Reverse appliqué with plastic bags

Make a ‘stained glass’ hanging by using reverse appliqué with plastic bags

I used several coloured plastic bags and black compost bags to create this ‘stained glass’ hanging, using a technique called reverse appliqué with plastic bags.

1. Cut out several sheets of plastic and pin them together

Choose a size for your design, and cut out sheets of plastic to this size. Cut the plastic slightly bigger than you want the final design to be to give you some extra space to work with. I used two coloured plastic bags, with black compost bags on the outsides. Make sure the black plastic is on both sides, facing out, so the final design can be double sided. Pin the sheets of plastic together at the edges.

2. Draw your design

I drew my design on the black plastic with a dry wipe marker so it would rub off easily once I had finished. Draw a border around the design. Where you draw with the pen – which is where you will sew – will make up the black lines in your final piece, with the colours only appearing in the spaces in between.

3. Sew the sheets of plastic together following your design

Sew along the border of your design and each of the lines that make up your design. Tie off all the loose ends as tidily as possible.

As a side note, this mini, fold-up  sewing machine was found by my like-minded big sister on the streets of Bristol

4. Cut the plastic to reveal the colours

Cut away the black plastic on one side of the design to reveal the colour beneath. I had two colours of plastic beneath, so I also cut through the second, green sheet of plastic to reveal the purple in some of the sections, to create my design.

Be careful to cut through only one layer of plastic at a time to avoid mistakes or holes in your final piece. I lifted the plastic sheet up with a pin, and then cut it carefully with small scissors.

5. Do the same on the other side

Then turn the design over and cut through the black plastic on the other side. For the colours, I had to cut through the purple to reveal the green to create the green sections of the design. Once finished, all the sections of the design are outlined in black, with just one sheet of coloured plastic in between. This means that once hung up, with the light shining through, we see each section in just one colour.

Here are another few examples of reverse appliqué with plastic bags. If you love this idea as a creative way of re-using plastic bags, then you will love my other projects, like this plastic bag crochet, sandwich bag wallet, or this tablet case made with fused plastic bags.

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