Christmas Creations

Christmas Day was a lot of fun, particularly when my next two plastic bag creations were happily whisked away by my delighted mother and sister.

As is generally the way, these creations have surpassed the initial prototype. Handles bought at Spotlight with a spiffy way of attaching them has given each bag a classy look. 

Two big pink bags meant to be filled with clothes and placed outside for collection were instead made up into four squares to adorn the sides of an otherwise white bag. The black printing on the pink bags resulted in interesting squiggles throughout the sea of pink. At the request of my Mum some plastic ends were left partially exposed, just to prove authenticity of course!

Having dipped my fingers into colour, it became the imperative. Family members passed through coloured bags while buying small items over a few days from the local greengrocer resulted in some pretty purple and green bags which were quickly made up into sparkling squares. I even stooped to trolling through the plastic bag recycling bin in Woolworths which scored a handy stash. 

While I have a preference for used plastic bags, this went out the door while finishing off my sister’s bag. She prefers colourful objects, no doubt stemming from her artistic talent, and black edging was the best way to go. However, used black plastic bags are hard to come by so some purchased garbage bags were used. I felt a little easier about this when I noticed their “earth friendly bags” tag. 

When making up the bags, I joined the 14 squares together in pairs, and then joined two pairs together to make the front and back leaving the remaining pairs for the sides and bottoms. In each case the edges were placed side by side and then a tapestry needle used to loop some plarn (plastic yarn) along the edges.

Then I joined each of the front and back sections to the bottom pair by placing the edges together and securing them by running the tapestry needle up and down through the squares just inside the edge to give a nice finish. The side pairs were also attached to the base by placing the edges together, which ensures that the bag will stand up easily, and looping the thread through the edges. After the sides edges were looped against the front and back edges, the almost completed bag could stand up. 

Then I had the dilemma of how to attach the handles. I ended up extending small flaps of 8 rows of 8 treble groups centered on the front and back panels. Each of the resulting flaps were then wound around the handle’s base and secured by crocheting through the top and bottom edge of the flap from inside the bag, which produced a professional finish. 

I’ m afraid that my initial prototype is about to be superseded, as much as I’ve enjoyed showing it off.  Having seen what I can achieve, I have ideas of what I would like to make for myself  and am currently mulling about which colours I’d like in my next creation (or two) with pastels leading the pack.  Of course, what I can actually make depends on the colour of the bags that come my way. 

I have a yen for a white and pastel coloured bag, and a black bag with colours different to the one I made for my sister. As much as I like the professional look that the Spotlight handles give, I’d still like to perfect a good-looking crocheted handle. And of course, each of my creations has to be different, perhaps not in the basic design but definitely in the colours. I think I’ll be busy for some time to come…

Postscript: A subsequent bag is here and instructions are here.