Today’s guest post is by the very talented Brooke, of So She Sews. I discovered her work on flickr one day (love it!) and I thought her style was such a great twist on the fused plastic trend. And it turns out she’s also an Atlantan, how cool! (Look at this cup holder! Isn’t it neat? You’d never guess that came from grocery bags!) So I asked her if she’d do us the honor of a tutorial.. and she did a great one. I had seen fused plastic bag tutorials before, but not with the thin grocery bags like this.
Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did… – Dot
…and then turn them into something neat!
1. Fusing Plastic Bags: Things you need, 2. Fusing Plastic Bags: The Bags!, 3. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step One, 4. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Two, 5. Fusing Plastic Bags: Don’t forget the Earth!, 6. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Three, 7. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Four, 8. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Five, 9. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Six, 10. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Seven, 11. Fusing Plastic Bags: The Motion in the Ocean, 12. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Eight, 13. Fusing Plastic Bags: Turn up the Heat!, 14. Fusing Plastic Bags: Aaaaand we’re GOOD!, 15. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Nine, 16. Final step!The description of each picture gives you the scoop on what’s going on, so click through the links above for directions, or you can see all the steps here.
So what to do with it now?
“Just behave as if this cool, fused plastic sheet were a regular piece of fabric! It sews right through on a regular machine (won’t get stuck or not feed feed properly… it will smoothly go through just like any piece of fabric would!).
When you are cutting shapes out of it, I recommend you draw your shapes on the backside of the fused plastic using a permanent marker (so that it won’t smear and get all over you), and then cut them out. Do this instead of pinning pattern pieces to it because wherever you put your pins is going to leave a tiny hole in the plastic.
Just use a regular or universal needle, no leather needles needed… this stuff is actually quite soft and easy for a regular sewing machine to pierce right through!
And if using a sewing machine isn’t your gig, try your “hand”… haha… at hand sewing through your fused plastic! I’ve made some wonderful little accessories by “whipstitching” or “blanket stitching” around the edge with colorful embroidery thread and even yarn!
There are so many possibilities for what to do with this new eco fabric… dream up something useful for your new recycled fused plastic!”
Thanks Brooke, This is really cool, green, and inspiring!
All About Brooke, of So She Sews
“Imagine a young Cindi Lauper with Bob Villa composure.
Haha! Ok, well you can already tell that I’m a bit of a jokester. What is life if you can’t have fun, am I right? Basically I’ve been amazingly blessed all my life to pursue having fun for a living. And having fun to me is at the very core of creativity. I adore things with color, difference, functionality and good design. I learned to sew when I was very young, thanks to my amazing Mother (who will appreciate the Bob Villa reference), and I’ve been cultivating it since. I’ve done everything from altering wedding gowns to cutting faux fur all day long as a professional fabric cutter in a mascot costume factory. My education was in Costume Design for Theatre but my passion for vintage fashion has just as much to do with my design style. I care deeply about my impact on the earth, and hope one day to have my own “eco-home” with a little veggie garden in the back, and solar panels to power my sewing machine!”
Buy her stuff (Pictured above): Owl Purses, Dresses, Wallets
Check her out at
http://soshesews.etsy.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/soshesews/