This traditional Indian method for making paper bags is a great way of using old newspapers, magazine pages, calendar pictures, wallpaper, wrapping paper or children’s paintings to make unusual gift bags or take-home party bags.
When my daughter was young enough to want birthday parties with goody-filled party bags, the thought of all those printed plastic throw-away bags would dismay me, spurring me on to make paper cones that doubled up as party hats, as well as other recycled receptacles for the ubiquitous cake, balloon and tiny toys. If I’d known this technique back then, I’d have been making Indian bags to my heart’s content!
The instructions seem a little complicated but the diagram should help and the method really does produce a successful bag. All you need is paper, glue and sellotape. Here goes:
1. Take an A4 sheet of paper. Obviously, you can work with whatever size you choose, but this will create a good average sized bag. Lay it down horizontally in front of you and paste a line of glue down the right-hand edge. [Fig. 1]
2. Fold the sheet of paper over so that the left-hand edge meets the inner edge of the line of glue. Now fold that glued edge towards the left-hand edge and press it down so that you have stuck them together and created a cylinder or tube effect. Press it down flat so that the new left and right edges are sharply creased. [Fig. 2]
3. Fold the bottom third of your flattened tube upwards and press it firmly to make a sharp crease [Fig.3] then unfold it to leave just the crease mark.
4. Fold the bottom left and right corners inwards to meet at the centre of the crease mark to form a downwards pointing triangle. Press them firmly to make sharply defined creases [Fig. 4] and then unfold them, again leaving just the crease marks.
5. Now here comes the difficult to explain bit so let’s work together slowly! Opening out the base, take the left-hand bottom corner and push it inwards so that the defined creases you made now form the outer edges of a left-hand pointing triangle and the original vertical outer edge now lines up with the inside of your horizontal crease. Do the same with the bottom right-hand corner. The base line of each sideways pointing triangle should meet vertically in the middle. Lay the paper back down and press the triangle sticking out towards you back against your flattened tube so that you are now looking at a diamond shape apparently in front of your flattened tube. [Fig 5]
6. For optional extra strength, you can stick a length of sellotape down the vertical line at the centre of your diamond. Traditionally, this wouldn’t be done as only paper and glue is used.
7. Taking the top point of your diamond, fold it down so that it touches the centre point of the diamond. Press it firmly to make a sharp horizontal line at the top and glue in place. Do the same with the bottom point of your diamond, folding it upwards to meet in the middle, sticking it firmly down. You should now be looking at something resembling Fig 6. Hold this shape in place until it is firmly stuck together.
8. Put one hand inside your paper bag and gently push downwards and outwards to open out the base of your bag. Now make a sharp crease from one of the corners of the base straight up to the top of the bag. Repeat this with the three remaining corners so that the bag takes on a neat cuboid shape.
And there you have it — an Indian paper bag strong enough to carry a selection of goodies!
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Categories: craft
