Making handbags

When I made my first purse from plastic bags, I never imagined it would become a hobby of mine and I would recycle thousands of plastic bags into dozens of stylish purses.

Many of the first purses I made were handbags with short handles

Some bags had a little longer handle that you can easily place over your arm.

Several handbags were made with a “slot” handle.

I even made a few bags with purchased handles.  But since creating them,  I decided  that I wanted my bags to be fully recycled, so I seldom make a bag with purchased handles.

I didn’t keep track of bags I made when I started or take pictures of them. From my reconstructed records I’ve made 30 handbags like these.  Of these, 19 have gone to ladies in Minnesota, 1 in Wisconsin, 3 in Ohio, 3 in UT, 1 in Wyoming and I have 3 currently for sale.  Three of these were knit and the rest all crocheted.

This is my purse that I have used for several years.

This one was created with yellow and blue to recognize my Swedish heritage.