They crochet bags into bedding
ZELIENOPLE — Plastic bags are either stored in bag savers or thrown in the garbage.
However, a few residents of Passavant Community are transforming bags from refuse to a handy work of art.
“It’s easy, but it’s a lot of work,” said resident Jennie Jamieson.
Jamieson and Jean Slingluff, with help from their husbands Bill and Jim, are crocheting the bags to make water-repellent sleeping mats for the homeless.
The 3-foot-by-6-foot mats are made entirely from the bags and no other materials.
Jamieson and Slingluff are given bags from other Passavant residents “very often.”
“That makes them part of it (project) too,” Jamieson, who started crocheting in late 2015. “It’s kind of like a Passavant project.”
Unwanted bags are also gathered from local grocery stores.
“At Bi-Lo, we stopped and talked to the manager one time about all the plastic bags they had,” Bill Jamieson said. “We must have left with about 2,000 bags and did the same with Giant Eagle.”
It takes between 800 and 1,000 bags to make a mat.
First, the ends of the bags are cut off and discarded. Then the bags are folded and cut into strips. From there, the crocheting begins.
The mats are given to Jamieson’s daughter-in-law for First United Methodist Church in Butler to give to the homeless.
About five mats have been made by the duo. Jamieson said it takes about three months to create a mat.
“The first one I made was kind of funky,” she said. “After that, they became a little better looking.”
Jamieson said she first got the idea to crochet the mats after her husband Bill preached at different churches. Bill Jamieson was pastor at Westminster Church in Evans City for 28 years.
“I felt like I could do that, but first I needed to learn how to crochet,” she said.
That’s when she recruited the help of Slingluff, who is part of Passavant’s “Busy Hands” craft group.
“She started off with the worst thing to crochet,” Slingluff said of plastic.
While Jamieson’s first attempt was “becoming triangular,” she improved her skills to make today’s mats.
Passavant Community has also taken notice of the duo’s efforts.
“It’s just amazing,” said Ann Mutmansky, director of marketing and admissions. “Once it’s laid out, you can clearly see how it could help someone under bridge ramps.”
