Frugal Crafting: Fused Plastic Bag Snack Bag & Envelope

Awhile ago, I found several blogs where people used fused plastic bags to create things. At the time, I didn't have any plastic bags since I take cloth bags when I shop (except for Target, because their bags are just the right size for the trash can in my craft area), so I had to make an effort to start collecting them.

Last week I decided I had enough bags, and set about making some fused plastic bag fabric. It ended up being a bit trickier than I expected- the process is a bit fiddley, and there was some trial and error involved in trying to get some satisfactory results. I have to agree with Dana, who said that Target bags work the best. They're a teensy bit thicker, and seemed to stand up to the process a bit better. I did do some with bags from wally world, but the results were not as satisfactory.

I tried adding some embellishments to a couple of the sheets:

I cut out the little starbursts from a bunch of wally world bags and put them under the top sheet of plastic- I like how this looks.

I cut out the letters for LMS's name from various bags and put them under the top layer of plastic (hard to see with the letters blurred, sorry).

I used both of these pieces to make a snack bag (original idea here) for LMS- the starbursts on the back, her name on the front.

I sewed the bottom and sides together, and then used the iron to fuse the open edges a bit. I was making it up as I went along, so if I make another one, I'll sew the top edge first, then sew the sides and bottom. I used adhesive velcro dots to close the snack bag. If I make another one, I would put the velcro dots on before sewing the seams, and sew them to make sure they stay in place.

I had planned on making cash envelopes out of folded fused plastic bags, but I think the fused plastic is a bit thick for that (and I had a hard time getting even, consistent fusing), so I changed my mind. Instead, I made a zippered envelope to hold our gas money for the month.

I also made a sheet of fused plastic bags with the top layer being a sheet of plastic from a Target bag, with the ink on the inside so it wouldn't bleed (as recommended here).

I sewed the word 'gas' on a small piece of plain fused plastic, then sewed that to the sheet I wanted to use for the envelope. I tend to be a perfectionist, and want things to be perfectly even and neat, but I tried to squash that and just let it turn out how it wanted. Not sure if I like the results, but it's a learning process.

I still have some sheets of fused plastic left, but I haven't decided what exactly I want to do with them- more snack bags, more zippered envelopes, something else entirely? I'm not completely satisfied with how the fused sheets turned out- I had a hard time getting them evenly fused, so I think I'll keep saving Target bags and do some more experimentation. I did like the shopping bags Dana made, but my fused sheets didn't look nearly as nice as her did. Maybe with some more practice...

Total cost for this project: zero.

I collected the bags as I shopped, and I had the zipper, thread, and velcro dot already.