The projects submitted to our Save My Oceans contest were innovative and inspirational and were all great examples of the brilliant ways our readers reuse plastics. Each day this week, we'll highlight one of our top five entries, and we'll announce the Grand prize winner next Monday. Be sure to check out the entire Save My Oceans Flickr pool for even more great projects.
Upcycled Corset from Kiah B
See pictures of Kiah's Corset here.
Project Description:
My project is an upcycled corset made from fused plastic bags. The boning in the corset is made out of plastic zip ties. These are used to give the corset shape. Each panel of the corset is made from approximately eight layers of fused plastic. Once fused together you have a durable, waterproof material to work with. I sewed each panel to one another using a 5/8 seam allowance, and added the metallic duct tape binding to keep the zip tie boning in place. The top curly details are made from rings I cut out of a plastic pop bottle. For the center panel I cut strips of fused plastic bags and wove them into each other.
Inspiration for creating project:
In my house, plastic bags tend to accumulate in our closet. We have switched over to using mostly reusable bags, but sometimes we forget to bring then and then are left with these bags. Plastic bags can become an unnecessary hazard to the environment. Besides, they're an eyesore too. I thought a creative way to help alleviate this problem was by making wearable art out of them. I had seen a tutorial on how to fuse plastic bags on a DIY website called Threadbanger, and ever since then I've always wanted to try it. It's fashionable and it's environmentally friendly! These two things don't always go hand in hand, but this project shows how easy it can be.
