Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

The furoshiki fever continues to build at our house, and I’m handing out hemmed squares of cloth to just about anyone who walks in the door. My old school friends Jeanette and Sue were the most recent recipients, so I thought I’d write this tutorial for them. I hope you find it useful as well!

After a bit of trial and error, I’ve decided that the perfect shopping bag uses a 100 – 110cm square of thin, strong cotton. Silk is lovely, but impractical for everyday use. A cotton furoshiki can be thrown into the washing machine and dryer, then folded into a small package for storage. Quilting cottons, dress fabrics and bedsheeting will all work well – it’s best to hem all four sides for durability. Before you start, give the fabric a good tug in all directions to test for strength. And if that  all sounds too hard, a purchased square cotton scarf will probably work just as well.

There are two easy knots you need to master. Here are the instructions from the  excellent Pixieladies’ Furoshiki Fabric Wraps…

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So…here’s how I fold and tie my furoshiki shopping bags. It’s dead simple, and I usually do it at the counter while my items are being rung up.

Step 1: fold the cloth in half on the diagonal, right sides out…

Step 2: tie an overhand knot (see above) about halfway up on each side…

Step 3: tie the other two corners together in a square knot (see above or the more detailed instructions here)…

Tah-dah! Your bag is ready to use…

It will carry a surprisingly large swag of groceries…

…then sit comfortably on your shoulder…

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Variation #1: for a neater look, start with the fabric inside out so that the side knots end up inside. Turn the furoshiki right side out and give it a good shake before tying the square knot on top. This bag will carry nearly as much as the one above…

Variation #2: make variation #1 above, then slide a scrunchie or other tie over the loose corners before tying the square knot…

Variation #3: make variation #1, then tie the two loose corners into a deep half knot (see above) to enclose the contents of the bag…

…then tie the corners into a square knot to form a handle…

When you’re finished, untie your furoshiki, give it a shake, then fold it tightly and pop it in your handbag for another day!

There are heaps of other bag folding patterns, both in books and on the internet. YouTube has several excellent tutorials, including this one from Sydney which teaches you how to fold the Variation #1 bag above…

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…and this wonderful Japanese one with more complicated wrapping techniques…

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I now keep three thin cotton furoshikis in my handbag at all time, which is usually enough to cart all our groceries home. Let me end with this photo of Big Boy and Small Man carrying our fruit and vegetables to the car a couple of weeks’ ago (I’m indoctrinating them early) – you can see how full the cloths are, yet both boys commented on how easy the furoshikis were to hold. With the large supermarkets now banning plastic bags, there’s never been a better time to revisit this ancient Japanese art!