Upcycling Plastic Bags

I post on IG too!

I live in Illinois and we have a state-wide summer reading theme/program. The theme this year is Dig Deeper: Read, Investigate, Discover but we are only focusing on the discover part and the teen department will discover saving the environment through upcycling.  Our programming this summer will have teens bring in empty bottles for planters, old t-shirts to turn into bags and scrunchies, plastic bags to turn into smaller bags.

Budget: $0-$15 (Depending on the supplies you already have)

Supplies Needed:

• Plastic shopping bags
• An Iron
• Parchment paper
• Sewing machine or needle and thread
• Velcro or snaps
• Scissors or rotary cutter
• E6000 Glue (Optional)

Instructions:

• I searched Youtube to find out how to turn plastic bags into fabric. Please do so if you need more info; just search how to fuse plastic bags.
  • Cut off the straps and the bottom to make the bag bigger
    • Smooth out to eliminate air
    • The research I did said to have eight layers of plastic and you can do this by folding the bags. I thought eight was too thick especially if you are flipping the new bag inside out. You can rip your stitches if the bag is too thick. Six layers might be good.
    • The size of your bag before you iron will depend on the size of your parchment paper. Make sure your parchment is bigger than your plastic otherwise you’ll burn the plastic bags with the iron.
    • Sandwich your plastic between to pieces of parchment and iron quickly back and forth. Flip and repeat and check to see if the bags are fused.
    • Decide on the design of your bag and cut them to equal sizes.
    • Sew the velcro first. I prefer velcro over zippers because zippers are an added instruction.
    • Sew pieces inside out then flip.
      • Be careful not to rip the seems. Have teens go over stitches twice for insurance.

Tips

• Have teens bring plastic bags with good branding like Target, Old Navy, and Ulta.
• For the orange bag and the Thank You bag pictured, it was easy to machine sew so it’s a good project for beginners.
• If they hand sew, make sure they are making small stitches.
• Snaps will be easier to sew than Velcro.
• You can also use E6000 glue to adhere the Velcro. Tell the participants to wait a couple of hours for it to dry before they begin to use it.

 

One Pair of Jeans-Three Crafts

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Earth Day is April 22 which means it’s time for upcycling crafts. Or you can do this at anytime if you don’t want to wait for Earth Day.

Since teens/adults can bring their own old jeans, this is a pretty cheap project.

Budget: $50

Supplies Needed:

• Grommets/Eyelets
• Jewelry making supplies: pliers, jump ring, clasps
• Other jewelry accessories such as string; charms; beads; etc
• Fabric glue
• Hot glue
• Sewing supplies (sewing machines or hand sewing)
• Cord
• Safety pin
• Lanyard snap hook

Projects

Miniature Drawstring Backpack:

• I followed this video on how to make a drawstring backpack using grommets/eyelets.
  • Make sure the cord you use is small enough to fit thru the grommets/eyelets.
• If you don’t want to make a drawstring backpack, you can make a drawstring bag
• If you have sewing machines, you can show teens how to sew in a straight line to expedite the project time or teens can hand sew. The bag is pretty small so it won’t take too long.

Belt Loop Purse

• Have teens cut out the back pockets
• I used grommets to attach my snap hooks but the teens can just cut a hole.
• Attach the snap hook
  • Make sure they measure the purse with their belt loops. If it’s not long enough to reach their belt loops, they can add jump rings to elongate the purse.
• Teens can decorate their purse with the accessories

Denim Bracelets

• The seams of the jeans and waist band are great for bracelets but for thicker bracelets, teens can cut the legs.
• Teens can use the accessories to decorate.

There are so many other projects teens can make with an old pair of jeans including scrunchies.  Search Pinterest for more ideas.

Saturday Librarian: Earth Day

Lo Tech Making: Upcycle Your Jeans

Some people think that making has to be with computers and fancy printers but this is not the case.  Making can also be crafting AKA lo tech.

On one Earth Day teens brought in their old blue jeans to turn them into purses or messenger bags.

We have a popular crafting club among our adult patrons at my library so I asked a couple of the ladies if they would bring their sewing machines and teach teens how to sew.  I taught teens how to hand sew.  I provided iron on patches, fabric paint, and gems to decorate their bags.

Sewing Machines

Sewing machines are a popular trend in maker programs. But a sewing machine isn’t a fancy $2000 machine, you say.  A sewing machine doesn’t have apps and wifi, you say.  Teens will think a sewing machine is for grandmas, you say.  Be prepared to be surprised.

I’m in my 30’s and I had to take sewing in middle school, so I’m familiar with a sewing machine.  Teens today, however, have never touched or maybe even seen a sewing machine so they will be nervous when they see that needle jumping around.  But after you teach them how to thread it and use it, their little faces after making something from scraps is priceless.

Why is it Important?

You will be surprised at how many teens don’t know how to thread a needle.  Sewing is a skill teens need to learn for adulthood.  Using a sewing machine isn’t a necessity but the ability to hand sew is a useful skill.

If you don’t have sewing machines, you can make lots of things by hand sewing.  It will just take longer. You can make pillows, purses, and there are tons of things you can make from t-shirts but that’s a different program.

Connected Learning

If you are modeling your teen programming after YALSA’s connected learning initiative, a sewing program is considered connected learning.  Sewing can be a gateway to fashion design.  Teens have their own style and they take a lot of time cultivating that style.  What they don’t realize is that their meticulous eye for clothes is basically fashion design and that they can take that interest and make it into a career.  The wonderful thing about fashion design is that you don’t have to go to a four year university so this can be a career for your not so studious teens.

If you have a community college near your library, you can invite a fashion design student or the professor to teach a class in the library.  If you know that there will be high school teens attending your program, partnering with the community college or design school can be beneficial to the school because it’s an opportunity for them to recruit students.

Budget

Sewing machines are expensive.  They can be $50-$500.  If you are willing to invest in two machines, you can do all types of sewing programs for an indefinite amount of time.  You can also ask for donations from staff or patrons.

One Christmas, we used a Christmas tree and made it into a wishing tree.  Instead of ornaments, we put items we needed on paper ornaments and patrons could take the ornament and donate the item printed.  This is a great way to ask your patrons for items you can’t afford and it doesn’t have to be during Christmas.