Last week Elise had a little project for Girl Scouts: make something out of something that you would normally throw away. As soon as she told me the assignment, I had the perfect idea: a fused plastic bag!
I saw this idea on a blog about a year and a half ago and have since wanted to try, but never got around to it. This was a fun experience and we really like the way the bag turned out (see left).
Of course, the next time I make one, I'll probably try to make it look neater, but this was our first try and we just wanted to see how it would actually turn out prior to investing too much time. Elise and i both like the Target signs, so this worked for us.
Why do this? When you fuse the plastic bags together, they are much stronger-sort of like a thin tarp-and waterproof. Think of all of the things you could make out of this: waterproof bag-perfect for the beach, a wallet, make-up bag, mailing envelopes, and more. Plus I think most households have a superfluous number of plastic bags (I know we do and I ordinarily take reusable shopping bags to the grocery store with me.) and this will make them a little more useful and keep them out of our landfills for a little longer.
Because I'm sure I've at least a little bit intrigued, I'll let you know how I did it. You can find about a gazillion tutorials on fusing plastic, but I'll give you the basic highlights-it's not rocket science you know!
Supplies: 5-8 plastic shopping bags, iron, parchment paper, something for the straps
1. First, you gather the bags you want to use. I suggest between 5-8 of the grocery bags depending on the thickness/strength you desire. Of course, if you want to decorate the bag with different colors or designs, you may have more than the standard 5-8.
2. Cut off the bottom of the bags (where the seam is) and the handles. Then cut the bags so they are just one flat rectangle piece.
3. Stack the bags evenly or not. Do whatever you want, but make sure you sandwich the bags with the parchment paper.
4. Now's the fun part! Make sure you have your iron turned on. I set mine on the hottest level available without steam. Maybe a rayon setting, but I'm not sure-my iron has numbers not fabric types. You may have to experiment a little to see what works best for you. (If it's too hot, the plastic will end up tearing and if not hot enough it won't fuse.) Now you will use your iron to fuse the plastic bags. Make sure you are not ironing directly on the bags unless, of course, you want to destroy your iron. You should be ironing on the parchment paper. Keep the iron moving constantly on each section for about 15-20 seconds. It is important to make sure the edges are fused together too.
**There are fumes from doing this, so do it outside or in a well ventilated place and not around little ones.
***The ink from the bags will most likely start to smear or transfer once heated. To avoid this, you could put a clear bag on top so there's that "protective layer." On a scrap piece, I used the white part of the Target bag and it worked while still showing the pattern underneath.
5. Now that you should have one solid piece of fused plastic. Do with it what you want!
I sewed up a basic bag and added grosgrain ribbon for the straps. I don't suggest that if you want to carry anything heavy with it as these straps are not that strong nor is the way I sewed them on. Next time I'll use the extra plastic to make the handles, but we were short on time! Because we wanted a sturdy base and because we needed to use something that's normally thrown away, we used a part of a UPS box (as shown on the bottom left photo) for the bag's interior base, which helps it hold it's form.
Let me know if you try this out. I want to see what you've come up with!
