Furoshiki: A Sustainable Gift Wrap Alternative

This Holiday season has consumers re-thinking their gift wrapping habits, as growing awareness of the detrimental impact single-use packaging and wrapping paper has on our environment, necessitates a sustainable alternative.

Furoshiki, the Japanese Art of Fabric Wrapping, was used as early as 710 in Japan, and had become widespread by the country’s Edo Period of 1603 to 1868, when people would commonly use Furoshiki cloths to bundle their dry clothes while at bathhouses (as reported by TBS News).

 Furoshiki has since become more and more popular outside Japan, and over the years commercial brands like Lush and Anthropologie have adopted the practice, and began offering fabric alternatives for their in store gift wrapping and for purchase in 2007. 

Companies like Wrappr have also emerged to provide customers with fabric wrapping alternatives, and tutorials on different wrapping styles for gifts, and post gift wrap uses for these pieces of fabric which have been adopted by the sustainable maker community.  

Like the rise in recent years of reusable shopping totes to replace single-use plastic bags, Holiday shoppers are more aware of Furoshiki as a gift wrapping option.

 Additionally, sustainably minded consumers love the fact that these fabrics can be used again after unwrapping gifts!

At FABCYCLE, we wholeheartedly embrace the concept of upcycling rescued fabrics for decorative packaging, and the subsequent second life these fabric pieces can have as lunch bags, grocery bags, and more after gifts have been given.

The FAB Team has perused our vast inventory of rescued deadstock fabrics, to offer our first line of Furoshiki gift wrapping bundles in two different sizes, for all of your gift giving needs this Holiday season!

Check out our Furoshiki tutorials for some Holiday fabric gift wrapping inspiration!