Plastic Bag Rug Instructions

Keeping bags out of trees and underfoot where they belong!
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This is the method I use to prepare the plastic bags to be WOVEN on a floor loom.
It creates a thick-and-thin product which makes an interesting woven rug.
This assembly method is not the best if you're planning to crochet or knit the plastic
because it creates a very thick finished item. If crochet will be used, I would recommend
slicing the bags into 1" sections going around the bag and then looping them together or
cutting a continuous length from a bag and using that.
Click here to visit a site with many crochet instructions for plastic bags and a different way to process them.

Click here to see another way to process the plastic bags which is more suitable for knitting or crocheting.

Stack handle bags in a pile.  Ten is a good number.	Roll into tube, starting at the bottom
Cut through the middle of all ten bags  leaving one handle at the top of each side	Poke a hole in the fused gusset at the bottom of one half-bag.
Loop the handle of another piece through the gusset hole, making a chain.	Keep chaining until you have a small ball.  Once you have looped 100 bags,  you are ready to weave a rug.

Bags tend to trap air. I wind the chained bags together tightly and then weave with the compressed ball instead of a shuttle.
I used a floor loom with cotton/poly warp sett 8 ends per inch. I throw several shots of the warp thread at the beginning and end
 of each rug to hold it together. Then weave the assembled plastic bags until you achieve the length desired. 
©2014 Chris Gustin

Homestead Weaving Studio ~ 6285 S Hamilton Creek Road, Columbus, IN 47201
www.homesteadweaver.com ~ chris@homesteadweaver.com