Kite From Rubbish Bag

This diamond shaped kite is made from a large rubbish bag, it was made to see if a kite can be made easily with stuff readily available. The cross spars are not tied together and there's no string for the covering to be attached to. To simplify the construction the dowel spars are attached directly to the plastic covering which also provided the shape.

It wasn't the smoothest flyer but that this might have been due to gusty wind conditions.

2 large rubbish bags

red cloth tape

wooden dowel

kite string

Cut two pieces of 10mm wooden doweling - 92cm long and 72cm long. Sandpaper the ends to be smooth and a little round.

A large rubbish bag is cut to open it up and make a wider piece. Two layers of cloth tape are attached to the rubbish bag where the longer dowel would be placed.

The second, shorter piece of wooden dowel is placed across the first, about 20cm down from one end. Two layers of cloth tape are placed where the ends will lay on the plastic to prevent the end going through the plastic.

A rough diamond shape is cut around the crossed dowels. Leaving about 5cm of material to be folded into a boarder.

Lay the longer piece of dowel over the strengthened patches of cloth and fold the plastic around and over each end to make a pocket. Secure with cloth tape. Do the same with the cross spar.

Fold a 'seam' along the sides of the kite and attach with a little tape.

Add a tail to the kite. This is made by cutting a few long strips from a rubbish bag, opening up long ways to make a 2 meters length of plastic. Attach them to the end of the kite.

Attach a string to the cross spar, about a quarter in from each end to make a 'bridle' to which kite string is attached. Have the bridle so the wind will blow the covering onto the wooden cross spars.

Remove one end of dowel from its' 'pocket' and remove the length of dowel so the kite can be rolled up for travelling and storage.

Fly the kite on a day which is windy enough to lift it up but not too windy. It would probably help if the wind was steady. On the day I flew my kite it was a bit gusty, and the kite wasn't the most stable flyer.