Plastic shopping bags are recognised worldwide as an environmental hazard, but fashion students at Waltham Forest College have found a fascinating way to recycle them.They have turned the throwaway items into fantastic dresses and gowns in a design project based on recyclable materials.
The bags were ironed, steamed, knitted, stapled, pinned, sewn and crunched into shape to make a collection of stunning creations, some outrageous and others the brave might dare to wear.
“I laughed when we were given this project,” student Sahra Moalim said. “I first thought, making dresses out of plastic bags, no way. But I was wrong.
“I learned that you can make anything glamorous and different. It works if you try hard to think of the design and forget about the material you are working with.”
Sahra, 20, is in her second year of a two year course leading to a BTEC National Diploma in fashion, a qualification equivalent to three A Levels, and plans to study design at university.
Her team used a variety of techniques, including adding sequins, to create a yellow and black gown from Morrisons bags.
Fashion tutor Melanie Boraster said students were split into teams of three, each consisting of a first year, a second year, and a fashion pathway student, to produce a garment.
“We visited the Fashion and Textile Museum and the Tate Modern to get ideas and inspiration for their designs,” she said.
Annie Sophocleous, 18, said: “I was inspired by the exhibition of corsets at the Fashion and Textiles Museum. I chose to knit a waist band with Morrisons plastic bags to get a tight waist effect with a puffy, girly-look skirt.”
Grace Crathern, 17, said it was her uncle who is a window dresser in Paris who inspired her to choose a career in fashion. She said: “My group really loved the bright yellow colour of the Budgens plastic bags. It was seeing a picture of a bra in a museum's leaflet that gave me the idea for the design of this dress.”
Mature student Femida Mahmood said her team’s design made from Waitrose bags was inspired by a 19th century “umbrella dress” seen at the fashion museum. The 53-year-old said: “I have five children aged between 10 and 19 and have a workshop at home where I make clothes for all the family and our friends.”
Radna Jassin admitted that she regarded her team’s design made from Asda bags more as “a piece of art” rather than a wearable outfit. “It’s punky and funky and you might get away with it around Camden Town,” she added.
However Niya Mignott said his team had deliberately set out to produce a wearable creation using Sainsbury’s bags. “We had a discussion and decided we wanted to design something that somebody might want to wear to a club.
“This project has taught me how to be creative, work as a team, how to use different ideas, and also how to compromise.”
Sarah Yombo said her team drew on the 1970s for inspiration for her beachwear outfit of knitted bra and matching skirt. “I had just been taught how to knit so I thought of incorporating knitting into the design,” she explained.
The conical bra worn by Madonna was the inspiration behind the outfit which featured a multi-coned bra designed by Luqman Ali’s team. He said: “You can do a lot of things with plastic that you can’t do with other fabrics, like burning it to make it tighter and crunchier.”
Shumaila Aslam said her team’s red, white and blue creation made from Tesco bags was designed to resemble a 19th century promenade dress with elaborate hat that elegant ladies might wear on their walks in the park. “We ironed and cut and steamed the bags and painted some of them to create the effect,” she added.
Saidah Kitimbo wants to continue her studies at the London School of Fashion when she completes her BTEC course and believes the skills she learned on the project will help her get there. “It was a fun to experiment and it proved that you can make anything out of plastic bags by using different techniques.”
The College runs a range of fashion courses to suit people at all levels. The majority of students progress to university or straight into employment, following the successful completion of their courses. For information about courses available at Waltham Forest College please phone 020 8501 8501, email info@waltham.ac.uk
