in the file attached to this class. Connect the squares in this layout. Fold the design like this. And connect the rest on the back. The top remains open. Attach one strap ill, and the other strap here. Here is another diamond bag, but bigger. It consists of squares of five rows. The bag on the right has squares of four rows. The diamond bags don't have wide sides, and they are flat. But they can still hold quite a lot, especially the large one. In the next video, we will return to our bag and see how to connect the squares. 4. Connecting The Squares: Let's start by putting the front side together. We have these nine squares, and we're going to put them together to make a big one. I will connect them with a plastic thread of the same color, so the connections are not visible. But first for the demo, I'll make it with a different color, so it's more obvious. Each square has a front and back side, depending on what looks better. Take the two squares with the front side up and place them facing each other face to face. We will connect this side here. We want to connect them here and we will coche the top part. We will not coche into the corner, only the last stitch in the corner. Inside the hook in the top stitch next to the first double coche. And into the parallel stage in the second square. Pull the thread in. We will connect the upper part of the stage. Insert the coche hook into the top stage of the first square and the second square. Pull the thread and close it with a slip stitch. And again in the next one. Always keep the square. Continue this way until the end of the line. This is what it looks like when it's open. I will do it again now, but with the correct cool. Insert a coche hook into the stitch before the first double coche. Take a thread with a coche hook and pull it in. Insert it again into the next stitch and close with a slip stitch. And so on until the end of the line. Oh. When you reach the corner insert the hook into the first stitch after the double coche. Cut the and make a t. This is the hook I coche with, number five, and this is a smaller coche hook. I use it to hide the end of the thread into the back side. It is important not to cut too close to the edge. We connected to, and now we will connect the thread. Again, we will pull them face to face and coche the connection here. C. Connect three trios in this way. Put them face to face and connect them in the same way. And then also the last three. To keep the order and to remember what the back side is, connect them temporarily together. You can use crochet markers, but if you don't have them, there is a simple and cheap way. Take a thread in the crochet hook and connect the parts like this. Now it is clear what is the front side and what is the back, and all the pieces stay together in the right place. Connect the squares as we did before. When you get to the end, cut the th to keep the corner and continue to the next square. We now have the front side of nine squares. In the same way, we will make three squares for the right side, three for the left side, and three for the bottom. This layout file is attached to the class. Then we will also add the front. Connect the squares with temporary markers to preserve the layout. That's the right side. This is the back side. We will also add the front square of the bag. It will be connected to one of the sides. This is how the layout of the bag looks like. Connect the parts as we have done until now with a slip stitch. When we reach a corner, don't close it with a slip stage, but with a single coche. And again, single coche in the second stage. Continue with a slip stage. And when you reach the corner, make a single coche, and another one to fill the corner. In the same way we'll do the connection of all the other parts. When the layout is, where the corners in the back part are connected. Remember to do this with the back side of the layout facing you. Connect the rest of the paths. Now only the two corners of the sides remain. After we have connected everything, the bag can be flipped over. And it is almost done. In the next video, we will see how to prepare straps for the bag. I. 5. Making straps for the bag: In this video, we will make straps and attach them to the bag. There are different ways to make straps, but this is my favorite way. Start with a long chain of the desired length. I will make it 80 centimeters, 31 ". If you want it shorter or longer, remember to write down the length of the first so that the second strap will be the same length. The chain is too long. I will unravel it to reach the desired length. Second row, chain one, then make a single coche in the next stitch. Continue with a single coche until the end of the row. When you reach the end of the row, turn the strap over. Chain one, single crochet in the next stitch, and so on. Crochet like that three to five rows. It depends on the width you prefer, I made four rows. Crochet second strap in the same way. Now all that remains is to attach them to the bag. We will connect them like this on the inside. I will place the straps like that in the center of the square. Use a yarn needle or a tapestry needle. It's bland and has a large eye. Turn the bag inside out and place the strap like that. You can use regular thread, but I'll recommend using the same with the same color as the bag. Do not pierce the thread, but insert the needle under it. Saw the other side of the strap in the same way. After we attach the two straps, the bag is ready. Look at that. It's hard to believe that it's made of simple plastic bags. 6. Final Tip: Congratulations. You finished the class. Here is the final tip. You can use the square as a coster for a cup, but you can also use it for hot dishes. The heat will not melt the square, but it may shrink the yarn a bit. When you use it for the first time, do this. Place baking paper on top. Place the hot dish on top and use it to on the coaster. After that, you can use the coaster without the baking paper. This is how we prepare the area in advance and avoid unexpected results. I made this mat from plastic bags and I have been using it for a long time with very hot dishes. There are so many things to do with everyday materials. I hope this class inspires you to reuse plastic bags instead of throwing them away. I'd love to see your work. Each square will be unique. So let's make a gallery of squares. Post your creation in the project gallery. When you have enough squares, make a bag and remember to update your project gallery with a photo of your bag. If you have any questions or insights, you can post them here. I value your opinion. Please leave a review. It will help me improve my classes. Thank you very much for watching this class and sharing your creations.