If you’re wanting to upcycle and repurpose to gift wrap more sustainably, our guide places reuse at the forefront and demonstrates ways to make use of the odds and ends you have at home. Central to this is Japanese Furoshiki – the art of gift wrapping in fabric.  

Fabric is often discarded once it gets a stain, gets too small for sewing or isn’t fit for purpose. Sometimes, these fabrics would work perfectly as part of Japanese Furoshiki. Some ideas for fabrics that you can use are: handkerchief and bandanas, tablecloths, scarves, cloth napkins, bed or pillow sheets, tea towels, sheet/doona cover fabric covers, clothes or other fabric scraps from sewing activities. Your local op shop is also a good source of material. 

Most wraps work best if you use square shaped fabric sized anywhere from 45 to 115 centimetres; you can easily make your own—any knottable fabric works). 

You can of course also buy pretty fabrics to reuse within your family and friend circles (or as part of their gift for them to reuse) if you’d like to stop buying wrapping paper. This practice not only saves resources, it saves money and time as you no longer have to shop for wrapping paper, gift bags or tags.