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cassolotl:
Last night I made two matching furoshiki to wrap two gifts for my mum.
She is getting more into reducing her plastic waste and persuading supermarkets to do the same, so I’m hoping she’ll be into the non-disposable culture aspect and maybe she will reuse these.
If you’re into environmental whatever you might be familiar with the Five Rs of Environmental Responsibility, which come in order of priority:
Refuse - wrapping paper and plastic tape.
Reduce - I suspect this one isn’t relevant in this case? But it is great that they are rectangular - the only waste was cutting off the tiny corners and the endy bits of cotton, both of which will be recycled.
Reuse - these are completely reusable.
Recycle - fabric is recyclable at many recycling centres, but it’s also possible to unpick the hems and turn them into something else.
Rot - the fabric is 100% cotton and therefore biodegradable and compostable (though I think it would take a couple of years).
I’m probably going to make more - these two were made from fat quarters, and all I did was roll the hems so it’d be pretty easy to get some “furoshiki - please reuse” labels made and then sew them into the hems.
Okay, so it was actually pretty involved and took me several hours, but it was very easy. If I make several at once and get a shedload more pins I could definitely save a lot of time by doing each step to like 10 pieces at once.
HOW TO MAKE FUROSHIKI
Find a good rectangle of fabric. You want something thin but not transparent, so cotton is ideal. Using something that would otherwise go to waste is extremely compatible. If it has two good sides that’s a plus. You can often find fat quarters in batches in fabric shops, tied with a ribbon.
Iron it.
Cut off the corners a tiny bit, maybe a centimetre, to make your corners tidier when you sew the hems.
Fold and pin your hems. Go around the whole rectangle, folding the edges in once and then again, and pinning in place. Pin perpendicular to the fabric - it makes machine sewing much easier! My hems were about 1cm. Be warned that blocking pins for pinning out knitwear as it dries are too big and make holes in the fabric, not that I have ever done that.
Iron the hems as flat as possible, being careful not to melt the pin heads, not that I have ever done that.
Sew around your hems with either very matching thread or something contrasting. I’m really pleased with how the blue one came out - I used blue thread that ended up basically invisible (perfect!) and white to match the cornflower pattern, because I couldn’t be bothered to change the thread on a bobbin.
cassolotl:
Last night I made two matching furoshiki to wrap two gifts for my mum.
She is getting more into reducing her plastic waste and persuading supermarkets to do the same, so I’m hoping she’ll be into the non-disposable culture aspect and maybe she will reuse these.
If you’re into environmental whatever you might be familiar with the Five Rs of Environmental Responsibility, which come in order of priority:
Refuse - wrapping paper and plastic tape.
Reduce - I suspect this one isn’t relevant in this case? But it is great that they are rectangular - the only waste was cutting off the tiny corners and the endy bits of cotton, both of which will be recycled.
Reuse - these are completely reusable.
Recycle - fabric is recyclable at many recycling centres, but it’s also possible to unpick the hems and turn them into something else.
Rot - the fabric is 100% cotton and therefore biodegradable and compostable (though I think it would take a couple of years).
I’m probably going to make more - these two were made from fat quarters, and all I did was roll the hems so it’d be pretty easy to get some “furoshiki - please reuse” labels made and then sew them into the hems.
Okay, so it was actually pretty involved and took me several hours, but it was very easy. If I make several at once and get a shedload more pins I could definitely save a lot of time by doing each step to like 10 pieces at once.
HOW TO MAKE FUROSHIKI
Find a good rectangle of fabric. You want something thin but not transparent, so cotton is ideal. Using something that would otherwise go to waste is extremely compatible. If it has two good sides that’s a plus. You can often find fat quarters in batches in fabric shops, tied with a ribbon.
Iron it.
Cut off the corners a tiny bit, maybe a centimetre, to make your corners tidier when you sew the hems.
Fold and pin your hems. Go around the whole rectangle, folding the edges in once and then again, and pinning in place. Pin perpendicular to the fabric - it makes machine sewing much easier! My hems were about 1cm. Be warned that blocking pins for pinning out knitwear as it dries are too big and make holes in the fabric, not that I have ever done that.
Iron the hems as flat as possible, being careful not to melt the pin heads, not that I have ever done that.
Sew around your hems with either very matching thread or something contrasting. I’m really pleased with how the blue one came out - I used blue thread that ended up basically invisible (perfect!) and white to match the cornflower pattern, because I couldn’t be bothered to change the thread on a bobbin.