Tutu Tutorial (Part 3): Recycled Plastic Bag Tutu

Using the same knotting method as you would make a No Sew Tulle Tutu you can also make tutu's out of plastic bags. It was SO quick and easy and the girls had a blast.

You will need:
- Strip of non roll elastic (please see my chart for waist sizes) 
- Approx 20 standard plastic grocery bags (I stuck to plain white, Target and Trader Joe plastic bags - a red and white color scheme)

1) Cut the handles off your bags.

2) Cut the bags down the middle in half.

3) Cut up the edge seams.

4) Using the same knot as I used in the No Sew Tulle Tutu knot your elastic bags onto your elastic.

(Image from http://www.craftster.org/)

5) Fluff, scrunch and fiddle with your plastic bags to get maximum volume on your tutu.

I can see some really cool Halloween outfits being made using black trash bags!

Previous Tutu Tutorials: No Sew Tulle Tutu

                                        No Sew Tutu with Crochet Elastic Ribbon

Stay tuned for my next posts:
- Tutu using Fabric scraps
- Basic Sewn Tutu

Tutorial: Recycled Plastic Bag Holder

I have been wanting to make 'fabric' out of plastic bags for a long time and I have read a lot of tutorials on the best way to fuse bags together. You can read about how to fuse bags together here, here and here . My advice would be to practice, practice and practice - experiment with the iron temperature and with a different number of layers etc. I still need some of that practice I'm recommending!


For my recycled bag holder I used Target brand bags. I cut the design off the front and just used the white portion of each bag. I layered the bags in the following pattern to make a larger piece of material. I repeated this layering process until I had used a total of 12 bags - 6 layers of plastic at each corner. I used one of the logo fronts on top of 4 other layers of plain white bag to make a type of binding tape for the project. Once all my bags were fused together I trimmed the edges and was left with an oblong shape.

I cut the binding tape 1/2 thick on the diagonal - sewing it together (and onto the bag holder) using a zig-zag stitch so it would be more decorative.
I folded binding tape over top and bottom of the oblong and secured it using a zig-zag stitch.
I placed a piece of binding tape at 2" down from the top and 3" up from the bottom. I threaded elastic through each of these - pulling the elastic tight and securing at each end. I placed a hoop of binding tape at the back for hanging the bag holder.

After sewing up the side edges - it looked like a large cracker!
Bags go in at the top and you pull them out one by one at the bottom.

Wow ..... and thank you

Wow ..... I can not believe the response to my Green Bunny Bag .... I'm very excited and really looking forward to picking out the winner! Did you know that you can recycle plastic bags too? Go to PlasticBagRecycling.org to find out your nearest drop location (I was excited to find this link!) I seriously believe that we don't need to use plastic shopping bags at all. I have stayed true to my resolution and I have not used/taken one plastic bag since Jan 1 ...... until ...... the postman left a package (iHanna's Creative Year) for me IN a plastic bag to protect it from the snow. I was so upset. Does this count?

In my distress I had to make some bunnies .........

Talking of snow. It is utterly beautiful here at the moment - there is about 3 inches of crisp white snow on the ground and the sun is shinning so brightly. Every time I look out of the window I feel I'm living in one of those super pretty Christmas cards - I know I'm bias and think I live in the most beautiful little house ever .... but I just wanted to share my feeling of utter contentment this morning ....

Thank you again ... I really hope you keep reading.