How to Make a Wallet with Fused Plastic Bags

One thing I hate about grocery bags is that they just keep piling up. I know, I know, I know, I could recycle the little guys or use reusable grocery totes, but I consider it a victory when I recycle all my cans and bottles. Whenever I’m in a store, I always try and ask the cashier if I can skip the bag by saying, “Oh I don’t need a bag,” and then motion to my purse. Sometimes they just ignore my feeble request or they’ll give me a little winky-face-condescending-nod and say something along the lines of “Oh don’t worry, I can give you a bag, honey.” (No! You don’t understand! I hate bags!)

I will say that I love the people at Goodwill, though. When I tell them I will just carry my stuff out and that I don’t need a bag, they listen. Most of the time they just shrug their shoulders with a “Whatever,” but I still appreciate that they listen. 😉

But in terms of my personal war with plastic bags, for once I was glad that I have a stash of bags underneath my dresser when I made this wallet. I found this tutorial on how to fuse plastic bags from the Etsy Labs blog and I got to work!

What you need to make a fused plastic bag wallet:

♥ Plastic bags
♥ Iron
♥ Waxed paper or parchment paper
♥ Towel

The first thing you need to do is lay down the towel and a piece of waxed paper. The towel isn’t totally necessary, but I didn’t want to get anything on the ironing board. Next you need to layer a few pieces of plastic bag on top of each other to iron. For thicker plastic bags like shopping bags, I used 2-3 layers of plastic. For grocery bags like the bags from Walmart or Kroger, I used about 6 layers. Then you can put another piece of waxed paper on top and then iron! (Put the setting on silk or synthetic, the cotton is way too hot. Also, I used a tea towel between the waxed paper and the iron so that there wouldn’t be any waxy stuff on the iron.)

After you have some pieces of fused plastic, you can cut out little designs on them. I loved the polka dots on this H&M bag so I cut some zigzags to complement them. 🙂 Fuse those together as well.

For the wallet, (or clutch, or whatever you’re making) you need to cut two rectangles of the same size. If you want a little pocket inside your wallet, cut a smaller rectangle. After you cut them out, just stitch them together with a sewing machine! My sewing machine can do fun little stitches, but a regular stitch or a zigzag stitch can look awesome as well.

Close-up of the pocket.

And that’s it! A funky place to stash your cash. These would make great little gifts for people.

PS: I first saw fused plastic bags when I was in a trashion show with my friend Kelsey– she made a dress out of fused plastic bags. Then, last year, my friend Bri also made a dress out of fused plastic bags! Incredible.

The dress I am wearing is my t-shirt rose dress from a few years back.