I have a magic ruler

[snippet]

One of the ladies in my Sunday School class wants to make plarn and crochet bed rolls for the people of an African village she visits. You might have seen a bit about such an endeavor on Texas Country Reporter. It was on before, and it just so happens it was on just this week.

So the class brought in all their plastic bags. Gosh, just that one Sunday we collected two heavy garbage bags full of plastic bags!

And then the Needlecrafter group started to make the plarn. I brought a mat, my stripology ruler and my rotary cutter and we got to rolling. One lady cut off the handles, another flattened the bags, I cut the strips and three others did the looping to make the plarn.

The lady who had the idea came over to help us and was astounded at how easy that ruler made the task. She was cutting the bags by hand!!! She was so amazed, she FaceTimed her husband and showed him how fast I was able to cut a bunch of bags and said he needed to buy her one too. LOL I thought it was funny that she used FaceTime to validate a purchase! She called it Carol's magic ruler. LOL

We put a dent in the pile of bags in the two hours we met, but it wasn't much. But we were able to make three balls the size of soccer balls. And we still had a box full of loops that I had cut.

I have no idea how many bags it will take to make a mat. I don't crochet, but I would imagine it would be a lot and probably take a few evenings to make just one mat.

[PrettyCurious]

Re: I have a magic ruler

At first, I thought plarn was a typo, but you keep saying it, so what is it?

[Judy, USMC]

Re: I have a magic ruler

plastic yarn = PLARN

So glad you had that magic ruler, Carol! It does make things go so much quicker.

[Snip Snip]

Re: I have a magic ruler

I watched the video, but for some reason couldn't get the sound. No matter, I still could see the mat. What a great idea for using those pesky bags.
It looked like the homeless man found it a little cumbersome to carry around (but I bet he wouldn't say so). But people who live in camps or villages would find them valuable for keeping out the damp, and maybe some creepy crawlies.

[GrammaBabs]

Re: I have a magic ruler

Genius, bringing that ruler! I crochet and have often thought of using the bags this way. What width did you cut the strips?

[Caroline T.]

Re: I have a magic ruler

At first, I thought plarn was a typo, but you keep saying it, so what is it?

Plarn = Plastic Yarn

[Caroline T.]

Re: I have a magic ruler

What a great group project to help the less fortunate, and also a way to recycle those bags.

For those interested, here's a video on how to make the mats

http://www.finecraftguild.com/craft-...-the-homeless/

Snippet, does your group need more? I would bet that many of us have plastic bags & stripology type rulers and could send a ball of Plarn to your group.

[wlrquilts]

Re: I have a magic ruler

My cousin who lives in South Carolina, he makes these mats and large tote bags from these bags for the local homeless down there.

[jjkaiser]

Re: I have a magic ruler

A friend of my sister's makes those and I think she said it takes 700 bags to make one. She cuts hers all by hand.

[BeckyHatcher]

Re: I have a magic ruler

700 bags???? Whoa! That's a lot!

[snippet]

Re: I have a magic ruler

Genius, bringing that ruler! I crochet and have often thought of using the bags this way. What width did you cut the strips?

We cut them 2". It worked out pretty well with very little waste since the bags are about 14" deep.

Snippet, does your group need more? I would bet that many of us have plastic bags & stripology type rulers and could send a ball of Plarn to your group.

Thanks Caroline, but I think the church will be able to provide the bags fine. She's starting out small with just one Sunday School class. When she knows more about how many bags are needed, how long it will take to make a mat, and how much it will cost to bring them to Africa (this is a big concern for me) then she will ask the entire church to save their bags. We have even talked about asking the grocery stores if we can have their recycled bags. But that's in the future.

I'm thinking the finished mats will be too heavy to bring all the way to Africa. The way the missions have gone in the past, is to take two suitcases, one for their personal stuff, one for the mission with all the donated items. The mats are pretty big, and heavy. I'm thinking this is more of a local project where we won't have to pay for shipping. But this is her mission project, not mine.

A friend of my sister's makes those and I think she said it takes 700 bags to make one. She cuts hers all by hand.

Oh my! that's a lot of cutting! Bless her heart.

We should send the groups who do this a stripology or June Tailor ruler to make it easier on them!