Got Bags? Let’s Make Something Useful!!

Alicia W
by Alicia W
3 Materials
$3
1 Hour
Easy
Everyone has lots & lots of plastic bags and doesn’t it seem like they magically multiply? If you’ve got too many plastic bags, here’s the perfect solution.
Begin by gathering up all those plastic bags.
Cut the handles off of each bag and cut the bottom open (black lines)


Stack at least 4 bags on top of each other. You want to have at least 8 layers of plastic.
Grab a roll of parchment paper and tear off a sheet to cover the bags.
Set your iron on the medium/rayon setting.
With the parchment paper on top, begin ironing your bags. Continue to move the iron over the bags until you see them shrinking which means they are fusing together.
The first project I made:
A-Grab a zip top bag
B-Place two pieces of copy paper inside the bag
C-Lay one layer of fused bags on your work surface. Fold over one edge and fuse with iron.
D-Lay the zip top bag on top with the zipper along the straight edge of the fused bags.
E-Fold over one edge and fuse with iron. Lay another layer of fused bags on top of the zip top bag with the straight edge you just made against the zipper.
F-Fuse everything together making sure you seal the edges.
Next time you travel, use this bag to carry items that can spill such as contact cleaner, hair products, or moisturizer.
Place them inside the bag
And zip it closed. You items will be safe & if they spill, it will be contained in the zip bag.
For the next project, begin with a layer of fused bags.
Turn one of the long edges over about 2 inches and fuse.
A:Fold the layer of bags in half.
B: Fuse the two short sides together (black lines). Cut off excess edges.
Turn the bag right side out. You have a pouch.
.


I attached the pouch to the inside of my pantry and filled it with the handles that you cut off all your bags.
I use thone handles to tie snack bags closed.
Let’s make something else with that pouch.
To make a closure for the pouch:
A: Take two of the handles that you cut off and lay them on top of each other.
B: Fuse the handles together
C: Place the handles in the middle of the inside of one of the sides and fuse to the pouch.
A: Cut a slit in the closure and sew a button to the pouch
B: Collect all those loose items in your purse and place them in your new pouch
C: Now your purse is nice and neat
For the last project:
Fuse four sets of bags
A: Cut the bags into squares
B: using a rotary cutter and ruler will make your squares... well, square
C: Sew the squares together
With added handles, those squares sewn together make a great bag for carrying groceries, storing your knitting, or toting your books back to the library.
Resources for this project:
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 5 questions
  • Nancy Nancy on Jan 19, 2018

    What type of surface does one use to iron the plastic bags on? If I can use my ironing board does it need to be covered with the brown paper shown in the pictures and video? Sincerely, Nancy

  • Mary Mary on Mar 14, 2018

    Wondering if you could use pretty sheets of wrapping paper as last layer and make file envelopes for the filing cabinet?

  • Betty Albelo Betty Albelo on Mar 14, 2018

    Do you get fumes from the fusing process?

Comments
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4 of 65 comments
  • Diane Diane on Aug 19, 2018

    i made rugs and mats crocheting plastic bags they are so soft

  • Sharon Bumgarner Sharon Bumgarner on Jan 21, 2020

    Very cool! Thanks for the recycling tip! I am sure with a little thought all kinds of things could be made out of these bags fused together! I save them for small trash cans but there are alot with hole i throw away. I love that i can now make something durable and useful with these store bags. Thank you so much for posting this!

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