FASHION students found an inventive way for recycling plastic bags - by creating dresses.

Students at Waltham Forest College, in Forest Road, Walthamstow, designed and created the outfits using supermarket carrier bags following a trip to the Fashion and Textiles Museum.

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.”

Curriculum manager on the BTEC National Diploma fashion and textiles course, Benita Odogwu-Atkinson, said: “I was really impressed with the quality of the student's work at such an early part of the course.

“This exercise was not only a good experience for the students but also raised awareness about the importance of recycling.”