Day 6- The Brown Paper Bag

3/1/14

Tonight I played with Kraft paper, one of the many rolls I bought in my excitement to start this project but that I hadn't even opened yet. Last night I got into a conversation about brown paper bag lunches which made me think about making a brown paper bag... On my Day 1 post I mentioned the idea of stitching on paper; an idea I saw at the Museum of American Folk Art in the gift shop there. I decided on a scalloped motif for the piece and got out my pinking shears to give it a lacier effect.

I started cutting brown paper strips and giving them a scalloped edge, and then stitching along the inside of the scallop. Next time I stitch into Kraft paper I will try white thread; I think it would look really sharp. I pulled out a Tiffany's ad from an old magazine and cut scalloped strips from the blue color too.

Different stitch patterns on the paper strips

To give it a little glam and dimension, I added long glass tube beads on the brown paper strips. I glued them to hold them in place while I hand stitched them on. I realized too late that I didn't make the strips wide enough because after I stitched it all down it ended up being more of a square shape and I had really wanted a long rectangular shape.

Tube beading on the Kraft Paper

I decided to fill out the sides with some perpendicular strips and use the original piece as a front pocket. I lined the inside with a very stiff interfacing covered in more Kraft paper, and I closed up the sides with triangular pieces of paper. The bag is sturdy enough to stand on its own and is very structured on the bottom. The front pocket is about 7 inches wide.

Brown Paper Bag: Kraft paper, magazine paper, gold tube beads

Some ideas for next time around:
1. Mixing the Kraft paper with some tracing paper or plain papers of different qualities
2. Spray painting, hand painting, or dyeing the paper
3. Using a hole punch or an awl to make a decorative lace effect.

Any ideas for different materials to try?

xo,
Arielle