Paperless wrapping.

n · Paperless wrapping.

My husband is big on paperless wrapping.
Every year there are an assortment of rolled up jumpers with the arms tied together, balls of socks and wooly hats tied with ribbon under the tree. It's become the family joke... who will get his woollen jacket this year.

Three years ago I decided that the amount of wrapping paper was crazy, so I made fabric drawstring bags and used them instead. I had some leftover tartan fabric from a project (the family tartan) and used that, but I'd like to make more.

Interestingly, my mum said that when she was a child (1930's and 40's) her grandmother and her auntie swapped a biscuit tin with Bluebirds on it every year. It started the first year with biscuits in it but after that it had all sorts of stuff inside, and it reappeared every year.

I have a huge stash of fabric, so this will be free wrapping and once I've made them, perhaps they'll get passed down the generations too, I think I'd like that.

n
*feeling all soppy at the thought of people using my bags as part of their Christmases in fifty years time*

Cathie

I really like this idea, I hate wrapping paper and the waste it causes, if I can find them cheap enough I get them gift bags, and hope that the person re uses them, or I save them up from our birthdays to reuse again.

Fabric bags sound lovely and they could be reused for other things, there was a website I looked at last year that sold christmas themed cloth bags but the name totally escapes me.

Cathie

Glynis

DD1 is lengendary in the family for using newspaper for wrapping presents. She ties them with pretty ribbons etc saved from things she's been given through the year.
On a good year she will have carefully chosen the newspaper article you get Smile

cazzie

I like the swopping a tin idea Very Happy

Auntie Noo

I love these ideas - I always feel really guilty about using paper - but never have enough imagination for anything else!

n

I like the idea of choosing the article from the newspaper.... must stat looking out for good stuff.
Could be a good "almanac" type present too, perhaps?

n

ClaireUK

I love the 'fabric pressie bag' idea. It could be like a bag we use for sports kit at school and could have the recipients name painted/embroidered/whatever on it and be sent back each year for refilling on birthays etc.

Claire UK

carolinne

what fab ideas i love the idea of making llittle bags i thought the same as you claire, the bag becomes part of the present. i often use bags like that to put shoes in when i am packing so the present bags could be big enough for that. or you could buy pretty hankies and use them to wrap gifts in..................now i have started thinking ................dangerous for a sunday Wink

n

What about this?
It's called Furoshiki. Japanese Fabric wrapping. No sewing!

Here it is on You Tube. It's in Japanese, but you can see it in action. The Japanese government are very keen to promote this ancient art in order to reduce landfill and encourage recycling.

n

janice

I do like that idea, of using fabric. Every year I have over one and half 'lilac' paper recycling bags full of wrapping paper alone Shocked

Have quite a bit of material sitting doing nothing so will make a start at making wee bags Very Happy

n

There's this one too....

Instant handbag.

n

melody yarns

If I remember rightly, Holly has made these Christmas bags and has instructions on the Knitting Haven forum. I wonder if I can find them and if Holly will allow me to post a link to the forum?

Ho...lly..... where are yooooooo???

melody yarns

These are Holly's (Old Knitter on our forum) instructions for paperless wrapping fabric bags:

Holly's bags[/url]

jacquie

Loved that video but it was ironic that they all came out of the shop with their stuff in paper bags!

I am crap at wrapping presents in paper - however carefully I start out they always look awful by the end.

Those bags are so simple but so clever - I am definitely going to make some this year. We get loads of Thingmassy prints in our fabric stores so they should look really good.

n

The other thing to do is to get the kids in on the act, so they get to choose their own fabric. A metre of fabric would make quite a few big and small bags, and they don't have to be Christmassy, they could get used all year. They could be "well done for passing your maths test" bags or "stay in bed because you are poorly" bags.

n

jacquie

I do like my Christmas wrapping to be Christmassy , but I will make more generic ones for other purposes.

KnittingLadybird

I suppose if you were going to make bags but wanted all year usage too....you could go for say red and make a detachable holly badge or something....and then there's white and you make a detachable snowflake or something.

I'll work on these ideas though I think Wink