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a bed of plastic
made of 'plastic' 'yarn' = 'plyarn'
Originators of Bag Mats...
www.peopleablaze.org
But they're making 'em here - for one place at Grace Presbyterian Church in Lafayette, LA?!
Also if I'm to understand it correctly, not only are folks making them at home & bringing them in but so are other area churches--so they can be shipped in containers together to - for one - Mission place in Haiti...
Where did I find out about such a thing going on? in the local newspaper calendar & today I just showed up to help...
Come to find out it's been going on since like 2010 at the church center on Every 2nd Saturday of the month, just like Art Walk is downtown (so today I was there from 9 - 2 & then to ArtWalk from 6 - 8)
There are many steps to making 1 bag/bed mat & a lot of hours to get 1 done...
And next you flatten them...try as best you can to get them as flat as new at the shop...
also Trick 1: Snap the handle to the bottom on both sides, so those tricky folds go in to lay flat...
a sample mat done, you can see all the colors - it's more fun to work with & am guessing to own too if you can have different colored bags to use when making them (it's the little things right...like after a soft place to sleep off the dirt?!)
just like the quilters do, you have a cutting board & you use a rolling cutter to cut up loops from the flattened bags - the bottom seam & the top handles are cut off to recyle...
& again to make it more interesting for everyone it's fun to alternative 'colors'...
these were the neatest/prettiest bag of 'plyarn' balls that anyone had made all day, a lady brought them in from home & I told the first crochet-er to come in that she should for sure take those best ones home to use...(I can only aspire, but then again--me day one & her ?? day 2 or 3 yrs for all I know?!)
I didn't catch anyone crocheting today, so took a close up of one of the finished mats to see these 'stitches' or 'loops' made on a really big fat blue crochet hook - size? massive!
There were instructions given out to continue on to crocheting, but it's all Goobley Gook to me to try to figure out--Yes, I am 'crafty challenged' & especially if there's 'counting' to be done, as in consistantly...
another example of a completed rolled up bag/bed mat - with a handle at one end, made from scraps or from the ones I saw clear bags...it's all very light weight & washable - only not so 'non' flamable (cause they're all plastic?!)
Every one they're making are suppose to be 6 ft long & 3 ft wide, or was that 4 ft wide...I was just thinking if you were a large person would you fit, but I'm guessing you'd mostly fit & no worse than some of the camping pads I've bought when young-er to go camp out in the woods/mountains (occassionally rain) in a tent & sleep on somewhat comfortably (but then I've been terribly spoiled by real beds & mattresses right?!)
I asked how many bags?
At least 500 or more, like who's (who would) counting...
I asked how long a whole mat takes to make?
A day or day & half - or something like 35 or more hours...
Oh my--I will prob never make one, the crochet stitches I saw one lady showing another looked like a 'magic trick' so a better lady than I can have at that step (I'll continue flattening bags of putting loops together in fun colors to make a ball?!)
Also on the instruction sheet--Links to 2 videos...
1) Video for How To...
2) You Tube - Bag Mats - for Another How To, but the sice is different on the loops I'm reading - theirs at 2 1/2 inches & ours at 4 inches...
Link to 17 min tutorial (wow - she used scissors?! & she made a 17 minute video...)
Link to a 5 min How To...
(she says it takes 500 - 700 bags, has anyone counted how many loops? if each bag I guess makes at least 4 loops on average? Oh nevermind--I'm not doing anymore counting?! but thankfully the crocheting lady that happened to come in today says she doesn't count, she just measures what she's working on & they seem to come out fine - so that would be me, if/If I were to happen to start crocheting...)
Link to a 8 min How To - that shows a group of ladies working...
(she spells it 'plarn')
Note: I see mention of 'milk bag' mats too, but we're using grocery bags/sacks - I don't really know what they're talking about when they say 'milk bags' - maybe a 'bread bag' but 'milk'?!
Link to Fox15 News article about the Bag Mat Ministry...
Link to article from The Iberian - helping 'mat-ters'...
(note: like that, as it does 'matter' - nice play on mat & matters & mat?!)
Link to 99.9 KTDY mention of--along w/plastic grocery bag photo...
http://999ktdy.com/ktdy-covers-acadiana-january-2012/Link to The Advertiser Calendar of Events - Janurary 2012...
Plus it's on Instructables.com - How to make Plastic Bag Yarn...
(note: this became my favorite How To website after I had to remember how to make a Pinata from scratch while living in Norway--saved me, we made some for a Red Crossing project...No, you couldn't buy them off the shelf like you can here at say Target - you could order them/ship them for a lot of money, so we chose to make them from scratch...& I found instructions on where else but 'instructables?!')
the man behind the mission in Haiti w/LA Nat'l Guard...
(photo credit: from May 2011--see link below...)
Link to some more about Fr Glenn Meaux & the Haiti Mission--from 2010 to 2011...
http://solthaitimission.org/index.cfm?load=page&page=30(note: says here he's from Abbeville, LA...at church also overheard he doesn't have a Parish, am guessing that's because he's in Haiti all the time?!)
Misc/Random Find...
Twitter note: mine, if I Google this subject my Tweet today shows up on page two--already...curious to see that, really just made me stop & think about what I'm sending off on Twitter or FourSquare...hmmm...weird feelings, but someone would have to be searching for just that...hmmm...nevermind--it's all good, it's a Do Good project, really--even before this past Christmastime local one & it continues & has been for years...
Other Notes...
Not only are they making these stateside, but they're making them also in the countries where they are needed--if there are plastic bags to be had...there was mention of 1 orphanage that's making them to sell to raise money for their school--rather than just giving them away, like the church missions are...
So many groups are involved in this, I never knew...locally there are schools & boy scouts, girl scouts, kids looking for community projects or volunteering...volunteers or church ladies/men--there was a man doing a lot of cutting today, plus a group of kids who were doing bag flattening & putting loops together (which is where I am--baby steps?!)
#Do Good
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