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Tuesday, 6 August 2013

... and a Fused Plastic Bag Pencil Case

I always try to use my Bag-for-Life, but despite my best efforts I always seem to accumulate lots of plastic bags, so fusing them to make something new seemed like a good idea!! I found  this great tutorial by A Fanciful Twist  and tried it out for myself to make a Pencil Case!
Materials
  • Plastic Bags
  • Iron
  • Baking/Parchment Paper
  • Sewing Materials
  • Velcro (optional) 
Start by cutting the top and bottom off each carrier bag, so that you can lay it flat and cut up the sides. Lay these onto a bottom piece of baking parchment and smooth them as flat as possible. I used eight layers of plastic (4 whole bags) but you can experiment with different levels of thickness.
Place a second piece of baking paper on top (making sure that all the plastic is covered) and start ironing. I used the hottest setting on my iron and kept turning the whole thing over to make sure that the layers fused together evenly. Be warned that the plastic will shrink quite a lot!
This will leave you with a sheet of plastic 'fabric' and you can play around with different patterns, colours and shapes.
I decided that I liked the sheet I'd made by layering white and orange carrier bags, so trimmed this to size to give a front and back for my pencil case. The back was longer so that this could be folded over. I left the wavy bit at the top as I liked the effect!
I machine sewed the bottom and up each side, using a zig zag stich (I would recommend using a slightly longer stitch and not pinning it, as unlike fabric the holes will stay!) The fastening was made using two pieces of velcro and I decorated with butterflies punched out from the green fused plastic.
I'm really glad I tried this new technique of fusing plastic bags and am going to experiment with the thicker plastic bags next. Any suggestions on what else to make from this plastic fabric?!

We are linking up to these parties!
19th August 2013: Update - this post was featured here at Love 2 Upcycle

21st August 2013: Update - this post was featured here at A Life in Balance
 
24th August 2013: Update - this post was chosen as the #1 project here by The CSI Project
Visit thecsiproject.com
 

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23 comments:

  1. Anonymous12 August 2013 at 10:58

    Thanks for the tips. This is great way to use these bags that end up being filled with garbage and in the landfill.

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    Replies
    1. Craftysiany12 August 2013 at 20:09

      Thanks, I agree it's always good to try and find another use for things 😊

      Delete
  2. Unknown12 August 2013 at 14:36

    Too cute and perfect timing for back to school. Thanks for linking up to the Upcycled Linky Party at http://love2upcycle.blogspot.com/2013/08/upcycled-linky-party-20.html.

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    Replies
    1. Craftysiany12 August 2013 at 20:10

      Thanks Tricia, always enjoy visiting your great linky party!

      Delete
  3. Anonymous12 August 2013 at 15:18

    turned out sooooo cool looking!

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    Replies
    1. Craftysiany12 August 2013 at 20:10

      Thanks, I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out!!

      Delete
  4. Heather B12 August 2013 at 17:08

    very clever and good clear instructions

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  5. The Causal Craftlete12 August 2013 at 20:41

    What a great idea! I would love for you to share it on the Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop going on now!
    http://www.thecasualcraftlete.com/2013/08/11/frugal-crafty-home-blog-hop-35/

    Thanks!
    Katie @thecasualcraftlete.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Craftysiany12 August 2013 at 23:08

      Thanks for the invite Katie, we would love to share on your Blog Hop! x

      Delete
  6. Lucy Blossom13 August 2013 at 07:30

    A fantastic looking pencil case, and very eco-friendly too.

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  7. itsamistry14 August 2013 at 07:27

    Fantastic idea. I once made a brooch using the same method.

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    Replies
    1. Craftysiany14 August 2013 at 19:11

      Thanks Anita, that's a great idea to make a brooch with it! x

      Delete
  8. Craftysiany14 August 2013 at 19:10

    Thanks & welcome Allie! Your blog is fab! x

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  9. another jennifer16 August 2013 at 18:26

    I would have never thought of using plastic bags like this. What a great idea!

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    Replies
    1. Craftysiany16 August 2013 at 22:06

      Thanks Jennifer, I really enjoyed trying something new! x

      Delete
  10. Unknown17 August 2013 at 01:30

    What a cute idea to do instead of a regular ol' pencil box! Thanks for linking up to Thrifty Thursday!

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    Replies
    1. Craftysiany17 August 2013 at 10:04

      Thanks Ruth, it certainly is something different! x

      Delete
  11. Unknown19 August 2013 at 02:56

    You are so cool!! What an awesome idea can't wait to show my daughter this! :) Michelle

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    Replies
    1. Craftysiany19 August 2013 at 20:36

      Thanks Michelle! Hope your daughter likes it too :) x

      Delete
  12. casey10 November 2014 at 01:04

    I am doing these for my school wearable arts competition. I'm glad I have found another item instead of clothing that I can make out of the ironed sheets. I was thinking maybe a patchwork pencil case would be cool too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Craftysiany16 November 2014 at 21:02

      Good luck with your competition, we'd love to hear how you get on! A patchwork pencil case does sound cool :) x

      Delete