"Upcycling" is the current buzzword for what another thread is calling "wombling". I much prefer wombling!
As promised, this is how I recycle carrier bags with the kids at school:
I have had to teach a textiles class since Sept. 2009 and was grubbing around looking for a project when I came across a great US site called
Threadbanger - which tries to make sewing cool and trendy for young people. They have a video of
how to make a laptop bag from recycled bags and a link to
this video showing how to fuse a carrier bag into a strong, sewable material. All you need is an iron, an ironing board, greaseproof paper (essential!) and a supply of bags. As I had a heat press at work (A2 size, for dye-sublimation printing) I used this instead of an iron and so managed to get larger bits of "fabric" by stacking bags rather than folding them - I'm sure that this could be done with an iron if you used a larger ironing area than an ironing board can offer.
Once the material has cooled, it can be sewn, either by hand or on a domestic sewing machine. I made a messenger bag and a couple of purses to demonstrate what was possible and to kick the project off:
Bag made from M&S carrier bag and some charity collection bags:
Purses, one from a single Tesco bag (with zip and a keyfob) and one from a single ASDA bag with a popper closure:
Some of the kids preferred to make small bits of the material and then sew them into a patchwork sheet before using this to make their projects - this can look really effective. Thicker bags do not need to be folded so often and some bags work better than others (Sainsbury's bags can be brittle - I think it is the orange dye in them)
Don't know if this is of any use to you but it's great fun. The kids loved the project and made some cracking stuff.
