Grocery Bags Turn Into Mats for Haiti

I have just finished a missions project along with approximately 50 other people from my church and surrounding area churches.  We decided to crochet sleeping mats for some children in Haiti.  Our Children's Ministry/Education Director was going to Haiti to assist with the forming of an orphanage there.  She said the mats would be perfect for the children as many had nothing but a dirt floor to sleep on.

So we grouped together, prayed that God would bless this project,  taught each other to crochet, named ourselves the Hand Maidens and started collecting plastic bags.  We had a working morning at the church where men, women and teenagers created several assembly lines.  Grocery bags were folded flat.  Several people cut the bags into strips.  Others tied the strips together and rolled them into balls.  The strips are called plarn, from PLastic and yARN.  Then others crocheted the mats.

In only a few weeks we made 15 plarn mats!  I still can't believe it.  Our leader estimated that approximately 10,500 plastic bags were used.

I did a little of everything.  I folded bags, cut them into strips, tied them together and crocheted them into a mat.  I used a large crochet hook.

Finished Rug was 44" by 24"

All the mats were different.  Due to the colors of the grocery bags, we could make patterns, use different types of stitches or make different sizes of mats.  I used WalMart bags for the blue and white pattern in the main part of the rug.  I trimmed the edges with brown Kroger bags.

Another View of the Mat

A Ball of the Plarn

 I worked single crochet for the body of the mat, working in the back loop only and used double crochet for the borders.  If I was making another one, I would probably do all double crochet as that produced a flatter, smoother mat which might be more comfortable for resting on.  By working the single crochet in the back loop, the mat took on a pattern that created a ridge along the mat surface.  It is pretty with the ridge and I like it.  The double crochet works fast and makes a larger row, so would be faster to get a mat produced.  I only had a few days to finish my mat so larger stitches would have helped.

Strips That I Did Not Use and the Plastic Crochet Hook

We got either five or six strips out of each bag depending on bag size, person cutting the bags and the hook size.  The size I used was Q, 19mm.  Others used different sizes which made each mat a unique creation.

Finished Mat with Roll-up Tie and Tag

When the mat was complete, I crocheted a large string that I used to tie the mat into an easy to pack roll.  I used the contrasting brown for the tie.  If I was making another mat, I would try attaching the tie to the mat in two pieces so the tie would not get lost from the mat.  It was too late to change my design since I finished the mat on the late evening before I was to turn the project in the next day.  My hands were hurting from the exertion that I had to use.  The pain is almost like carpal tunnel pain.  It will be a long time before I begin any other project.  I will need to let my hands rest and recover first.

I Was Proud of My Mat and the Hand Maiden Group

Many people were working on the mats that week, too.  These people were dedicated to the project and helped each other with encouraging words and many prayers.  My husband asked me if I thought about the children in Haiti as I worked on the mat.  I told him I thought of that child with every stitch I made.  Plarn is hard to work with.  The strip does not "give" like regular yarn would.  It has to be pulled through the loops with force sometimes.  The knots where the strips are joined are sometimes not in an easy spot to work into the stitch.  When I tired of the work, I reminded myself that some little person would sleep better with the mat and that he/she was depending on me to finish it.

A Tag Was Added to Each Mat

Walter donated some tags left over from a project he had completed.  Our church Ministry Assistant added a sticker that said, "Parkway Baptist Church Jezi renmen ou!"  This is Haitian Creole for Jesus Loves You.  Now every time the mat is used, the message can be read by the child and reinforced that they are loved.

Some of the Fifteen Finished Mats

Every mat produced is an original work of art and love.  The above picture shows some of the beautiful work that was created.  Each has a different color scheme, size and stitch type.  The common thing is all were created to serve a mission purpose. 

For me, the beauty of age ranges of people jointly working on a church mission project was the winning component.  Not all the mats were perfect.  Mine was certainly not.  Seasoned crafters and those who had never crafted worked together.  The bag folder and the crocheter were equal to each other in this project.  We had a great leader and a person with vision who suggested the project.  Susie and Elaine - to each of you a Thank You Shout-Out!  A job well done!