Wrapping with fabric is an eco-friendly choice
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BY ERIN ANDERSEN / Lincoln Journal Star
For thousands of years, women in Asia wrapped their gifts, belongings and baked goods in colorful hand-stitched and embroidered fabrics.
And they re-used the wrap. Sometimes it served as a sleeping mat, blanket or apron. Other times it was a piece of art — cherished as much as the gift it once concealed.
This tradition — dating as far back as 710 in Japan and 1392 in Korea — is making a government-endorsed comeback in Asia.
To wrap with cloth, you start with the fabric.
There is no standard size. However, your fabric should not be exactly square. A medium swatch, measuring approximately 28 by 30 inches, is the most common size and is sufficient for many wrapping projects.
Next, lay the fabric out on a flat surface. Put the item you want to wrap on top and use any of various folding patterns to wrap your gift.
Patterns, as well as various furoshiki cloths, are available online at www.furoshiki.com.
Learn to wrap with fabric
Two “Eco-Friendly Holiday Wrapping Techniques” workshops will be held Dec. 13 at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum, 1523 N. 33rd St.
Sheila Green will teach both classes.
The first will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon. She will repeat the workshop again from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
At these workshops, Green will demonstrate different wrapping techniques involving fabric, napkins and dishcloths, as well as wrapping plants.
Cost is $15 ($10 for museum members).
Call 472-6549 to pre-register.
In the United States, wrapping with fabric is slowly being recognized as an ecologically friendly — as well as a creative and thoughtful — alternative to using wrapping paper and gift bags.
Plus, it is incredibly simple, said Sheila Green, who leads workshops on the art. Unlike traditional wrapping paper, which requires measuring, cutting, lining up, taping and perfect 90-degree folds — wrapping with fabric is remarkably easy, versatile and forgiving, she said.
Essentially, all you do is fold, tie and twist a piece of cloth, using some of the same techniques as origami. Depending on where you tie it, you can make any nearly square piece of fabric into everything from gift bags to grocery sacks to fashionable handbags. And you can re-fold, tie and twist it indefinitely, giving it endless uses, Green said.
Which is why the Japanese government is urging its citizens to use “furoshiki” (wrapping cloth) in place of the 30 billion plastic bags it uses daily.
Consider this: Every minute, one million plastic bags are used around the world, according to statisticians.
That equals 14.4 trillion plastic bags a day.
As for the holiday season — wrapping paper and its one-time use have long been the bane of green-thinkers.
According to various ecological Web sites, half of all paper used annually in the United States is used to wrap or decorate gifts.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Americans generate 25 million more tons of waste than during a typical 10-week period any other time of the year, says recycle.now.com.
And, although there are countless Web sites and articles on ways to reduce holiday waste, hardly any suggest wrapping with cloth.
Which may explain why Green’s first fabric wrapping class was overflowing.
The class was inspired by the Korean pojagi exhibit at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus.
Pojagi began during the Choson Dynasty (1392-1910) in Korea. It was a time when women had few rights. They were strictly dedicated to home and family, said Green, who is a docent at the Quilt Study Center. Women were not allowed to interact in public and not encouraged to read. So they spent much of their lives raising children and sewing.
The pojagi came out of the scraps of fabric left over from other projects. Korean women painstakingly cut, starched and hand sewed these tiny scraps into colorful quilts of silk and cotton. Then they added diagonal straps to the corners.
They used pojagis to cover fresh food, carry their clothes, store their dishes and other belongings and wrap gifts.
“In Korea today, pojagi inspires contemporary fashion and is seen in coasters, placemats, pin cushions and wall hangings,” Green said.
Most pojagi are sewn by machine.
Modern-day fabric wrapping requires no sewing, according to Green. And while batik, cotton, ramie and tulle fabrics provide beautiful wraps, people can dual-purpose ready-made products such as napkins, tablecloths, towels, pillowcases and blankets.
And you can wrap just about anything from books to bottles to potted plants, as Green likes to demonstrate. All it takes is fabric and a little bit of folding, rolling, twisting and tying know-how.
Reach Erin Andersen at 473-7217 or eandersen@journalstar.com.
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Dame Mags wrote on December 1, 2008 10:48 am: