Green Girl, yes that's me! Making totes out of plastic bags.

So here I lay out the melted plastic, some of which I fused together. I also make a pattern out of a brown grocery bag. I am very visual so I need to see everything in front of me. At this point I know I want to make a larger tote bag. 

Here I actually grab the scissors and get ready to cut out my pattern.

So after cutting and sewing this is what I end up with. I made it also by using my trial and error approach. I did add a couple of pockets on the inside and I also used some old canvas I had spray painted on. When fusing plastic I lay the plastic between two large pieces of wax paper or muslin. I don't turn the spray on. I watch very closely as not to melt into the muslin. Now after a few seconds or letting it cool I pull apart and go on to the next bag etc... after I have all my bags ready to sew. I lay them all out and see what colors would work together. After you fuse the plastic they seem to get stronger. It is amazing how tough the bags get. I think my bag came out rather nice and I am so glad I used some old bags that were laying around. No need to throw them out if I can reuse them for something else. I love being Green when I can!