KS3 Sustainable Plastic. Make - up pouch from recycled carrier bags

This is a fully resourced 12 lesson Product Design project aimed at Yr9 students, but could be adapted for Yr8 or Yr10.
It is a great, fun project which encourages students to take risks, try out possibilities - great for showing iterative design - and also develop patterns. It also introduces sustainability issues and allows students to experiment with making their own plastic using a heat press. Other elements can be incorporated into the plastic - metallic threads; sequins, glitter etc or if white bags are used it can be sublimation printed (hence the development of patterns).
There is a full set of lesson PowerPoints and student work sheets which can be printed out and made into a booklet.
I have found that layering the plastic squares 5 high makes for a good sheet of plastic which is still flexible and easy to trim and fold into a pouch. If you feel this is not quite thick enough, or you wish to add in additional elements simply add more layers and reheat.
Make enough to enable students to cut an A4 size sheet of plastic which they can then fold into three. The top piece forms the flap and can be shaped. The bottom piece folds up over the center piece, I get students to blanket stitch down the sides (they should pierce the plastic first). Poppers can be added to close the flap, or students can make a Polymorph bead / toggle and create a loop to catch over it.
This can be expanded out in many different directions or kept relatively straightforward dependent on the time you have available.
The resources are adaptable so you can tailor them to your own needs.