Ironing Plastic Experiment
For this experiment, Maya and I decided to experiment with two layers of type 4 plastic. We ran four different tests before achieving a solid result, each test with two cut rectangles from the plastic bag sandwiched between baking paper.
Test 1: 20 seconds (two sessions of 10 seconds), 80°C
We initially just did 10 seconds of ironing, but only the center of the two layers were sticking this way. We ended up ironing them for 10 more seconds to see if it would stick better, but nothing really changed.
Test 2: 10 seconds, 150°C
Instead of increasing the time, we decided to increase the temperature. However, this resulted in a lot of little holes in the plastic.
Test 3: 5 seconds, 150°C
To try and get rid of the holes, we shortened the time to 5 seconds for the third test. While there were certainly less holes, there were nevertheless still holes.
Test 4: 5 seconds, 120°C
We figured the temperature was probably more of the problem rather than the time, so we lowered the temperature. The result of this test was pretty good: the layers stuck together nicely and there were no holes!
Midterm Project Idea
When I was younger, I would always see these tote bags made out of old Capri-Sun juice boxes at Barnes & Noble. I really wanted one but my mom would always say no because she thought they were too ugly. Now, I think she’s right.
My idea for the midterm project is to create an upcycled tote bag that someone would actually want to wear. The ironing technique we learned in class produced a nice almost leather-like material, which seems like it would work well as a bag material. Hence, I wouldlike to turn plastic bags into a bag that ismore permanent, transforming plastic bags as objects that are mostly single-use into a (hopefully aesthetically-pleasing) wearable that can be used over and over again.
A quick search on the web yielded people who have already used this technique to create bags that look nice:
I’m pretty new to making wearables, so I found that this portfolio page had a helpful sketch and explanation of how one student sewed everything together to produce an upcycled bag.
As for the actual style of the bag, I am mainly inspired by Issey Miyake. I really like the geometric style of his Bao Bao bags:
I want to incorporate this sort of geometric style into the design of my bag purely for aesthetic purposes. Since I am trying to create a bag that people would want to wear, I figured Issey Miyake’s Bao Bao bags are also a good source of inspiration because of their popularity, kind of like a confirmation that this sort of style is visually appealing to a lot of people.
With all of this in mind, I sketched out this design:
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