A FASHION student has come up with an innovative way of recycling supermarket carrier bags, by using them for her latest creation.

Demi Chalkley, who is studying for her BTEC National Diploma in Fashion and Clothing at Oaklands College, created a dress using over 1,000 Tesco bags which were given to her by the Tesco store on St Peter’s Street.

It took around 10 hours for Demi to create the dress which was part of her environment and sustainability project. She chose Tesco’s biodegradable carrier bags and was so inspired and pleased with her final results that she is considering using recycled materials for her final project in the summer term.

She said: “I’m really happy with how it’s turned out because it’s actually much better than I imagined it would be. To create the corset top, I actually melted the bags and stitched the bottom half together.”

Demi took the finished dress to the store on St Peter’s Street and had a model, Sian O’Neill, show off her creation which Sian said was heavy to wear. The fashion student, who hopes to go to university next year and eventually work in the fashion industry, said Tesco were really impressed with her design.