NY Times Zippy Pouch

At this point I think it is safe to say that we all know that I love to reuse plastic bags. However, cutting them up is kinda a pain. So I was really pleased when I discovered that people were fusing them into a stronger material and then using material to sew.

The folks at Etsy Labs have a great plastic bag fusing tutorial here.

I subscribe to the New York Times on the weekends and even though my building has a nice security guard (inside the building) to take the paper it still comes in a blue plastic bag. It is a very pretty color blue but it is no good to crochet or knit with, really I have tried. The material is too flimsy and stretches too much. Previous attempts to make things from these bags usually results in my cursing and kicking things. And despite all these short comings I can't bring myself to throw them out.

The Etsy tutorial suggests thinner plastic bags work betters so I thought I would give it a try, after all I seem to have an endless supply.

The fusing is pretty easy although the material is not as smooth as I thought it would be.

And yes Dad, I promise I opened all the windows in the house before taking the iron out.

After fusing it was merely a question of what to make out of this new found material. I admit I thought of cutting them up and then crocheting it into something but that seemed a bit masochistic, even for me.

So a zippy pouch seemed like the next best option. It was so much fun and so easy I think I am going to have to run out and get more zippers so I can make a ton more!