Furoshiki

Taken from Skip to My Lou

Furoshiki is a type of traditional Japanese wrapping cloth used for gift wrapping. I am totally taken with this method for wrapping gifts. It is not only beautiful but also eco friendly.

My sister-in-law loves wrapping gifts so for her birthday I ordered an advance copy of the book, Wrapagami: The Art of Fabric Gift Wraps. I packaged the order slip like this with a Furoshiki cloth I made for her.

The book arrived and it is fabulous.

I think it is the best book I have seen on the subject. The pictures are beautiful and the instructions and illustrations are easy to follow and understand!

There are so many styles I want to try!

Tips for making your own Furoshiki cloth

The fabric cloths are usually square. A standard size is 28″ X 28″. You will need a larger cloth for some techniques.
Hem the edges of the fabric or simply cut with pinking shears to save time and keep the edges from un-raveling. I used the technique for making square corner cloth napkins to finish off my wrap.
If you don’t want to make your own cloth Jenn Playford has a line of cloths called Furochic.

How to use your Furoshiki Cloth
Download a handy Illustrated Furoshiki Guide from the Ministry of the Environment Government of Japan.

See Jenn, the author of Wrapagami, explain how to use Furoshiki.

Furochic Bouquet Wrap

Furochic Double Book Wrap

Furochic Handbag Wrap

Furochic Cushion Wrap

Furochic Basic Wrap

Furochic Double Bottle Wrap

Furochic Box Wrap

Furochic Kangaroo Wrap

The book is a must! Happy wrapping!

Zippered Bag Tutorial

taken from Skip to my lou

To make a pouch begin with 4 pieces of fabric (two of outer fabric, two of lining fabric) all cut the same length as the full length of your zipper and any width you choose.

Make a zipper sandwich. Place 1 piece of lining fabric face up, then the zipper and then the outer fabric right side facing down. Line up the three edges.

With a zipper foot sew across the top between the edge of your zipper sandwich and the zipper teeth (closer to the zipper feet).

When finished and you pull fabric back it will look like this. Repeat this for the other side(edge) of the zipper. Oops the fabric should go all the way to the end of the zipper.

When both sides are completed it will look like this. Hopefully you will have pinned before sewing and all of your edges will match up beautifully (unlike mine). You can top stitch along the zipper now, if you like.

Bring both pieces of lining to one side and both pieces of your outer fabric to the other side. Un-zip zipper at least halfway so you can turn it once it is stitched. If you forget to un-zip the zipper you won’t be able to turn your pouch right side out.

The zipper teeth should be pinned toward the lining side. I lay the zipper ends on top of each other with teeth facing the lining side and pin.

Sew all the way around 1/4 inch from the edge. Make sure you sew on the outside of the metal parts on each end of the zipper, this will be easy to do if you cut your fabric the total length of the zipper. Leave a two inch opening at the bottom of the lining side. Clip corners.

Turn right side out. Stitch opening closed by machine or slip stitch by hand.

Push lining inside and you are finished!

These would make cute Valentine’s Day gifts with a little love note printed inside!