The Bag of All Bags

THE BAG OF ALL BAGS

-the tutorial and pattern-

Go from this...

...To this!

...To this...

This tutorial is for a bag that changes from a beach bag to a stylish purse in seconds. The best part about this bag? it's made out of shopping bags! I crocheted about 50 bags to make this versatile purse/bag, and it is actually quite easy to do! It is made out of things you can most likely find around the house, and I made it and only spent about 10 cents!

The plastic bags are a lot softer when crocheted then they would seem to be. The plastic also makes it perfect for holding wet towels and swimsuits, and makes it easy to clean after a sandy day at the beach. Plus, this is a great way to reuse those plastic bags that we all seem to get at the stores!

What do I need?

-LOTS of plastic bags (at least 50, if not more), the color is completely dependent on what you want your bag to look like

-Scissors

-Three shoe strings, nice and long (I used some extra shoe laces that came with some of my shoes)

-Three beads that can fit two shoe strings snugly inside of them (you don't want them to be loose). I used beads that I had left over from crafts, but I was one short so I had to buy one, that's where my 10 cents went

-Six beads that can fit one shoe string, these can be a bit loose on the string

-Crochet needle (I used a size K, however, you can use a different size if you want the weave to be tighter or looser) 

Plastic Yarn

To find out how to make the bags turn into yarn, click this link.

Crocheting

I did not follow a pattern for this bag, but I will try and do my best to explain how I crocheted it. Keep in mind that I was using the double stitch for the entire bag except for parts on the strap and unless I was using the chain stitch. After connecting, I chain 2 to reach the double stitch height, then double stitch in the same hole I connected to.  

Start with a slip knot on your needle
Chain 6, connect (con) so you make a loop
1. Chain 2, double stitch (ds) 9, con
2. Chain 2, Increase (inc) every stitch, con
3. Chain 2, [inc 1, single 1] (These brackets [] meant to continue this pattern all the way around), con
4. Chain 2, [inc 1, single 1], con
5. Chain 2, [inc 1, single 2], con
6. Chain 2, [inc 1, single 3], con
7. Chain 2, [inc 1, single 5], con
8. Chain 2, [inc 1, single 10], con
9. Chain 2, [inc 1, single 22], con
If you are following my exact pattern, I switched to brown bags at row 10
10. Chain 2, [inc 1, single 10], con
11. Chain 2, [inc 1, single 20], con
12. Chain 2, [inc 1, single 20], con

Switch back to white
13. Chain 2, [inc 1, single 20], con
14. Chain 2, [inc 1, single 20], con
15. Chain 2, [single], con
16. Chain 2, [single], con
17. Chain 2, [single], con
Switch back to brown for 3 rows, then back to white for 5 rows. I did not increase any more stitches after row 14.
You can make this bag as tall as you like (think beach bag for height), but if you are following me exactly I did 52 rows altogether. There were 6 sections of brown and 6 sections of white (counting the bottom circle, but not counting the strap).

Here is the pattern for the strap.
1. Single stitch (ss) 1, double stitch (ds) 23, ss 1
2. Chain 1, skip, ss 1, ds 19, skip, ss 1
3. Chain 1, skip, ss 1, ds 19, skip, ss 1
Continue this pattern until row 9
9. Chain 2, skip, ds 10
10. Chain 2, ds 10
11. Chain 2, ds 10
Continue this until you are halfway to the length you want your strap to be, then repeat the pattern, starting on the opposite side from the first time you did it. When you get the length you want, connect the straps by single stitching them together.

The Shoe Laces

Now onto the drawstring and the converter strings. The drawstring is simple enough, just weave one string all the way around the top of the bag. Then, slide the big bead onto both strings, the little beads onto each string, and tie a knot at the ends.

This is the front and top views of
the drawstring in the bag

Beads on the
Shoe lace

If you only want a beach bag, you can stop now. You're done! However, if you would like to have the beach bag be able to convert to a purse, continue on.

Converter Strings

These are a bit more complicated, so I'm going to have drawings to try and help it be as easy as possible. First, decide how big you want your bag. Once you have figured this out, continue on.

In this drawing, the shoe string is the red line, and the green line is where the shoe string loops into the bag. The black circle is the actual bottom of the bag, and the blue line is where you want your purse to end. 

Here is an upright picture. The dotted lines are on the strings on the other side of the bag.

Bottom of bag

Repeat on the other side with the second shoe string. Make sure that you loop through where the gold circle is so that the two sides are crisscrossing.

Side view of bag

Finally, do the same process as you did with the drawstring to add the big and little beads to the ends of both shoe strings.

Making the Bag Work

Bottom of bag

To change the beach bag to a purse, tuck the bottom of the bag inside the purse, and pull the ends of both shoe laces until the sides are touching. Slide the big beads up to keep it tight.

HINT: I found that the dangling drawstrings were really annoying, so I tied them all together in a bow (see the purse picture).

Whew! After all of that work, you have a bag that is almost 100% recycled, and (unless you had to buy some of the supplies) 100% free. The plastic bags are really strong, and I use this purse all the time. I hope you enjoy this tutorial and have a wondrous day!

As always, feel free to leave comments, suggestions, questions, pictures of your projects, or anything else you can think of!