How To Make A Fashion Doll Beach Mat and Tote Bag Out of Plarn

Do you enjoy crocheting? Are you a frugal crafter? If so, I have a great frugal craft project for you today that won't cost you a cent! This particular craft project is made out of plarn! Not sure what plarn is? Well, I am going to tell you about it.

Plarn is the slang term given to 'yarn' that has been made from plastic grocery bags...you know, those plastic bags that grocery and retail stores use to pack your purchases in. Instead of throwing them away and junking up our landfills, you can turn those plastic bags into plarn.

To make the following two projects, you will need a size H crochet hook (for the beach mat) and a size G crochet hook for the tote bag and 8-10 plastic shopping bags.

How To Make The Plarn: You will want to use clean plastic bags. Cut off the handles and flatten the bag flat. Cut off the seaming at the bottom. Now...cutting through both layers of the bag, cut strips that are a 1/2" wide. Once you have your strips, you will want to loop them together to form a continuous long strand. Once it is long enough, roll into a ball. You can find YouTube.com video's and tutorial web sites online to teach you how to make plarn if you need a visual demonstration.

To Make The Beach Mat:

You will want to chain 44 stitches, single crochet in the 2nd chain from the hook and in each chain across. Chain 1, turn and single crochet in each stitch across. You will continue this pattern until you have 11 rows. Fasten off and weave in your ends.

To Make The Tote Bag:

This tote bag is made by crocheting 5 rectangular blocks and then simply slant stitching all of the rectangles together to make the tote bag. I made the tote bag larger than a purse because I wanted it to hold the fashion doll's plastic suntan lotion bottle, her towel, hat, sunglasses, etc. You know...all of those little fun accessories that those dolls come with.

You will need to make 2 long side panels:
Chain 8, single crochet in the 2nd chain from hook and in each chain across. Chain 1 and turn, single crochet in each stitch across, chain 1 and turn. Repeat until you have 4 rows, fasten off, weave in ends.

You will need to make 2 short side panels:
Chain 5, single crochet in 2nd chain from hook and in each chain across. Chain 1, turn, single crochet in each stitch across, chain 1 and turn. Repeat until you have 4 rows, fasten off, weave in ends.

You will need to make 1 bottom panel:
Chain 8, single crochet in 2nd chain from hook, single crochet in each chain across, Chain 1, turn, single crochet in each stitch across, chain 1, turn. Repeat until you have 2 rows.

Assembly:
You will simply slip stitch all 4 side panels to the bottom panel of the tote bag and then slip stitch up each of the 4 sides to connect them to one another. Fasten off, weave in your ends. For the handle, I just chained 10 and slip stitched each side of the handle to the top of the tote bag.

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother who loves to craft, crochet and scrapbook. You can visit Shelly's popular craft blog called Passionate About Crafting at http://passionateaboutcrafting.blogspot.com for free project ideas and tips. You can find a photo of the completed craft project on her blog at http://passionateaboutcrafting.blogspot.com/2010/08/free-plarn-crochet-barbie-doll-beach.html



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What is a Toy Box (furniture)?

As the name implies `Toy Box` is that Pandora's Box of tiny totters or kids furniture i.e. only meant for satiating the desires of the young blood with many different varieties manufactured every month according to the consumption and demand analysis with a survey done in each house to cater the need in given time period. It included the items such as: Tables/chairs/benches/Toy chest/drawers/Tiny little cabinets/ Wooden treasured box with shelves and hosts of other wooden playing `Toys` for children. The furniture differs extremely form adult made modern and contemporary furniture due to its durability and fragile handling by a kid of any age. Heavy weight toy furniture is the complete ‘no' inside a family and has been discarded ever since. Soft furniture toys are the first choice and attraction for the majority of children and their specific wants fulfillment.

Toys categorization of furniture:

1.    Upholstered Rocker and Ottoman (Couch); Recliner V.I.P. Sofa collection

2.    Denim Kids bedroom collection;

3.    Vanilla Mates bed;

4.    Twin bunk bed with under-bed sliding drawers;

5.    Sweet dream study wall-5 pc;

6.    Computer desks; Girls techno mobile desk

7.    High heel shoe puffing(Couches) or chairs

8.    Disney princess and Fairytopia styled kid box cabinets;

9.    Home doll house storage with bookcase attachment;

10.    Pastel storage unit with canvas and plastic bins;

11.    9-Bin Toy organizer explorer cabinet;

12.    Wooden carriage toy box;

13.    Wooden and plastic circus entertainment center;

14.    Locker collection: Kids locker night table with two storey shelves in bottom;

15.    Disney's `Cars` collection Toy box.

http://www.articlesbase.com/furniture-articles/what-is-a-toy-box-furniture-339996.html

Fashion doll dream home

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Needlecraft Shop (1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573670669
• ISBN-13: 978-1573670661
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds

How to Make Plastic Canvas Doll Furniture: 7 steps - wikiHow

Barbie and the Brats could use some furniture for their new house... How about making it for them?

Steps

1. Obtain the needed supplies below.

2. Select a pattern from one of the Citations/Sources below.

3.Cut pieces from plastic canvas as indicated.

4.Cut pieces from clear plastic canvas to use as reinforcement throughout.

5. Stitch center "colored" area of each pattern piece through BOTH layers of canvas...clear AND white.

6.Assemble pieces and stitch together along the edges.

7.Sew cushions for the furniture with your machine and lightly stuff them as desired. Slip stitch the openings closed.

Tips

There are so many patterns out there. Choose one and follow it's directions.

Things You'll Need

six or seven sheets of white 7-count plastic canvas
three sheets of clear, stiff plastic canvas 12" x 18"
worsted-weight yarn in any desired color
1/4-yards small print fabric
small amount of quilt batting
No.16 tapestry needle
sewing machine, matching thread, sewing needle
scissors

Fashion doll house in plastic canvas [Paperback]

Product Details

* Paperback: 196 pages
* Publisher: American School of Needlework; 1st edition (1992)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0881954675
* ISBN-13: 978-0881954678
* Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches
* Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds

Plastic Canvas Doll Furniture Crafts

Making your own dollhouse furniture gives you extra flexibility in design and size, and making it from plastic canvas lets you make the construction part of the decoration. Plastic canvas can be cut to almost any shape and bent to form realistic curves to sofas and easy chairs, but instead of trying to fold sharp angles, such as for legs on a table, attach separate pieces or use other materials.

   1.
      Cut to Fit
          *

            You may want to plan your furniture on graph paper, and even cut the pieces out to be assembled with tape before you begin cutting sheets of plastic canvas. Plan for edges to come as close as possible to crossbars of the canvas for a smooth finish, but you can easily cut a graceful curve at the back of a sofa or chair seat and bend another piece to fit perpendicular to the seat.
      Upholster and Assemble
          *

            Work full or half cross-stitches over the flat pieces with yarn to resemble upholstery. Make contrasting outlines for piping or to suggest couch cushions. Bind exposed edges with a blanket stitch to hide the plastic, then use a combination of long and short stitches to assemble the furniture and give it rigidity.
          *
      Be Creative With Other Materials
          *

            Plastic canvas may be too difficult to work with for narrow legs on tables and chairs. Try bamboo skewers, which you can stain in appropriate wood colors, or thin dowels that can even show through the corners of a chair seat. Other materials, such as pipe cleaners, may need to be covered with yarn to match the plastic-canvas flat parts of the furniture.

http://www.ehow.com/info-tip_8043043_plastic-canvas-doll-furniture-crafts.html

How to Make Plastic Canvas Doll Furniture

Make a variety of plastic canvas doll furniture pieces for your fashion dolls. You can make patio furniture, bedroom furniture, living room furniture and kitchen furniture that your dolls can sit or lay on. Follow these tips to make plastic canvas doll furniture for the whole house.

Things You'll Need

    * Plastic canvas
    * Furniture patterns
    * Thread counter
    * Needle and scissors
    * Wool or embroidery thread

Instructions
  
          * 1            Find a plastic canvas pattern for the type of furniture you want to make. Buy the supplies you need to complete the pattern including the plastic canvas, a needle, scissors, a plastic canvas ruler and your wool or thread.
          * 2            Decide if you are making 10 or 7 count plastic canvas furniture. Plastic canvas consists of many little holes between threads of plastic and comes in sizes 7 and 10. The holes for 10 count thread are closer together so the projects are more detailed.
          * 3            Count the threads or the holes in the plastic canvas according to your pattern. Your pattern will tell you how long and wide each piece of furniture will be. Patterns are measured by threads or holes depending on the pattern.
          * 4            Cut all your pieces before you start sewing so you can make sure you have enough plastic. Cut carefully because one wrong cut will mean you need a new piece of plastic canvas. Put your pieces of furniture into different groups for each type of furniture.
          * 5            Sew each piece of furniture according to the pattern. You can work your stitches from top to bottom and left to right or you can reverse the order as long as you remain constant.
          * 6            Start and end all your stitches on the back of the plastic piece so that no threads show on the finished work.
          * 7            Attach the pieces by sewing the edges together to create the furniture. Add decorative fabric and cushions to tables and chairs to create a realistic look.

Read more: How to Make Plastic Canvas Doll Furniture | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2272723_make-plastic-canvas-doll-furniture.html#ixzz1Xq8etIlM