The Fashion Design and Retailing Program at Framingham State
University recently hosted a design competition. The goal was to
recycle "Blue Wrap", a highly durable polypropylene fabric used to
wrap all medical supplies and instruments. The Blue Wrap was donated
by Metro West Medical Center in Framingham.
Faculty, staff, and students were encouraged to design fashion
garments and accessories that used Blue Wrap in a creative way. Basic
sewing materials were allowed, but were not permitted to exceed 25% of
the garment.
Ahhh, so what to do, what to do????
I love bags and purses, so I started my experiments with Blue Wrap by
making a simple tote. I embellished it with a fabric yo-yo, a
matching button and a tie so that the bag can be carried conveniently.
It turned out to be fairly easy to work with Blue Wrap, so I next
designed a zippered makeup bag. Inspired by a dress I had seen
at the mall, I put a fabric bow on the outside. I think it works much
better on the bag than it did on the dress! The bag measures 6" x 5".
Blue Wrap was easy to manipulate and sew, but wrinkles in the fabric
are impossible to remove because the fabric melts when ironed. It
occurred to me that I could make yarn from the Blue Wrap in the same way I made "plarn" from plastic grocery bags (see my
Plarn
Gift Bag post). Blue Wrap came as a tube (two
sheets were fused together on opposite edges) and I was able to cut a
continuous 1/2" strip to get a nice large ball of "blarn".
After I had the Blue Wrap in yarn form, it was just a matter of
playing around with it and knitting needles to see what would develop.
I had a shopping tote and a makeup bag so why not make a purse to put
them in? The purse was knit with 54 stitches on size 11 circular
needles and measured 10" x 9" (not including handles). The body of
the bag was stockinette stitch and the top band was garter stitch.
Decorative tabs on the surface of the purse came from the fused ends
of the Blue Wrap, which left flaps in the yarn as it was cut.
Initially, I was pushing them to the inside, but I liked the texture,
so I brought them to the front.
All of the designs were showcased at Framingham State's Earth
Day Festival 2012 and will go on a local exhibition tour during the summer.
This was a fun design project that had a community feel and a "make
it work" attitude that was relevant to an important environmental
issue.
