We spend more time than ever in our homes. It's natural that we would want to spruce things up a bit. Why not redecorate with some cheerful fabric wrapping? Here are five fun ideas on how to use furoshiki to bring a pop of colour and joy to your daily life :)
What is furoshiki?
A furoshiki is an almost square piece of cloth that is traditionally used to wrap, carry or protect items. It is folded in a manner similar to origami to create beautiful gift-wrapping and bags. For more information on the Japanese cultural background, check our history of furoshiki page.
Don’t have a furoshiki at hand? No worries! You can easily replicate the wraps using any other cloth materials, such as a tablecloth or silk scarf.
For each wrap we have written the specific furoshiki size that we used, for your reference. Please also note that many photos were taken in our garden for lighting purposes, but look stunning indoors too!
1. Flowers
From left to right:
Flowers in the house are a lovely reminder that spring is here. We absolutely adore the flowers that are blossoming in our garden! Here we have furoshiki-wrapped a vase kimono-style, for sprigs of lilac buds and camellia. Camellia always makes us think of Kyoto, as it flowers in temple gardens; and the lilac branches are a subtle nod to the beauty of ikebana.
We’ve also created a pretty furoshiki wrap to carry an English primrose posy; and a stripe furoshiki wrap to brighten up an old kitchen pot. The geometric shapes of the medieval-looking fritillaries look striking against the bright furoshiki stripes! Furoshiki are a lovely way to bring a bit of spring into your indoor space!
2. Plants
We are quite fond of our house plants - we have all shapes and sizes!
If you’re giving your flower vases a makeover, why not your plant pots too! You can wrap them in different bow designs :)
From top left to right to bottom left: - 90cm Yumeji Takehisa Furoshiki Camellia Gray
These furoshiki wraps are so easy to make!
- Take your square furoshiki /fabric /scarf, and lay it in a diamond shape, reverse side uppermost.
- Place your plant pot in the centre, then fold the top corner towards the centre, so that you have a straight edge to neatly wrap around the top of the pot.
- Bring the two ends to the front of the pot and tie in a neat double knot.
- Take the lower corner, and thread it neatly behind the double knot, and gently pull it upwards so that the slack fabric is smart.
- Now, roll this spare fabric down until it can fit snugly behind your neat knot.
- If the ends of your knot are too long, then why not create a neat bow!
- The camellia flower in the right photo is made in this Flower Wrapping video here! Click on the listing 'How-to video: Furoshiki gift-wrapping ideas'.
3. Living room space
Left photo, from front to back:
Decorate your wine bottle collection using the bottle wrap method! At our furoshiki workshops, everyone always loves the bottle wraps! You can find out how to make a single bottle wrap by clicking here!
For the double bottle wrap, pictured at the back:
- Lay out your large furoshiki so that it is in a diamond-shape, reverse-side up.
- Place your two bottle upright, and side-by-side, in the centre.
- Now, tip over your bottles, so that they are still central, but now lying on their sides. One will point to the right, and the other will point to the left. There should be a small gap between them, in the centre of your furoshiki.
- Take the bottom corner of your furoshiki and lay it over your horizontal bottles, tucking them in neatly, then roll the bottles up in the two sides of the fabric.
- Take the two long ends of the rolled up furoshiki in both hands, stand the wrapped bottles together, so they're upright, and tie a single knot. Pull the ends so that the knot is nicely secure on top of the wrapped bottles.
- Now, with the two long ends, tie a small double knot, so that you have a little handle to carry them with. You should find that your bottles are very snug and secure for transporting!
Photo:
Wrapping cushions are really easy and a great way to change up the colour pallet of your living room! They’re so practical too, because they’re easy to gently hand-wash, and iron while damp :)
Here, we’ve simply furoshiki-wrapped our cushion in a large furoshiki.
- Place your furoshiki/ square fabric/ scarf with the reverse side uppermost, in a diamond shape.
- Place your cushion in the centre, and then bring the top corner down and over your cushion, tucking any excess fabric under.
- Bring the bottom corner up and over your cushion, tucking any excess fabric under.
- Take the right-hand fabric and gather it in your right hand. Take the left-hand fabric and gather it in your left hand.
- Tie a neat double knot, making sure it is central.
You can see more about making this simple wrap by clicking here! , and looking at 'Gift wrap 1: How can I get started with gift-wrapping?'
4. Dining space
Furoshiki used in photo: - 50cm Adeline Klam Organic Furoshiki Peony Red
We had a mini picnic in our garden, because the weather was so nice, but this can obviously be used for your indoor dining space too! The water-repellent tablecloth is very handy - it’s perfect for a picnic, and it also makes a great table covering. And of course, you can wrap your things in it, to carry them, furoshiki-style!
We furoshiki-wrapped the stripe fabric into a camellia wrap - a furoshiki style that we adore! It’s so easy to do - and you can find how to make it here! under 'How-to video: Furoshiki gift-wrapping ideas / Flower wrapping'!
To make this gift wrap with ‘bunny ears’:
- Place your gift-box in the centre of your diamond-shaped furoshiki, which has been laid out reverse-side uppermost.
- Take the top corner and the bottom corner together in your left hand, and run your hand firmly down the fabric so that it is gripping the two ends firmly onto the top of the box.
- Now, take the right-hand piece of spare fabric, and wrap it behind your left hand, and bring it to the front of the two ends that you are gripping! Do the same with the left-hand piece of spare fabric - wrap it behind your left hand and bring it to the front.
- Tie the ends that you have wrapped around to the front, together, in a neat double knot, at the base of the two longer ends.
- Gently pull on the longer ends, to ease any slack fabric upwards. It neatens the gift-wrapping. It looks beautiful, doesn’t it!
5. Fun with kids!
Furoshiki used:
We had such a laugh with this photo (and we’re grown adults - imagine the fun you can have with kids!) Icoca is the Kyoto JR Railcard mascot, so he was always going to make an appearance at some point! :)
He looks like a proper superhero with his furoshiki cape!
Here we are playing 'catch' in the garden!
You can also use furoshiki to store your child’s play toys!
Furoshiki used:
Here we’ve used a large, 104cm furoshiki to bundle some soft toys off the floor! It would be a tremendous bag to collect up all of those tiny toys too, like bits of Lego or Playmobil!
This simple furoshiki bag would be an excellent bag to hang from the handles of your buggy, too! You could put a lot of kit in there!
- Lay your large furoshiki out so that it is a square-shape, with the reverse side uppermost.
- Tie a single knot out of two corners.
- Repeat on the other side.
- Tie the two ends of your first single knot together to make a little handle.
- Repeat on the other side.
- Easy, isn’t it! You now have a roomy bag with handles, which you can collapse at any time to create a different bag-wrap, and you’ve always got something nice to sit on!
- You can find more information on how to make this Tote Bag here!
Was this helpful?
We hope this gave you some ideas on how to use furoshiki. We always love to see your photos, so please send us your photos if you have tried any of these wraps!
