Upcycled Bag

Create a modern and sleek minimal structured bag from simple materials. Easy and fun recycle project. Materials can be found in almost any home.

1. Plastic bags

2. Bristol paper

3. Ruler

4. Scissors

5. Hot glue gun

7. Tape

8. Glue

9. Clips

Optional Items:

Paint

Spray Paint

Needle & Thread

Cut the front/back/bottom and sides of the bag to your preference with bristol paper. Then cover the paper template with plastic bags. To hold the plastic bags down, you can either glue or tape it down.

The template size I decided to go with:

front/back/bottom: 12x20 in inches

sides: 4x8 inches

Connect the template together. Create a 1/2 inch crease with the side pieces and glue it to the sides on the main front/back piece of template. Hold the shape of the bag down with clips while you either hot glue or sew the template together.

In order to create more shape to the bag and avoid it being too boxy, fold the top half of the side pieces inwards towards the bag.

Depending on the length and thickness of the handles, cut the leftover bristol paper to your desired size. The size I went with was: 1/2x12 inches which I then covered with the same plastic bag from the main body of the bag. To attach the handles to the bag, I placed them about 2 inches from the edge of the bag with approximately 4 inches apart. To hold the handles in place, i made 1/2 inch folds on bottom of each side of the handle to create a cleaner look and sewed them to the bag to create sturdiness.

You can either leave the recycled look of the plastic bags for your final bag design or decorate it to your liking. Since I wanted to create a clean and minimal bag I decided to create some strips with white paint and masking tape make a simple yet sleek final design.

Your minimal structured reusable bag made from recycled materials is ready to be used!