While cleaning up around the house, I found 3 string vests. I’m not sure if they are knitted or crocheted because neither of those techniques are in my repertoire. I have a vague memory of these vests from my past, but I’m not sure why. I think one of my sons brought them from Lethbridge to Calgary, who then decided they didn’t really want them. The vests were in the discard box when I found them. I couldn’t just let all that hand work be thrown out so I came up with a plan. I decided to make them into tote bags. I figured I could crochet the bottoms closed, like-wise with the neck opening and voilà – tote like shopping bags. The only problem I had to deal with was the fact that I don’t really know how to crochet more than one stitch. I was not going to let a little thing like that stop me. In my enthusiasm to get started, I forgot to take a before photo of the vests, but they look almost identical to the finished bags, without the green trim.
I’m need to give these a try to see how they work. If they do I’ll pass them on to someone who shares my appreciation of repurposed items. I’ve used string shopping bags and I love the way they stretch to hold a lot of stuff. I loaded one to see how it would hold up. They are best suited to round objects like fruits and veggies but by testing books and boxes I know they will carry a lot of weight.
I’m still trying to decide if I should make the openings a bit smaller. There always seems to be fine tuning needed to “perfect” my projects, but I love dealing with the details.
Ya know, if you could make these, you could probably sell them to sailors like me. We’re always looking for net bags to hang things in, especially fruits and vegetables.
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I think south east Asia has already cornered the market on these kinds of bags, and I’m pretty sure anyone else in the world could make one faster than I could. No one would pay what I would charge! Thanks for the compliment.
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Smaller openings would be more practical, but then again, they would not be so attractive 🙂
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Thanks for that. I suppose you’d just have to learn what works in these bags and what might just fall out. Doesn’t sound like rocket science so I’m sure I’ll figure it out.
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String bags are so great for groceries and my kids’ laundry.
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I’m pretty sure these are heavy duty enough for building supplies as well!
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Wonderful. I remember my Nana always had string bags, because they carried so much. She also had arms like hams though…..
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Hopefully it wasn’t using the string bags that developed them!
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I’m afraid it was lol
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I love them…they remind me of fishing nets…plus I like the sandy color. Very impressive.
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Thanks. Also much faster than starting with a ball of string!
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Hey thanks for following my blog. Please let me know if you try any of the recipes and what they turn out like!
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Will do!
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Now these are very cool!! I love this idea and that they’re soft and flexible!!
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They are a bit bulkier than a normal string bag, but they will be STRONG! At least I hope so. BTW your pies have been looking incredible. Peach pie is my all time favorite.
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Thanks!
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Hey I think they look pretty decent.How will you solve the problem of crocheting?
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I just did the one stitch that I know – chain stitch – and made up the rest. I hope they’ll stay together!
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