How to Wrap Clothing Without a Box?

  • Wrapping clothes isn’t that hard, but creating a classy and fancy gift package is a bit more challenging. 
  • Usually, when you want to bundle a cute tiny dress for your niece or a t-shirt as a gift for your husband, you fold the garment neatly and toss it into the box, right? But an issue arises when there’re no boxes around or if you’re too creative to pick the most popular option. So how about something more flexible and creative this time? 
  • How to pack clothing presents without a box? Prepare to get your creative juices flowing with our guide! Let’s review a couple of simple methods to wrap clothing without a box.

Why personalized gift wrapping?

You can gift wrap almost any clothing item:

  • skirts,
  • pants, 
  • t-shirts, 
  • dresses, 
  • scarves; 

Custom gift wrapping is a superb idea for at least two reasons:

1. Inventive ideas for a gift wrap will make your friends and family even more happy and impressed with the gift they got from you. For you, it’s just an extra wrapping paper; for them, it’s almost like a double gift!

2. Secondly, wrapping gifts gives you a unique opportunity to introduce a personal touch to your packing initiative. So put some work into finding a customized wrapping that suits the recipient’s personality or the particular occasion. Then, use your creative powers to wrap the gift in the way that the receiver will appreciate most. No pre-made box gives you all these options.

Wrapping clothes—issues 

A well-wrapped piece of clothing is a work of art. Yet, it’s definitely not a simple thing to do (maybe that’s exactly why it’s so valued).

Why is it so challenging to create clothing gifts with the use of wrapping paper?

A clothing item, whether they’re t-shirts, skirts, or dresses are:

  • soft,
  • slippery, and
  • don’t have defined corners;

But it doesn’t mean that we’re going to give up.

Keep reading to discover a master tip to the art of gift wrapping! 

Wrapping clothes—methods

How to wrap clothing like a pro? 

We’ve got a few methods for you to check out. 

Explore these awesome hacks—they can come in handy when there’s no shop with gift boxes around or if you’re eager to let your creativity run wild.

Keep reading to learn how to make gift wrappings for clothes with the use of brown paper, old bags, or a newspaper. 

Let us guide you through the techniques to

  • fold your wrapping paper up like an envelope,
  • roll your clothing up with tissue paper,
  • use a gift bag, and 
  • a few bonus decorating tips!

Tip: After wrapping gifts of clothing, find a nice ribbon or a bow to add an extra festive look. You can also attach a gift tag, especially for Christmas. Tips and ideas regarding bows and ribbons are also handy in the case of a box with gifts.

Fold your wrapping paper up like an envelope

The first method to pack a clothing item is by folding wrapping paper up like an envelope.

This way is excellent for eliminating unsightly messy side folds. 

How to do it in a few simple steps?

First, you need to wrap clothing as a square or rectangle.

If you fold a sweater or other clothing tightly, and neatly, a box will be unnecessary.  

With this method, you can wrap:

  • pants, 
  • dresses, 
  • skirts, 
  • shirt
  • scarves,
  • T-shirts,
  • All other outfits that are possible to fold in a rectangle or a square;

Next, unroll a wrapping paper on a hard surface with the printed side down. 

Put the folded garment in the center—measure two fingers’ worth of space on both sides. 

Tip: The top flop should be long enough to fold halfway across and cover the item. Trim the remaining part with scissors.

Fold the bottom flap over the top flap and apply a strip on the inside edge with a double stick tape (regular tape will also do). 

Smooth the wrapping paper down on the patterned side and secure the tape with your fingers gently.

At this point, the top and bottom of the wrapping paper are sealed and the right and left sides remain open.

Now, take your wrapped clothing item and cut off a small right triangle of each of the four corners of the wrapping. 

Important: The bottom point of this triangle should be positioned along the crease (which, in turn, should be aligned with the edge of the garment). 

Both sides of the wrapping item are now made up of two layers of wrapping paper.

Use scissors to cut off the bottom layer following the crease. Apply double-sided tape (stick it to the inner, non-patterned edge of the remaining layer) and fold to seal. Now it should close like the flap of an envelope.

Finally, repeat the same process on the right side:

  • fold in the extra paper on the right side,
  • trim off the corners,
  • cut off the inner layer,
  • apply a tape, and
  • seal;

Tip: Add a fashionable rustic look by using craft paper or tying the parcel with twine. You can also go fot brown paper for a shabby-chic look.

Roll your garment up with tissue paper

To create cute, candy-like gifts with tied ends, follow the guide below. 

First, roll your clothing tightly.

Tip: Do it on a flat, hard surface like a table or countertop. Ensure that it’s free of grease and potential other piece of dirt that could stain the tissue paper. 

Fold your clothes into a long, skinny rectangle. 

This technique will benefit especially thin garments such as

  • thin scarves
  • t-shirts, 
  • thin jeans; 

Now, knot a piece of twine around the middle to secure the rolled-up clothing and keep it from unrolling during the wrapping process.

Put together three flat sheets of tissue paper on top of each other, all in different colors. Pick colors that suit the occasion (like green and red for Christmas, etc). 

Take your rolled-up and tied outfit and center it along the top edge of the tissue paper. Place it vertically, so the shorter sides are at the top and bottom of your roll. 

Roll the clothing item up inside the tissue paper by grasping the top edge of the paper with your fingers. Leave only a few inches of tissue paper sticking out at the bottom.

Fold up the bottom edge of the tissue paper and secure it with a strip of double-sided tape. Place it vertically across the top of the fold to secure it. 

Wrap the end piece of tissue paper up and around into the rest of the rolled-up clothing. The tape will secure the end piece in place.

Cinch both ends of the gift with fingers and tie them with about 30 cm long ribbons. A wire-edged ribbon is the best: fun, easy, and flexible to work with!

Tip: For a spectacular pro effect on your ribbon, fold it in half and cut a straight diagonal line starting from the wire end and slanting down towards the folded center. Unfold to reveal a V-shaped edge. And voilà! This year’s Christmas will be like no other.

Use a paper bag

There are so many unique ways to get your creative juices flowing that who needs a box?

Here’s what to do within the paper bag technique:

Fold the piece of clothing in half or roll it up and secure it with a ribbon. Clothes that you’re packing just need to be firm enough to work on them.

Tip: Before working on your gift, remove price tags or cover up the price with a marker. 

On a flat surface lay three or four overlapping sheets of tissue paper. Each should have its left edge 5-7 cm to the right from the sheet below. Adjust the size of the paper to the size of your clothes (for example, a tie won’t need a large paper sheet, so use only half of it).

Center your clothing item on the top sheet of tissue paper. Grab two opposite corners of the tissue paper and pull them up. Hold them together and pull the other two corners in.  

Now you can place your wrapping in the paper bag gift bag.

Chose a big bag, so the wrapped clothing gift sits comfortably inside. 

Don’t touch tissue paper too often; it becomes overused and wrinkly fast. The entire idea of gift wrapping is also about being neat and precise.

Important: Pay attention to the colors you choose when you wrap gifts. You can alternate colors to make your gift more appealing. Colors can also influence moods (see a video tutorial on how to pick the right color).

Decoration

C-and-A has several inspiring ideas for decorating:

  • decorating gifts with natural materials—they look especially classy on a neutral wrapping paper. Use dried flowers, colorful leaves, fir branches, or even kitchen herbs. 

Tip: Keep your eyes open for new decorating materials during your casual walks in the park.

  • decorating gifts with design paper and lettering—go for a single-color wrapping paper to provide a sort of a “canvas” for further decorations  that you can print on colored or transparent paper. Create your own design paper with a simple cut-out sheet with practical templates. Try decorating your gifts with cut-out shapes or make small gift tags from the lettering design. 
  • decorating wrapping paper with the so-called ‘pleated look’—not only is this idea easy to execute, but it also looks excellent. Use small ornaments or fir branches or insert dried flowers into the little tabs. 

How to put the bright ‘pleated look’ concept into practice?

Use enough paper or even excess paper to be able to cover your gift completely. 

Tip: Prepare a wrapping paper that’s long side is at least two hand’s widths wider than the gift.

Place the paper face down and with the short side towards you.

Fold the lower edge up by approximately two centimeters. Repeat the folding as much as you feel like throughout the entire paper to create numerous pleats.

Next, turn the paper over and unfold your folds, producing an ‘accordion pattern’ on your wrapping paper.

After you have folded the whole paper and smoothed it out afterward, turn the paper over and tape up your pattern.

Finally, wrap your present, add a cute ribbon and hand a gift to a chosen person.

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Frequently Asked Questions

It depends on the particular clothing and the fabric it was made from, but as a rule of thumb, there’s no difference between storing a garment in a closet and wrapping paper.
It depends mainly on how you perform the packing. It's easier to toss your gift into a box, so you can expect this method will end up neat, whatever you do. On the other hand, personally wrapping a present adds a customized, luxurious feel, hard to achieve with other techniques.
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