Plastic Bag Ensemble
I was invited by @lookforthwoman to style a big, black plastic bag. One of the things she wanted to highlight is how we readily fill these bags with clothes just to dump them. Reading this made me recognize I am someone who has done just this, filled way too many of these big plastic bags. I also love a challenge. And sewing with these bags was a challenge! I’ve decided to name this “Victorian Mourning Dress.”
Many of those who took on this challenge from @lookforthewoman, will be posting their creations on IG and blogs. She will also post and give you more information as the project moves along.
When deciding what I would create, I remembered some vintage styles I wanted to explore. This gave me the opportunity to get the pattern ready for fashion fabric and the fit just perfect. The entire ensemble is created from the plastic bags, although I did add two zippers. Using a teflon foot on your machine is helpful. And a longer stitch length, so there aren’t so many needle punctures, so the plastic doesn’t tear after all that stitching.
The waist on my top needed to be gathered. The top of the trash bag had the perfect solution, the drawstring you use to secure the full bag. To help make the sleeves stay puffed up, I filled them with scraps of the trash bags left over from cutting the patterns out. Using strips of the bags, I crochet a little choker. The muff is also a vintage pattern, again, using the red drawstring at the top of these bags for the handle.
The food can label apron I had created in 1997. It seemed to work for this project of sustainable and landfill issues. I had collected food labels for years. Literally 100’s of hexagons were stitched together to create the base of the apron. The neck strap is created using the labels where I made paper beads. Then I cut tiny hexagons, still using the food labels and created the take out food box. Ensemble is titled “You Are What You Eat.” The costume eyewear is from @sydneybelladonna
As I worked on these ensemble it occurred to me that I must think of ways to stop filling these bags. And one idea popped up. That would be to host swap and sell gathering. These are good fun. Invite like-minded fashionistas to bring pieces they no longer want to own. Lots of options on how you might run this gathering. You could have a free table. You can swap for another piece someone is letting go of. Or you can purchase. Have a few garment racks with hangers available. A cleared table for accessories and one for ‘freebies.’ I would also suggest finding a stylist to attend. They can give you ideas on how to style each piece, combining etc.
Be sure to check out @lookforthewoman on IG.
Photo Credits: Images by Robert Gelber
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