Over the last couple of years we’ve assembled an impressive collection of woven polypropylene sacks. Typically used as bags for stock feed or pasture seed, in the spirit of Plastic-Free July, I thought it was time to put these single-use plastics to use and upcycle them into a patchwork, water-proof picnic blanket.

Our sack collection is composed of two different kinds: a white, light-weight variety, and a heavy-duty, glossy kind. I thought that the more heavy-duty sheep nut sacks would make an excellent hard-wearing and waterproof underside, while the ‘soft’ white polyprop might be a more luxurious/less scratchy sitting surface.

I began by cutting open the heavier bags and sewing them together as a backing. I have little of Sophie’s geometric purity when it comes to quilting, and I tend to become impatient with craft projects that linger too long, so for the top, I sliced a pile of the white bags into roughly equal squares, then triangles, and then sewed them all into one large conglomeration. I then sewed the heavy duty bags on as backing, knocking off the creation in an afternoon.

With repeated handling, many of the white bags began to unravel, so fingers crossed it can stay in shape for a few picnics to come!