A trend that I’m hoping will catch on!
I promise this will be the last post about Christmas gifts. (At least for the moment anyway!) Although this post is more about the wrapping rather than the gift. A few years back, I started consciously implementing a zero waste policy in my craft room. It’s been the best decision I ever made! Not only environmentally but creatively – it drives me to think outside the box. So last year I decided to stop buying wrapping paper and start making Christmas Drawstring Bags.
I’m the kind of person who buys most of their Christmas themed items after the day. Things like cards, wrapping paper and decorations – because they all go on sale. Well fabric is the same and each year there’s always new designs. Of course you don’t have to wait until after Christmas. Anyway, seeing all this super cheap fabric lead me to the idea (and it turns out lots of other people too😂). Substitute wrapping paper for fabric. And a drawstring bag seemed like the best option.
Of course putting the plan into action didn’t quite go as smoothly as I would have liked. To start off with I didn’t really take into account how much more organised I needed to be. And how much extra time it would take to complete each bag. So unfortunately I didn’t quite reach my goal of making a Christmas Drawstring Bag for every gift. Although I did manage to get away with not buying any wrapping paper as I still had some leftovers. But that’s certainly not going to stop me from trying again this year!
You can use any method you like for making a drawstring bag. There’s a heap of free tutorials/patterns online. I made mine by following Purl Soho’s instructions for Drawstring Shoe Bags. Mainly because the items I was ‘wrapping’ were fairly flat. Plus I liked the idea of finishing the raw edges with French seams. So classy! I did make some modifications to the size though. Another good tutorial, also by Purl Soho, is the Easy Drawstring Bags.
In the end I was pretty happy with how my Christmas Drawstring Bags turned out! And it still felt like people got to ‘open’ their gifts- just in a new way. I’m hoping people keep their bags for reusing in lieu of wrapping paper. And continue to be reused each year. It’s a much better alternative for the environment and cheaper in the long run. A win – win!
