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How To Make Reusable Fabric Gift Wrap

How To Make Reusable Fabric Gift Wrap
Carly Jacobs
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ne of my mates is married to a guy that we’ll loosely call a ‘hippie’. He’s extremely environmentally friendly to the point where he won’t let his kids use staples to make recycled paper garlands because it’s a waste of staples. I used to think he was a bit extreme but now I’m starting to totally get where he’s coming from. I sent out the bare minimum of Christmas cards this year and yet I still felt icky as I popped them into the post thinking ‘Landfill, landfill, landfill…’. So this year I decided to learn how to make reusable fabric gift wrap.

how to make reusable fabric gift wrap

I really struggle with giving up gift wrap because I LOVE wrapping presents. It’s seriously like a sport in my family. Mama Smaggle has the most amazing colour coordinated Christmas tree in shades of antique green, red and gold and every year I make it my mission to totally screw up her colour scheme with fluro wrapping paper or geometric black and white modern ribbons on my presents. My favourite was when I did bright orange paper with sparkly blue bows. They looked so shit house under the tree… it was my greatest clashing triumph. Anyway, each year I feel less and less okay with all the waste from Christmas present paper but I also don’t want to deprive anyone of the joy of actually unwrapping their presents. So this year I’m wrapping all my presents in fabric. Here are a few techniques that I adapted from the Japanese Furoshiki Guide. I absolutely love this guide but I’ve added a few little twists and extra bits here and there because I like my presents to look present shaped and some of the Furoshiki ones are a bit lumpy. Little bit of trivia: The Ministry of The Environment of the Government of Japan released this guide. The actual government released it. How cool is that? Japan wins at everything. What legends.

For any of these you just need a square of fabric… the ones I’ve used are about 50cm by 50cm and they work perfectly for standard wine bottles and books. You’ll need bigger squares for bigger objects but just use your judgement – if you can loosely tie your object in your square of fabric, it’s probably big enough.

smaggle-wrapbook smaggle-wrapbottle smaggle-wrapbox

The key with reusable fabric wrap is to teach the person that you gave it to how to use it so they can recycle it and pass it on. Or just send them the link to this post so they can figure it out themselves.

Fabric can be just as cheap as paper (or free if you find it lying around your house) and you can use it again and again. I can’t guarantee that I won’t ever use paper wrap again but if I at least commit to doing it at Christmas that’s a pretty big reduction in my personal waste. I think I’m going to source some pink tulle to really piss off Mama Smaggle…

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What are your plans for Christmas wrap this year? Do you go all out with spendy flocked paper? Or do you grab a couple of rolls of cheap wrap at the $2 shop?

 

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21 Comments

  1. Anna Buckley 9 years ago

    Thanks Carly. Now I know what to do with all those bits of fabric, folded up and neatly tucked away, reminding me of projects not completed (the Vivienne Westwood phase). Your brilliant idea has saved me from the threat of quilting…not ready for the ‘I’ve got too much time on my hands’ phase…

    P.S. I’d like to project a little more ambitious present receiving…king size bed sheet, tarpaulin, parachute…”Hey darling imagine what you could wrap in these…?”

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs-Smaggle 9 years ago

      Ohhhh that sounds great! Like the giant scale art works in Art Attack!

      • Anna Buckley 9 years ago

        Or a Mercedes soft top!? Or a converted shipping container holiday house, in all it’s minimalist glory, on a beach some where…a parachute could surely wrap that?

  2. Liz @ I Spy Plum Pie 9 years ago

    Well snap on the posts today love! I’ve got a whole post on eco-friendly Christmas wrapping options and fabric wrap is one of them! Great minds hey xx

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs-Smaggle 9 years ago

      Oh my goodness we are twins! That’s so bizarre!!!

  3. Vicki Wallis 9 years ago

    I am all about buying the cheaper option of wrapping paper but I do love making my gifts pretty with ribbon. Love your idea of the fabric. Have a fabulous day. V x

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs-Smaggle 9 years ago

      I usually buy the cheap stuff too. There’s no point in wasting lovely paper when it’s just going to get ripped off again!

  4. I absolutely LOVE this. Such an amazing idea. You are one very clever Smaggle 🙂

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs-Smaggle 9 years ago

      Thanks love! It’s a lot easier than it looks too and you can kind of make it up as you go along.

  5. chrisatpb 9 years ago

    Lovely idea. If the gift is kitchen or dining related, I have been known to wrap in a pretty tea towel or table cloth, which is then part of the gift. Or a scarf for something girly. But this is a whole new concept. You could buy a few metres of calico and go to town stamping or painting designs appropriate for the occasion (if you are at all arty – which I am not. I was definitely standing behind the door when talent was handed out). xx

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      Oh wow that’s a brilliant idea! I love that… serioulsy I’m going to be doing that ALL WEEKEND!

      • Christine 9 years ago

        Show us when you’re done! I love seeing what clever crafty artistic people can do. X

  6. Bec @ The Plumbette 9 years ago

    You are so clever! I love this! I’ve just wrapped two Christmas gifts with tea towels and they look so cool. Sadly the rest of my gifts will be wrapped with brown paper and I will get my girls to add stickers to decorate them. Christmas craft sorted for my little ones! 😉

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      Oh brilliant! Tea towels are a great idea! I have to buy some more fabric actually… I’ve got heaps more presents to wrap! 🙂

  7. Nicole 9 years ago

    I like to buy brown paper and recycle it throughout the year. Love this idea though.

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      Brown paper is a great option! I have roll in my wrapping drawer in fact!

  8. merilyn 9 years ago

    good on you smags! … love this idea! … yes double take with ispyplumpie!
    liz is always doing a great job for the environment!
    one could always buy a new tea towel and wrap something in too!
    and that is a present too! … cheers m:)X

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      Oh totally there’s been heaps of people suggesting that! Lovely idea for a kitchen tea!

  9. Kristy @ Loulou Zoo 9 years ago

    What a great post – the presents look great the way you have wrapped them, I thought of this but couldn’t find any places where I could actually see how to do it nicely! Thank you and Merry Christmas 🙂

  10. nessbow 9 years ago

    My family has been using re-usable wrapping materials for years. A long time ago, my mum bought a big stack of Christmas fabric and sewed up a load of simple sacks in varying sizes. You just pick the sack that’s the right size and tie the top with a ribbon. On Christmas morning we fold up all the sacks and ribbons and pop them in a box, ready to go next year.

    This year I used silk and cotton scarves to wrap my gifts. I collected them from the op-shop throughout the year, and paid between 20 cents and 2 dollars a pop. When each person unwrapped their gift this year, I gave them the option of keeping their scarf or giving it back to me to use for another present later in the year.

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