Make It: Plastic Reusable Bag

Plastic Reusable Bag
Originally uploaded by udandi

Three things spurred me on to make something from fused plastic bags 1) I have my own sewing machine so if I mess it up it’s mine, not my mom’s 2) I wanted to make the bag that is on the cover of Simple Gifts to Stitch but I had nothing in my stash and was not going to buy any (saving that for skirt making!) 3) The Art is Found had a prompt using shopping bags and jlk3scrapper made a tote

For the most part I use reusable bags, but I still have a bunch I have kept for use as trash liners. I first tried with crinkly bags from michaels, joanns and the like -they shrink and curl up even when I tried a low setting on the iron. But I am going to salvage a small coin purse so all is not wasted from that attempt.

Then, I moved on to Target bags, which iron flat and keep pretty try to their square shape, plus, have this pliable soft feeling! I had a large red holiday bag from buying the cotton candy machine (during a major rainstorm otherwise I would not have needed a bag – so much rain my pants were soaked up to my knees when running from the doors to my car). I used that to make the front, red pocket, used 9 white bags (3 for each panel) to make the front, back and to trim out handles. I pieced it all together and sewed with black thread so it would have some contrast.

Now, that bag is ready to haul books, magazines, DVDs and CDs from the library! Summer reading programs are kicking off at libraries all over the country so stop in your local library to see what yours is doing (it may not be just about reading, it might be listening to music and watching DVDs,too) and let me know what your library is doing and/or if they are giving away great prizes. Check it out @ your library!