Instructions for a Plastic Bag Tote

You can actually produce a strong, durable and waterproof sheet of material using nothing more than your iron and those old plastic shopping bags that you were probably going to throw out anyway. You'll be able to cut this finished sheet easily with very sharp scissors, and melt it into your own plastic bag tote. The best part about this quick, simple project is that it costs you nothing. Almost as exciting is the fact that if you don't sew well, you can make a tote that rivals that of the finest seamstress.

Instructions

Use a ruler and pen to draw a inch strip on one of the 11 inch edges of a plain sheet of white paper. This will be your pattern for sealing the edges of your plastic tote bag. Set it aside.

Choose eight plastic shopping bags that feel thinnest to you. They tend to work best for this project. Turn each bag inside out if there's any printing on the outside of it. This will help avoid making a huge, nasty mess on your iron when the ink heats up and runs.

Use sharp scissors to cut the handles from the bags. Trim them off flush with the top edge of the bags. Cut the bottom edges off the bags. Cut both sides of each bag open so that you have two separate sheets of plastic made from each bag.

Make two separate stacks of eight sheets of plastic. Even the edges up as best you can. Turn your iron on to its lowest setting. Place a sheet of parchment paper, waxed paper or plain paper on your ironing surface. Set one stack of plastic sheets on top of it. Cover the stack completely with another sheet of paper.

Iron the stack slowly and firmly for about 15 seconds. Don't allow the iron to rest on top -- keep it moving. Don't touch the iron directly to the plastic. Remove the top sheet of paper and allow the plastic to cool for a few seconds before attempting to touch it. The plastic sheets should have begun to fuse, or stick to each other. Check the underside of the plastic for fusion. If the sheets haven't stuck together yet, or if you see any bubbles on the top or bottom surfaces of the plastic, replace the paper and continue ironing for another 30 to 60 seconds. Any bubbles will disappear when fusion is complete. Increase the heat slightly if this hasn't occurred after three or four minutes.

Remove the top sheet of paper and set the fused piece of plastic aside. Repeat with the other stack of bags.

Cut a one inch strip from one side of each fused sheet of plastic to make the handles. Find the center of the top edge of one of the sheets and mark it with a pen. Mark a spot 2 to 2 inches on either side of the first mark. Position the ends of one of the 1 inch strips at these marks. Pin them into place, overlapping the edge of the plastic sheet by about inch. Sandwich the area between two pieces of paper and iron until the handles fuse to the sheet. This is one complete side of your tote. Repeat for the other side.

Place the two sides of the tote on top of each other, handles at the top. Line the edges up as closely as you can and secure the sheets to each other with straight pins. Trim the edges with scissors to even them up.

Place a sheet of paper on the ironing surface and set the pinned tote on it. Cover it with the pattern paper. Position the pattern so that the line that you drew is parallel with the bottom of the tote. Line the edges up. Use the drawn line to guide you as you iron the bottom inch of the tote to fuse the sheets together. Repeat for each side edge. Allow the tote to cool.

Turn the tote inside out when it has completely cooled.

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