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Weaving with Plarn

Linda Olson

I recently found myself in between weaving projects.  Usually I try to have another project lined up and ready to go before I complete the one currently on the loom.  I had ordered yarns for a lengthy towel project but shipping and delivery were probably slowed down due to the corona virus pandemic so I was looking for something I could work on until my supplies arrived.  I stumbled upon an e-book from Handwoven which I had downloaded a while back and forgotten.  “Recycled Yarn Projects: Plastic Bags & T-shirt Weaving Techniques” caught my eye so I started researching how to make use of those pesky plastic grocery and shopping bags that we dutifully collect for weekly recycling.

I found a lot of material on the internet about how to make “plarn” (short for plastic yarn) but it took some effort to figure out exactly how to make and use it.  It wasn’t until I discovered that the same techniques used for making “yarn” out of old t-shirts could be applied to producing plarn that I (along with some initial help from my husband) was able to successfully make usable plarn!  Here’s how it’s done:

Fold the bag flat with the sides tucked in neatly. Then cut straight across the top just below the handles.
Next cut off the bottom of the bag about 1/4 inch above the seam line.
Unfold the sides of the bag and fold it out flat lining up the cut edges as evenly as possible.
Fold the bottom, uncut side of the bag toward the other uncut side of the bag stopping about an 1 1/2″ from the edge.
Using a sharp scissors cut roughly 1 inch strips starting at the folded edge and working carefully toward the top edge.
Cut just through the folded edge. Do not cut far beyond the first edge.
Continue cutting strips about the same width until finished.
When all the strips have been cut gently unfold the strips .
This is how the cut bag should look at this point.
Next, carefully open the cut bag.
Gently insert your arm into the center opening.
Then put both hands through the opening and carefully open the bag exposing the uncut center.
Lay the bag flat so that the first several rows of strips line up across from each other.
Make the first cut by positioning the scissor in the center of the uncut portion. Cut diagonally across the first strip aiming for where the second strip’s cut ends.
This is the first end of your length of plarn.
The following cut starts between the next two strips and goes diagonally toward the cut between the next two strips on the opposite side.
Carefully cut until the opposite edge is reached and cut through it.
Continue cutting the strips apart always cutting diagonally toward the opposite side.
When you’ve reached the last strip cut toward the middle of the uncut area of the bag.
The result of the cutting is one length of plarn!
Wind the plarn into a ball around your fingers.
In the end you should have a nice, neat ball of plarn!

After I had accumulated a good supply of plarn I decided to try weaving using the project plan “Tote from Recycled Plastic Bags” from the e-book.  I found some ancient carpet warp I thought would be strong enough for the warp and some suitable heavy yarn from my stash for the handles.   I set about winding the warp and dressing the loom for plain weave using shafts 1 and 2 only.   Then I filled my shuttle with plarn.

Wind the plarn onto a stick shuttle as you would normally.

I was a little worried about how the plarn would weave but was very pleasantly surprised at how easily it beat in and how nicely the selvedges lined up.

The plarn beat in easily and the selvedges lined up evenly.

To form the handles I used 6 ends of a heavier wool yarn.  I inserted 2 strands of the wool yarn into each of the next three rows to begin forming the handle.

The “handle yarn” extended about 1 inch on right side or bottom of the bag.

 

On the opposite edge the strands were extended out about 50 inches.

 

After weaving 5 inches of plain weave I braided 14 inches and wove the unbraided ends into the body of the bag.

Once the strands were braided they formed a nice strong handle.  Next time I would probably use a heavier crafting cord for extra strength.  But the bundled yarn was fine for this project.

I continued weaving the bag following the project plan adding the second handle and additional plain weave “fabric”.  I then followed the project assembly instructions sewing together the two ends to form the body and the bottom of the tote.  I found machine sewing through the plastic fabric easy to do.  My machine didn’t have any trouble making its way through the thickness.    All in all I was impressed by how well this project came together and how easy it was to both make plarn and weave with it.  I will probably make additional plarn projects now that I’ve discovered it!

Project notes:

I used a 12 dent reed with carpet yarn threaded for plain weave on two shafts with 1 end per dent.   It seems that the sett of the weft will depend on the thickness of the plastic bag being used to create the plarn; thinner plarn made from thin plastic beat in more tightly than thicker plarn.  On average my weft sett was about 7 epi.

Project resources:

“Recycled Yarn Projects: Plastic Bags & T-shirt Weaving Techniques”, E-book by Handwoven.

“How to Make T-shirt Yarn”, Video.

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Published by Linda Olson

I love to travel, hike and especially cross country ski in the winter. Having retired a few years ago I've also rediscovered my love of weaving because it challenges me to learn something new with each project.

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