Rainy Day Challenge

Terri bateman
by Terri bateman
2 Materials
5 Hours
Medium
What better to do on a rainy day than make a Poncho for the next rainy day! Everybody has plastic bags, thousands of plastic bags hanging around their house! Fusing bags is not a new craft but there is a million things you can make with fused bags. I swear when I first started fusing bags together to make projects it really does feel like fabric!
There is very little materials that is needed for this project. Of course plastic bags, scissors, if you have a rotary cutter and board it saves time!, iron, parchment paper and a sewing machine.
Start by cutting the tops off as well as the bottom of the bag. In order to get a strong “ fabric “ you will need four bags per square, that’s eight layers. Turn the bags inside out so the print on the bags won’t fuse to the parchment paper. (that’s a whole other craft)
I used my kitchen table with towels on it so I’d have enough room to iron the whole project at the same time. Take your first four bags and lay it across parchment paper making sure you have enough room underneath, take another piece of parchment paper and lay it across the top having enough as well so you don’t melt the plastic on your iron! Having the iron setting on medium slowly start from the middle working your way to the sides. This prevents bubbles from forming. Go back and forth without staying to long on one spot. Keep checking your “fabric” to see if it’s fusing, you can turn it over if the back side is not fusing. It takes about three minutes to do a square depending on your irons heat!
This is where your rotary cutter and board come in handy, trim all the edges making sure all you pieces are the same size. You can use scissors As well.
Lay all your pieces out to get the pattern you want. I used all the same bag as it’s obvious were I shop! But mix it up and make your own pattern. Use a 1/4 inch overlay and zigzag stitch. Sew one row vertically at a time then sew the three pieces together.
I used a bowl to cut the hole for the hood as well as to round off the corners. Use the zigzag stitch around the outside of cape to secure the outer edge. Measure the circumstance of your neck opening so your hood comes all the way around and can be attached together. I traced the pattern from a hoodie to get my pattern.
Rainy Day cover up😊 ( no bears were harmed in the making of this poncho😊
Suggested materials:
  • Plastic bags, parchment paper, scissors iron
  • Sewing machine, rotary cutter, board
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  1 question
  • Cindy Cindy on Feb 06, 2018

    Wow! I've never seen anything like this! Have you used these plastic bags in any other projects? Great job!!

Comments
Join the conversation
 2 comments
Next