Forget about wrapping parcels or presents - let Siân Martin introduce you to the rhythms of colour wrapping.
photographs by Ian Cole

The rhythm of wrapping is therapeutic and soothing. Using threads, ribbons, cords and fabric strips, you can wrap long shapes like straws, or more solid shapes like squares or rectangles of thick card, cork or polystyrene, and transform them into colourful and decorative items.

Once you've tried colour wrapping you'll never look at wrapping parcels in the same way again!

The technique of wrapping is very simple; the real skill lies in selecting the colours and textures of fabrics and threads and knowing what to put together with what - in fact, the usual design challenge.

Colour scheme

Try this simple and logical way of developing an idea based on a colour scheme of your own choice: look for a colour scheme that has at least two brightly contrasting families of colour. My inspiration came from photographs of poppies and clematis, but if you don't have suitable photos, take a look through gardening books or catalogues. Working from a photograph or colour photocopy makes it easier to identify the colours for your colour scheme.

Identify colours

Place your photograph or a photocopy of it in the middle of a sheet of plain white paper. Using any colouring medium you have available, scribble similar colours onto the paper around the photograph or item. Overlap colours to get just the right combinations. Look closely for lots of variations you might have missed at first glance.

You might find wrapping-paper, bits of fabric or coloured pages in magazines to match your colour scheme. Tear these into small strips and place the strips over the photograph to check that you have just the right colour. Stick your colour strips over the photo, overlapping the strips, but don't completely bury the photo - let it peep through as your inspirational starting point. The colour strips will form a catalogue of the colours you have identified.

Coloured fabrics

Match each colour in your photo or item with at least one coloured fabric. Choose lightweight fabrics such as silk, organza, chiffon and fine cotton, as these wrap more easily. You might like to dye or colour some fabrics yourself, or use bits left over from dressmaking or patchwork.

How to wrap straws

You can choose a plastic drinking straw or a paper art straw. Plastic straws are strong but need patience when waiting for the glue to dry; paper straws glue well but need strengthening first. To do this you need to 'stuff the straw' with two other paper straws that have been flattened and then folded in half, long edge to long edge. Place these two folded straws side by side so they interlock. Squeeze them together at one end with your fingers and guide them into a third straw (this becomes easier with practice). Cut each straw to between 10 and 15 cm in length.

Cut or rip a length of fabric, about 1 cm wide and 30 cm long. Dab a tiny spot of glue on the end of the straw to secure the fabric, then, holding the fabric firmly at an angle away from the straw, slowly twist the straw around so that the fabric strip wraps around the straw. Make sure that you cover the straw completely with no gaps between the wrap. Secure with another tiny dab of glue. If you allow a small amount of fabric to protrude at each end, these can be tucked in to the straw ends to completely cover it.

NB It is far easier to wrap a straw than to describe how to do it, so I'm sure you'll have no trouble in getting into the rhythm.

Colour sorting

Wrap one straw for every colour in your colour scheme. Group the coloured straws into similar 'families' of colours. Can you identify colours that you could classify as cold or warm? Cold colours include blues, greens, bluish-purples; warm colours include reds and oranges. The colour circle will give you an idea of colour groupings. The left side appears to be mainly cold colours; the right side, mainly warm colours.

Arrange your coloured straws in a logical way to show the beauty of the colours in your particular colour scheme. The poppy-coloured straws are arranged in warm and cold colour groups, and also from light to dark to each side.

Layered wrap using similar colours

Straws can be wrapped in more than one layer using a different-coloured fabric strip in each layer. Make the second and subsequent layers narrower, or wrap with gaps so that the previous colour is allowed to show through.

The edges of the second layer of fabric can be made attractive by ripping, cutting and fraying or cutting with pinking scissors. The fabric strip can be twisted or knotted. Experiment with different methods as you wrap. You can even use the threads you have pulled out to fray an edge. Each method will give different decorative effects.

Use similar pairs of colours to wrap, for instance cold on cold, and warm on warm.

Layered wrap using contrasting or complementary colours

If you wrap using two highly contrasting colours, a very vibrant and exciting colour effect is produced. Colours opposite each other in the colour circle, such as blue and orange, are the most contrasting. These are known as 'complementary' colours. Try to identify the most contrasting colours within your colour scheme. The poppy colour scheme has an emerald green and a red-orange which are complementary to each other.

Looking closely at your colour scheme, choose as many pairs of complementary colours as you can find and select fabrics to wrap in two layers. The wrapped pairs of complementary colours in the illustration use several variations of the emerald green and red-orange colour combination. They are also chosen for their tonal value - that is, how light or dark they are. The straws are placed in order or tone, starting with the darkest at the top. Each pair of complementary colours is chosen to balance the other - a dark colour with its dark complementary, a light with light.

Tonal differences to contrast

Complementary colours are those with the greatest contrast within the colour circle, but if you choose a dark version of one colour and a pale version of its opposite colour, this uses tone as well as colour to give an even more striking contrast. So, for instance, a pale emerald green (perhaps a pastel turquoise) will create a very exciting contrast with a dark red-orange (perhaps a burgundy colour).

Try as many extreme contrasts as you can, using pairs of fabrics in a double-layer wrap. The wrapped straws on the left side of the illustration have a light under-layer and a dark second layer; those on the right side have a dark lower layer and a light second layer.

Your knowledge and understanding of the different colours and tones in your selected colour scheme will give you infinite variations.

You can find two projects using these wrapping techniques - to make a decorative frame and a colourful brooch - in the December 1999 issue of STITCH with the Embroiderers' Guild.

Colours on the Web

• an excellent introduction to colour theory from the Color Matters site
• another colour wheel from Sanford and A Lifetime of Color's Art Education Resources and Art Edventures