Beginners' Guide to Plastic Bag Recycling - How to Make a Wallet

Up until now, we've mostly worked with waste plastic bottle tops for our creations. We wanted to find a way to use other forms of plastic pollution, such as the dreaded plastic carrier bag. These things are a nightmare for the planet - they never break down and animals mistake them for food. We've all seen the images of the hungry turtle mistaking a plastic bag for a jellyfish.

In this video, we show you how you can take plastic bags and turn them into a tough flexible fabric-like sheet. The beauty of this is that you don't need any specialist tools in order to do this. Check out the technique and give it a go for yourself. We'd love to hear what you have made, or what you'd like to see us make using this technique.

We found a few excellent reference videos that helped us start out with this process. Check them out for yourself here:

#BrothersMake #PlasticBag #PlasticPollution #PreciousPlastic #RecycledPlastic #plasticrecycling

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Music by Epidemic Sound

[BrothersMake]

Drop your plastic bag project ideas as a reply to this comment. We’ll add all the best ones to our video ideas list! 🤙🏽

[laurelchan]

I did this for a high school project and have been making a lot of things out of the plastic "fabric" ever since. Made a lot of pencil cases or toiletries bags (especially the boxy kind) with a zipper. Favourite thing to make was a bucket hat! Kind of funny and also waterproof!

[cornelsyrzysko]

This is awesome! My mom makes plastic bathroom mats (or big plastic carpets) by tearing the bags into strips, tying it all together in a long rope and hand crocheting them. They turn out very beautiful and suprisingly soft to walk on

[leandrogaldeano]

From the moment you showed the finished sheet of plastic I immediately thought of notebook pads covers
This looks awesome guys!
I cant wait to try this out

[timne]

To improve the stitching use blunt leather working needles. Start the stitch 3-4 stitch holes lower than the top, stitch up, then stitch down this will improve the strength. Using a proper saddle stitching technique will also improve the consistency of your stitch.

[elliemayormaynot]

Great video. BTW - rubbing alcohol will remove the print from the bags. Just use scrap cloth or cotton balls and rub away.

[debbrady]

As a seamstress with over 50 years of experience, I appreciate how you used tools on your twin needles. It saved your finger tips! Great video. I will enjoy trying this technique! Thanks guys!

[regannoble]

There are some awesome guys in India that use this method to make “trash shoes”. All of the materials are made from recycled materials. The uppers are made from the method you showed here. Brilliant ideas!

[oojagapivy]

We did this with our students a few years back (7- I had to think about that). They made things like phone holders, pencil cases etc. I even used the process with my timber class to create large ‘vinyl’ like sheets. We then used them as upholstery for our footstools. It was really hard wearing, which surprised the students.

[gamerprincess]

2 tips. One is you can remove the text from bags. Many videos on how to do that. Second is if you want to do this as a hobby get a heat press like the one used to do t-shirt transfers. Makes super clean and flat sheets very quickly.

If you go thick enough this stuff is bonkers strong like homemade tyvex (house wrap). I’ve seen everything from rain coats to book bags made from it.

[greenmtnmellie]

I turn mine into "plarn" & crochet mats for the local animal shelter. Cats seem to love them. It also works to make bags for picking veg in the garden.

[PumpkinPails]

This looks fun! I like to make my own sketchbooks with random bits of trash like receipts, junk mail, packaging paper, etc.. Now, I want to experiment with making the covers out of plastic bags and continue the trash theme. ♻️

[carolinewhaley]

I make plarn tote bags out of plastic grocery bags and always have the handles and bottom seam left over. Definitely going to try this with those bits!

[crawkn]

Everyone has way more bags than they would ever use for crafts, so I would recommend just using full sheets of printed portions of bags for the "filler, " it will give a more even thickness and save a lot of time.

[serenitydavis]

Thank you for sharing this. I'm a bookbinder who's been looking for an affordable, more water-resistant cover material for a bit. This should work wonderfully.

[Timri]

I've been inspired by you guys to incorporate "plastic craft" in my workshop (along with woodworking and a backyard aluminum foundry). I've used plastic Kroger (tm) grocery bags in a dedicated toaster oven to make really strong ¼" thick billits, then use a scroll saw to carve out Keychain and medallions. They're HDPE, so enough stacked together and fused make a strong, solid block to work with!

[jlarts]

Can I suggest you look into leather working sewing techniques? Maybe even use leather needles for your saddle stitches as I'm sure they'd be easier to work with than using pliers. I'm really curious what the texture is like now as there's potential for replacing a lot of things traditionally made with leather with this material.

[allensketchclub]

this is definitely a neat idea, and quite simple.
make it larger, add a braided handle, imbed some magnets for closures and you have a pouch.
drawstring top? adjustable straps? (hdpe clasps and hardware, no doubt....) perhaps even a zipper!!
large round shaped bags, beach bags, even a shopping bag with pouches to hold the gel cold packs to keep the items cold.
unfortunately several places have banned single use bags such as these, so they are not quite as plentiful as s they once were, but this is still such a great idea!

carry on!!

[lisafriloux]

been making plastic fabric for years! I now use it to make purses(makes sturdy interfacing) and junk journal covers & ephemera, great video!

[barbarahallowell]

Absolutely genius! Not just a great way to reuse, but it looks like fun!
I'm envisioning making large pieces like this to cut out with a pattern to sew a jacket or skirt. Honest, had no idea! I've crocheted strips of thin grocery bags to make camp mats, but, wow! ❤ Thx for the inspiration 😊
Best part, I've all ready got everything needed to give it a go! 😊