Wrapped In Love

My grandmother's scarf

This year, in lieu of extensive amounts of wasted wrapping paper, I am trying my hand at furoshiki, the artful Japanese tradition of wrapping gifts in large, beautiful swaths of cloth. Why furoshiki? It is reusable and multipurpose. Each year billions (BILLIONS!!!) of plastic bags end up as litter. Reusable bags, such as furoshiki can help reduce the impact to our environment. Its versatility allows you to wrap almost anything regardless of its shape or size.


Here is a link to a famous furoshiki store in Japan demonstrating how to make a darling purse.


Here is a link to simple cotton flour sack towels which would be great for furoshiki. Fun for craft projects too!


Here are a few techniques from the Tea Collection, which is offering furoshiki for gifts this year:

THE ART OF FUROSHIKI
basic wrap
	1. Place object in center of furoshiki as pictured above.	2. Wrap top and bottom corners over box.	3. Bring together right and and left corners.	4. Tie a knot with right and left corners over wrapped box.
tote wrap
	1. Place object in center of furoshiki as pictured above.	2. Bring together one set of corners and tie a knot.	3. Tie the other set of corners into a knot.	4. Bring together knots and use the loops created in the furoshiki to tote object.
twisted handle wrap
	1. Place object in center of furoshiki as pictured above.	2. Bring together one set of corners and tie a knot. Bring other set of corners through loop created by the knot.	3. Twist the corners to create tight wound lengths of fabric.	4. Bring together ends of twisted fabric and tie a knot.
bottle wrap
	1. Place two bottles in center of furoshiki as pictured above.	2. Lie bottles down, leaving a space between the two.	3. Take a corner and place over bottles, rolling the bottles along to create a tube of fabric.	4. Pull ends together and tie a knot.