Feautured artists: Svetlana Mititelu, FromBabushkaShop. Upcycled crochet bags made from plarn

We love our planet and the concept of repurpose, reuse, resycle and upsycle is always on our mind. Today we'd like to introduce our team member Svetlana from Moldova who is following this concept very much with her idea of recycling the plastic bags from the grocery stores. She uses the yarn made of these bags to crochet baskets, bins and totes, They are sturdy, pretty and look stylish, too!

You can find many of Svetlana's items in her Etsy shop (FromBabushkaShop) She is always on a watch for a new ideas, new methods and stylish looks so visit her often!

Here is her story about her inspirations.

Q: Tell us about yourself?
A: I am a mom to two wonderful grownup daughters and a grandmother  I am 52yo and only now I began to do what I really like, crocheting, and to be exact crocheting bags.

Q: What are your bags made from?
A: The bags are from the basic plastic shopping bags. This method (upcycling) is very popular just now and gaining more publicity because the pollution of the environment is very important. I take the single use plastic bags and make from them a reusable bag for life.

Q: How your bags are different to other upcycled plarn bags?
A: First of all, I tend to make them not only practical but also beautiful, designer! Secondly, almost every bag has a fishing line added to the base for strength, so the bag can withstand up to 10k. Maybe more but I didn’t manage to carry more from the shop. So instead of using a new plastic bag every time you shop, you use one plarn bag from babushka.
And my plarn bags are very light, fold if necessary and don’t take much space.

Q: What do your clients like about the plarn bags?
A: Every bag is one of a kind. You can choose a bag based on your mood and character and be sure that nobody else will have the same. My clients like the versatility of its usage. You can use the bag for shopping, or to go to the beach, or use it as storage unit. Also they like that the majority of bags have handles that easily transform and you can carry it as a shoulder bag, in hands or cross body that is quite practical as hands are free!

Q: What care do they require?
A: The plarn bags are easy to take care of! If there is a small spot then wipe it with a damp clean cloth. Also you can put them through a gentle wash cycle, 30* degrees no more. Every bag has a small tag attached, it’s a sample that you can wash first to make sure the bag is not going to be ruined.

Q: What would you like to wish our readers?
A: I would like to say that you don’t need to spend much energy to be green. Start from yourself and your habits. Pay a bit more attention to the environment. Hopefully together we can help our planet!