SEWN: FUROSHIKI MADNESS

Well they're not the traditional Furoshiki folded bag, but a rough approximation! These bags are also known as a Japanese triangle bags or origami bags.

I was originally inspired by the lovely Anna's post on her teacher presents this year. I loved the look of her bags and how well they can be completely individualised for the recipient. I had wanted to delve down the path of handcrafted gifts (at least for some) this Christmas and I knew I'd hit on the perfect project. Who doesn't love another beautiful and lovingly made bag?

I sent out a few emails with some vague, but enlightening questions, about favourite colours, prints or vibrancy and I was off. I used the very gorgeous Cloud9 100% certified organic cotton canvas fabrics for all but the flouro yellow chevron which was a buzoku duck from Spotties.

It really is a super easy and fast make. You just need a rectangle of fabric three times as long as it is wide, and a bit of fancy folding and stitches later, ta-da, there is your bag. I used BurdaStyle's Triangle bag tutorial because the particular way in which the material is folded and then stitched made way better sense to me, and seemed to suit the dimensions of my material. I was constrained by the width of my fabric and ended up cutting rectangles 43.5 inches x 14.5 inches.

Other, alternative methods can be found in this tutorial by //Between the lines// and this one at whipup.net.

I also decided to work that leather magic again with some handle wraps made from scrap pieces left over from one of hubby's many leather projects (see here and here).

I dyed the leather Whiskey brown  and found it hugely annoying perplexing that the final colour of each piece was so different. But in the end I love that each piece is completely unique.

Each piece was hand-stitched which meant punching all those holes. It gave me a whole new appreciation of the love that went into my bespoke bag. This nifty little tool certainly makes the job a little easier though. Combined with a wooden chopping board or workbench and hammer you're good to go.

At this stage we've also accumulated a little collection of leather threads in different colours, so I was able to make every handle wrap completely different from the others and coordinate it with its bag fabric.

So much prettiness...

And I reinforced my seams by folding the seam allowances to one side and topstitching (kind of like a faux flat felled seam). You might be able to see in the photo below.

Equally happy on my shoulder or swung lazily by my side.

 I so have to go back and get more yellow chevron. Too perfect...

And to all you lovely peeps out there here's to a very Merry Christmas for you and yours, and a wonderfully joyful and creatively rich New Year! There might some radio silence from this here crafter as I work on getting fat and extremely relaxed over the next little while. Enjoy!