Make a basket out of plastic bags!

No knitting or crochet required, just some sewing and braiding. It's not the quickest project - it'll probably take you a couple days to make one, but the results are well worth it, I think!

And I already made all the assembly mistakes so you don't have to. HURRAH!

Don't have extra plastic bags laying around? You can use t-shirts instead! Check out my instructable on making a basket out of old tshirts. :D

Step 1: What you'll need:

• sewing needles (just regular old sharps - nothing small like quilting needles or big like embroidery)
• white thread (I chose polyester for added strength)
• plastic bags of all types - grocery bags are easiest, but you can mix and match.

The thicker, more opaque bags will produce a thicker braid, while thin, more transparent bags will produce thinner ones. Try to get as many colors as you can - my basket is made almost entirely of white bags with very small amounts of color, and I think it would look even nicer with some full color bags mixed in.

I did lose track of how many bags I used to create this basket, but I'm guessing it was no more than 30. :)

SUPER FANCY BAGS TO LENGTH UPDATE: It took me 51 plastic bags to get 60 feet. Not too shabby. I completed my latest rope in less than 8 hours of work, too! The latest rope is picture 2.

Comments

[Scriptone]

Thank you for sharing this great idea. It helped me kick-off another way to basket I hadn't thought of. Also I recently came across a faster way to do this rather than sewing. Also a way to make the cordage without braiding!

[deedzsta101]

How big and how much bags does it have to be/be made of to hold a weeks worth of recycling???

[ivanclopez]

How big could you make your basket?

[jessyratfink]

I would say maybe no bigger around or taller than a foot? The plastic bags aren't super rigid. I think you might wind up with the sides of the basket being a little droopy if it's too big!

[yoyorox94]

would it work using a solder iron and melting the bags together as you coil rather than sewing them all together, I would imagine that the finished product wouldn’t be as pretty on the inside, but do you think that it would work as well as the sewing does?

[jessyratfink]

Maybe - but it would be tricky to get them to melt together properly, I think. And I'm not sure what the strength would be after the plastic had melted and then cooled again.

But it's definitely worth a shot if you don't mind the fumes!

[zwalden1]

I think the soldering iron might be fine for plastic rope, but too hot for plastic(bag) yarn (or Plarn as it's sometimes called) and pose a bit of a potential fire risk. However the heat idea might be better for reducing the number of knots needed. Use a regular clothes iron (with much more controllable heat setting then most home-use soldering irons) to melt two strips of pre-braid plastic together.

(Warning do this OUTSIDE, NASTY FUMES) Sandwich one layer of parchment paper (might try other kinds but parchment can take the heat) one end of plastic, overlap the beginning of the next plastic strip & top with more parchment. Iron where the two sheets of plastic overlap to fuse them into one long piece. As far as the strength issue, the fused plastic should be a bit stronger/less flexible then regular bag, but stronger & more flexible then a knot. It would also be easier to sew through.

Might also check out knitting/crochet sights for hints on dealing with keeping long lengths from getting tangles. Most knitters tend to use "center" pull yarn balls, that are bit less likely to wander off then balls that pull from outside. This could make it simpler to braid longer strands.

( Finally, <3 <3 <3 jessyratfink!!!! Your posts are just incredible! You ROCK, Girl!!!)

[miogiardino]

I have been looking for a way to recycle the plastic mesh bags that lemons,onions, etc, come in. They could be cut into strips and then braided. Also , if any type of braided material is flat enough, it can be zig-zagged together on a regular sewing machine...

[Momghoti]

Great instructable! My grandma made crochet rugs out of breadbags when I was a kid.
Fair warning, though--many of the new grocery bags 'self-destruct' after a short time. I've stored things in them, went to pick them up a month or so later and they crumbled. One of my friends made a beach bag out of them and by the time she finished the bottom was breaking apart! I think the softer plastic bags, like the Target bags or department store bags, will last; the 'crunchy' ones like the Safeway bags are the crumbly ones.

[Terri1ND]

Thanks for the heads up on the bags breaking down. I was thinking of making one to use for collecting eggs. Guess I'll continue my search.
thanks again.

[jessyratfink]

Ah! I had no idea. I haven't seen that happen yet with any of my bags but it's good to know. :)

[mariagoretaya]

Dear Jessy, I was trying to contact you through sending a private message but thought that sending a comment will be quicker. Let me introduce myself. My name is Maria Goretaya and I work as a project manager for Macmillan Publishing, Russia. At the moment I am working on a joint project together with the Russian Publishing House "Russkoe Slovo". We are doing an English course for Russian secondary schools (grades 5-9). Every unit in the textbook for grade 5 contains CLIL section. These are short texts and fact files that contain interesting facts and information about English-speaking world. Besides being informative and interesting, these sections are designed to encourage cross-cultural comparison and provide further opportunities for speaking. One of the CLIL sections is devoted to things made from recycled materials. To illustrate the text and familiarise Russian students with different things made from recycled materials I would like to ask your permission to use in our textbook your photo of the basket made out of plastic bags. Please, let me know if you would like me to provide you with any further information about our project. I am looking forward to hearing from you. Kind regards, Maria Goretaya Project manager Macmillan Russia [e-mail]

[jessyratfink]

Hello! I see the message now, I'll reply. :)

[raviolikid]

Nice work! I do a lot of work crocheting plastic - I might see what I can do with braids. I have braided newspapers and worked with them. too. I never made a basket, though. Maybe if I need a shorter project sometime. Right now I am working with video tape to make a sculpture.

[ebarr2]

This is a great post!! Thank you for sharing considering how much damage plastic bags do to our eco system!! http://www.bagitmovie.com/trailer.html ~we all have to make small steps to contribute~ Namaste _/\_

[lor5100]

You could make a braided mit for the back porch or front. I use these for pillow stuffing.

[Les Créateliers]

Hello!

I absolutely love this idea! I'm a big fan of everything recycled (or upcycled) and this is a wonderful easy way to get rid of all those awful plastic bags! I decided to feature this instructable on my website, if you don't mind. Here's the link:

http://www.lescreateliers.com/Les_Createliers/Idees_Ideas/Entries/2011/11/15_Panier_en_sacs_de_plastiquePlastic_bags_basket.html

Cheers!

Marie-Eve

[jessyratfink]

Thanks so much for linking! :D

[julygirl]

great work jessy...... thanks!!

[yoyorox94]

yeah ok thanks, I had seen it done, where they had used ropes and melted them with the solder iron, i might give it a try, see how it turns out :)

[robomatt1999]

wait how many bags did it take to make a small basket like the one shown in the first picture? ANSWER back quickly please

[jessyratfink]

I'd say around 30? I did not keep track the first time I did it.

[borealcat]

sweet! i might try to make hanging plant baskets out of this

[kalyanJampala]

Great idea, and excellent work jessyratfink

[deathnotx101]

I was not expecting the funny parts * te he*. After a gloomy day and internet failure this made my day.

[DreMMoore]

The bags from Giant (grocery store) and Home Depot (home improvement store) in my area are two different shades of brown, so I am going to try to make a "natural" color plastic bag basket. Thanks for the inspiration!

[sunshiine]

Classy looking basket Jessy. Thanks for sharing.

[iceng]

Amazing reuse of a throw away by most. Nicely shaped basket.
We reuse ours, for collecting dogie output, on the garden lawn.
Great detail down to the white polyester thread that is somehow
dark in one pic :-)

A

[sunshiine]

We use them to collect that also. Very funny comment.

[digsretro]

Also with the loops of bags, you won't have to double over each bag and worry about keeping the pairs together, each loop is already doubled. The added bonus would be that at the end of each braid you will have three loops that you can then attach another string of loops to without making any knots. Loving this project, BTW!

[jessyratfink]

That's a great idea actually - I will probably try it with the next round. Thanks for sharing, I wouldn't have thought of it! :D

And thank you!

[lperkins]

The other thing to consider is that you can do that kind of flat braiding with more than three strands. So you could do your entire upper part as one braid. It wouldn't be as easy, but it would be quite a bit stronger.

[deathnotx101]

I did just that, after braiding eight strands of three strands I then flat braided it. I'm going to use these super strands to make a backpack instead of a basket. This DIY as a whole was awesome; thanks for posting.

[jbussé]

from now nobody is going to trow a bag away if I know it :D
this is an awesome idea! 5 stars for this!

[Shany120]

cool idea! :)

[jessyratfink]

Thank you!

[Shany120]

Your welcome! :)

[wai-ayo]

try wood glue its clear....

[ttaylor13]

hmmm, I wander if it would be easier and sturdier to glue the braids together instead of sewing them?
THank you for inspiration!!!

[jessyratfink]

I don't know - I guess it'd just be a matter of finding the right sort of glue and using a lot of it. Definitely worth a try though. :)

And you're welcome!