Recycling
Plastic: ROPE-WEAVING
Making Time: 1.5 hours
Age Group: Elementary
Project Designer: Lizzie Hurst
Did you know that plastic bags were banned in NYC on March 1st? They pollute the environment and are bad for the health of the fish in our waterways!
But with a few simple techniques, you can repurpose plastic bags to make lots of interesting projects - including your own PLOPE (plastic rope)
Follow these steps to make PLARN out of plastic using only tools and materials that you already have at home! THEN, learn how to make tools from scratch to weave your plarn into super strong rope or something else of your own invention!
Project
Overview:
Prepare
Your Workspace:
Set up your work space. Clear a surface on a table top where you can work.
Make sure to ask other people who are using the space if it’s OK for you to set up there!
Make sure there’s a broom and dustpan nearby in case you make a mess.
Gather Supplies:
Gather MORE Supplies:
PART 1:
MAKING YOUR PLARN*!
*Plarn: yarn made out of plastic
PART 1 Step 1:
Lay a plastic bag on the table and flatten it with your hands.
Grab your scissors and cut off the bottom and top of the bag so you only have a big plastic loop left (the middle).
PART 1 Step 2:
Next, lay your two stacks of books (or other large flat objects) next to each other...
...and create a “bridge” between them using the broomstick.
PART 1 Step 3:
Put the broomstick through the loop in the plastic bag you just cut so it looks like this!
PART 1 Step 4:
Make a short diagonal cut into your bag, as shown. Stop cutting when you are about 1.5” in from the edge.
1.5” is about the width of the top of your thumb!
1.5”
PART 1 Step 5:
Your goal is to turn the bag into one long strip.
Cut in a straight line 1.5” along the edge - while pulling the plastic bag towards you.
You will see that you are cutting in a spiral.
Try to keep an even 1.5” strip as you cut around and around.
PART 1 Step 6:
To the end, cut diagonally to the edge, just like you did at the beginning.
You should now have one very long piece of plarn!
Repeat this same process with EACH of your plastic bags until you have the amount of plarn that you want!
PART 1 Step 7:
Tie the ends of your strips together so that you have one long piece.
Find a way to store the plarn neatly. You could wrap it around something (like an empty egg carton!) or roll it into a ball.
PART 2:
How to weave rope (aka Plope)!
PART 2 Step 1:
First, you’ll need to make your loom! A loom is tool that is used for weaving. It’s much simpler than building a spindle…
Cut a cardboard square that is about 4” x 4”. (If you don’t have a ruler, that’s about the distance between the tip of your pinky and your thumb when you stretch out your hand).
PART 2 Step 2:
Cut off each corner of the square!
You should have an eight sided shape that looks like this.
PART 2 Step 3:
Draw a little line about 1” going into each side of the octagon. Cut where you made the lines with scissors
PART 2 Step 4
Then, cut little triangles into each of the sides of the octagon but don’t cut all the way into the line you just made.
The triangles should be about ½” or so.
PART 2 Step 5:
The final step is to poke or cut a hole in the center of the cardboard. It doesn’t have to be perfectly centered.
That’s it, you are
ready to weave!
PART 2 Step 6:
Pick out seven even strands of plarn. They should all be about the same length. The longer, the better!
Hold them all together and tie a knot at the very end.
PREPARE YOUR PLARN
Pull the knot at the top of your plarn through the hole in the center of the cardboard, and tuck one strand of plarn into each notch on the cardboard - there are eight notches in total, so there should be one empty! You might need to twist the plarn a little bit with your fingers, as you go.
PART 2 Step 7:
The next step is to weave!
The pattern is simple and repeats forever - until you decide you’re finished.
Here’s how it works.
Notice that one empty notch on the cardboard? Count three strands of plarn over from it, and move that third strand into the empty notch. Count three strands more, and repeat. And repeat….
WATCH GIF VERY CAREFULLY FOR A WHILE AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND HOW TO WEAVE
PART 2 Step 8
PART 2 Step 9
The weave will start to build up pretty quickly. Every few rotations, just stop briefly and pull the rope a little further through the hole in the center!
WATCH GIF VERY CAREFULLY FOR A WHILE AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND HOW TO PULL YOUR WOVEN PLOPE THROUGH YOUR LOOM
Once the rope is as long as you want it to be (or when you run out of plarn), just pull it out of the cardboard loom and tie a knot at the end!
PART 2 Step 10
GOOD JOB
YOU MADE �PLOPE
What will you do with your plope?
Make a jump rope! Make shoelaces out of it! Test its strength on incredibly heavy objects! Make jewelry! A keychain! Give it to someone special! Put plom ploms on the end of it! Take a photo to share with us!
PLEASE SHARE WHAT YOU MADE:
#beamanywhere